Know Thyself: A Kid's Guide to the Archetypes

by Kiersten Marek

Know Thyself is a book for children ages 5 to 15 to help them learn about the many aspects of their identity. With descriptions and pictures of 12 archetypes, the book familiarizes children with important parts of their identity including the caregiver, the warrior, the artist, and the leader. This book helps to teach coping skills, problem-solving, character development, and relationship skills. It can also be used by mental health practitioners as a tool for gathering diagnostic information and conducting therapy. The book allows children to rate their archetypes, color the pictures of each archetype, and reflect on themselves in new ways. It also gives practical tips for for how to build self-awareness, cope with difficult feelings, and relate better to others.

38 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2012

Reviews

[Marybeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kids need more opportunities to reflect on their own behavior and consider the consequences of it, and this workbook, Know Thyself: A Kid’s Guide to the Archetypes by Kiersten Marek, offers them that opportunity in a fun, informative and non-confrontational way. The workbook, with simple, expressive line illustrations drawn by Marek’s teenage daughter, Katrina, is a learning tool utilizing Carl Jung’s personality archetypes. Each of the twelve archetypes is defined in direct, easy-to-understand language, and children are offered numerous ways to explore each archetype, including a thought-provoking quote, journaling space to reflect on the archetype and a rating scale to measure their own feelings of intensity on that particular archetype. Marek’s real purpose is to get kids thinking and become reflective individuals, and she does an excellent job of offering them a variety of ways to explore each archetype, such as designing their own town (The Leader), volunteering in a soup kitchen (The Wounded Child), researching family history (The Explorer) and many other interactive activities that allow children to reflect and make thoughtful decisions about their behavior.

The workbook can be used in many ways, and Marek outlines those, offering suggestions to both parents and therapists and discussing how the workbook might be adapted for children of various ages. If we hope to empower our children, to help them make sensitive and thoughtful decisions about their own behavior and assess the behavior of others, then Marek has offered us a fine way to begin that process.