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The Broken Mirror: Refracted Visions of Ourselves
The Broken Mirror: Refracted Visions of Ourselves explores the need to know ourselves more deeply, and the many obstacles that stand in our way. The various chapters illustrate internal obstacles such as intimidation by the magnitude of the project, the readiness to avoid the hard work, and gnawing self-doubt, but also provide tools to strengthen consciousness to take these obstacles on.
Additional essays address living in haunted houses, the necessity of failure, and the gift and limits of therapy.
Most of all, Hollis addresses the resources we all have within, or can obtain for ourselves, to lead a more abundant life and to step into larger possibilities for our unfolding journeys.
Additional essays address living in haunted houses, the necessity of failure, and the gift and limits of therapy.
Most of all, Hollis addresses the resources we all have within, or can obtain for ourselves, to lead a more abundant life and to step into larger possibilities for our unfolding journeys.
218 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2022
66 people are currently reading
405 people want to read
About the author
James Hollis
58 books955 followersJames Hollis, Ph. D., was born in Springfield, Illinois, and graduated from Manchester University in 1962 and Drew University in 1967. He taught Humanities 26 years in various colleges and universities before retraining as a Jungian analyst at the Jung Institute of Zurich, Switzerland (1977-82). He is presently a licensed Jungian analyst in private practice in Washington, D.C. He served as Executive Director of the Jung Educational Center in Houston, Texas for many years and now was Executive Director of the Jung Society of Washington until 2019, and now serves on the JSW Board of Directors. He is a retired Senior Training Analyst for the Inter-Regional Society of Jungian Analysts, was first Director of Training of the Philadelphia Jung Institute, and is Vice-President Emeritus of the Philemon Foundation. Additionally he is a Professor of Jungian Studies for Saybrook University of San Francisco/Houston.
He lives with his wife Jill, an artist and retired therapist, in Washington, DC. Together they have three living children and eight grand-children.
He has written a total of seventeen books, which have been translated into Swedish, Russian, German, Spanish, French, Hungarian, Portuguese, Turkish, Italian, Korean, Finnish, Romanian, Bulgarian, Farsi, Japanese, Greek, Chinese, Serbian, Latvian, Ukranian and Czech.
He lives with his wife Jill, an artist and retired therapist, in Washington, DC. Together they have three living children and eight grand-children.
He has written a total of seventeen books, which have been translated into Swedish, Russian, German, Spanish, French, Hungarian, Portuguese, Turkish, Italian, Korean, Finnish, Romanian, Bulgarian, Farsi, Japanese, Greek, Chinese, Serbian, Latvian, Ukranian and Czech.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
March 29, 2025
Ако можеха повече хора да пишат така за дълбинната психология. Джеймс Холис много умело вплита и митове, ритуали, поезия.
January 15, 2022
If you are interested in Jungian depth psychology this book will help you do your own inner work if you aren't able to go to an analyst or therapist. It is also impactful even if you've been seeing an analyst or therapist for years.
This is my favorite of Hollis' 18 books, as it is the most autobiographical, and manages to be even more densely packed with wisdom. Hollis is such an inspiration. At age 81 he maintains a full practice and writing schedule even after recent hip and knee replacements and cancer treatments.
Chapter Six, Doing Difficult Therapy, is outstanding; do yourself a favor and at least read this chapter. These 40+ pages could easily be expanded into a separate book. After explaining why he no longer works with couples in therapy he lists seven questions he recommends that both people in the relationship ponder and address. Here is one of the questions: "Ask each person what he or she brings to the table which they know is annoying and painful to the other, that which has so often provoked discord, conflict, hurt."
Then he describes what the daily experience of men is like: the shame, isolation, despair that is often there, and how men have as many restrictive expectations placed on them as women. He provides a set of eight secrets of most men's lives. Here is one of them: "The power of the feminine is immense in the psychic economy of men."
In the final part of this chapter he addresses how we can find a mature spirituality and reclaim personal authority. "It is important to recall those strange words of the itinerant rabbi Jesus who said, "Who is with Mother and Father is not with me." (Matthew, 10:37) Or, when he saw his mother at the marriage at Cana, "Woman, what hast thou to do with me?" Was he expressing a strong mother complex and in need of analysis, or did he intuitively understand the need to leave received authority in search of one's own, authentically lived journey? "
This book will surely guide you on your path to individuation (wholeness).
This is my favorite of Hollis' 18 books, as it is the most autobiographical, and manages to be even more densely packed with wisdom. Hollis is such an inspiration. At age 81 he maintains a full practice and writing schedule even after recent hip and knee replacements and cancer treatments.
Chapter Six, Doing Difficult Therapy, is outstanding; do yourself a favor and at least read this chapter. These 40+ pages could easily be expanded into a separate book. After explaining why he no longer works with couples in therapy he lists seven questions he recommends that both people in the relationship ponder and address. Here is one of the questions: "Ask each person what he or she brings to the table which they know is annoying and painful to the other, that which has so often provoked discord, conflict, hurt."
Then he describes what the daily experience of men is like: the shame, isolation, despair that is often there, and how men have as many restrictive expectations placed on them as women. He provides a set of eight secrets of most men's lives. Here is one of them: "The power of the feminine is immense in the psychic economy of men."
In the final part of this chapter he addresses how we can find a mature spirituality and reclaim personal authority. "It is important to recall those strange words of the itinerant rabbi Jesus who said, "Who is with Mother and Father is not with me." (Matthew, 10:37) Or, when he saw his mother at the marriage at Cana, "Woman, what hast thou to do with me?" Was he expressing a strong mother complex and in need of analysis, or did he intuitively understand the need to leave received authority in search of one's own, authentically lived journey? "
This book will surely guide you on your path to individuation (wholeness).
February 14, 2022
This collection of essays from James Hollis is a fount of wisdom created from a beautiful blend of depth psychology, Greek philosophy, great literature ( including the Bible) and personal memoir. To my mind, there is no author who is more helpful in leading those who are willing towards self understanding and self awareness.
The essays are on such topics as the twin challenges of overwhelmment and abandonment that each of us as humans face, the role narrative plays in our lives as we create and then are sometimes held back by them, and the importance of failure and of truly growing up into adulthood.
One essay entitled “ Doing Difficult Therapy” lists 7 characteristics of an infantile and unrealistic view of life. To get a taste of his perspective, here are the 7 beliefs:
1. The fantasy of steady-state happiness ( we should always be happy)
2. We can find a safe sanctuary where we are protected from harm
3. An expectation that the world is fair
4. Right behavior on our part will lead to reciprocity from Life itself
5. We look to some person or ideology to take care of us and help us not have to grow up.
6. One’s image of God is childlike and literalistic
7. We all look for someone to tell us the “big picture” and sort it all out for us.
He then goes on to contrast these with 5 attitudes of a mature philosophy of life.
The last essay is more personal, sharing glimpses and nuggets from his 82 year journey from a poor child raised by evangelicals in Springfield, Illinois to the respected Jungian analyst he is today.
Hollis’s books are chock-full of insights and aha moments, and this book was no exception. For those just being introduced to his work, I might recommend they start with “ Finding Meaning in the Second Half of Life” or “ Why People Do Bad Things” , as they are more comprehensive. On the other hand, this might be a good choice for someone just wanting to dip their toes into the waters of his deep discernment. He isn’t always the easiest read, in part because his writing requires one to pause and reflect before moving on, but I find him enlightening and well worth the effort.
The essays are on such topics as the twin challenges of overwhelmment and abandonment that each of us as humans face, the role narrative plays in our lives as we create and then are sometimes held back by them, and the importance of failure and of truly growing up into adulthood.
One essay entitled “ Doing Difficult Therapy” lists 7 characteristics of an infantile and unrealistic view of life. To get a taste of his perspective, here are the 7 beliefs:
1. The fantasy of steady-state happiness ( we should always be happy)
2. We can find a safe sanctuary where we are protected from harm
3. An expectation that the world is fair
4. Right behavior on our part will lead to reciprocity from Life itself
5. We look to some person or ideology to take care of us and help us not have to grow up.
6. One’s image of God is childlike and literalistic
7. We all look for someone to tell us the “big picture” and sort it all out for us.
He then goes on to contrast these with 5 attitudes of a mature philosophy of life.
The last essay is more personal, sharing glimpses and nuggets from his 82 year journey from a poor child raised by evangelicals in Springfield, Illinois to the respected Jungian analyst he is today.
Hollis’s books are chock-full of insights and aha moments, and this book was no exception. For those just being introduced to his work, I might recommend they start with “ Finding Meaning in the Second Half of Life” or “ Why People Do Bad Things” , as they are more comprehensive. On the other hand, this might be a good choice for someone just wanting to dip their toes into the waters of his deep discernment. He isn’t always the easiest read, in part because his writing requires one to pause and reflect before moving on, but I find him enlightening and well worth the effort.
March 21, 2022
What can I say, but another Hollis book that helped me grow up and have a better life!
May 8, 2025
Really can't go wrong with a James Hollis book. This one was written quite late into Hollis' writing career, so we have the benefit or seeing how the guy has developed his thinking into his later life.
The book feels more like a compilation rather than a focus on a central theme as in his earlier works. The sort of thing you can nibble away at, which is exactly what I did. Hollis' deepening acceptance and comfort with the paradoxes of life here is evident.
More so than his earlier works, Hollis circumambulates the inevitable problems of life from different angles and does not state opinions with a single brush stroke. He has an almost filing-cabinet like memory of the decades of his life, and shares with the reader the way he approached and thought about challenges at the time. We get to see how this wise soul challenged and changed his thinking throughout the years.
I couldn't give the book 5 stars. It feels closer to a collection of memoirs rather than a focal statement. The focus theme leans more toward the refraction from the pieces of broken glass, rather than the mirror. You might not feel any less compartmentalised after reading this, but you'll have a far more mature understanding of the nature of it.
The book feels more like a compilation rather than a focus on a central theme as in his earlier works. The sort of thing you can nibble away at, which is exactly what I did. Hollis' deepening acceptance and comfort with the paradoxes of life here is evident.
More so than his earlier works, Hollis circumambulates the inevitable problems of life from different angles and does not state opinions with a single brush stroke. He has an almost filing-cabinet like memory of the decades of his life, and shares with the reader the way he approached and thought about challenges at the time. We get to see how this wise soul challenged and changed his thinking throughout the years.
I couldn't give the book 5 stars. It feels closer to a collection of memoirs rather than a focal statement. The focus theme leans more toward the refraction from the pieces of broken glass, rather than the mirror. You might not feel any less compartmentalised after reading this, but you'll have a far more mature understanding of the nature of it.
October 7, 2022
James has written an essentially optimistic and uplifting book of essays, almost amounting to a celebration of a long career. Some of the essays I found more enlightening than others - I especially enjoyed the first two, describing the 'uncivil' war within us and the role of the ego. I enjoyed his message that neurosis may not be able to be overcome but can be seen for what they are. I liked his use of the poetry of others to achieve his point and his light and easy way of writing. I recommend this volume to anyone who enjoys the Jungian approach.
January 25, 2025
My first thought was- this is one of the greatest books I’ve read on psychology.
Followed immediately by a question - so, better than Gabor Mate’s books? And also an underlying discomfort with the hierarchy that my first thought was trying to impose.
I’m a child abuse survivor and I’ve been in regular weekly therapy for 4 years now. Narrative, CBD. My therapist has been an abundant source of compassion.
The central message of this book, is holding oneself accountable. I don’t think I found the word trauma even once although I could be misremembering.
If this book had come to me 4 years back, it may have deepened my self flagellation.
But after building a foundation of self compassion, I was ready for this book and it is what I needed. If you think you have offered yourself sufficient self compassion, don’t think twice before starting this. If not, wait. :)
Followed immediately by a question - so, better than Gabor Mate’s books? And also an underlying discomfort with the hierarchy that my first thought was trying to impose.
I’m a child abuse survivor and I’ve been in regular weekly therapy for 4 years now. Narrative, CBD. My therapist has been an abundant source of compassion.
The central message of this book, is holding oneself accountable. I don’t think I found the word trauma even once although I could be misremembering.
If this book had come to me 4 years back, it may have deepened my self flagellation.
But after building a foundation of self compassion, I was ready for this book and it is what I needed. If you think you have offered yourself sufficient self compassion, don’t think twice before starting this. If not, wait. :)
February 15, 2026
There is a lot of wisdom in this book. I listened to it on audible and was able to glean much from this. It is a good read for counselors who want to learn more from an existential counseling framework.
February 18, 2022
Pretty much essential!
April 20, 2022
Another Gem!
I adore the wisdom of James Hollis. His insights and reflections are nectar for the soul. This is a book to return to again and again.
I adore the wisdom of James Hollis. His insights and reflections are nectar for the soul. This is a book to return to again and again.
August 2, 2022
James Hollis at his best. Hope he writes his autobiography! 💖
August 8, 2022
I posted my review of this book on my blog: https://strivetoengage.wordpress.com/...
January 4, 2025
"Изпратен отвъд спомените си,
иди до границата на копнежите си."
Р. М. Рилке
иди до границата на копнежите си."
Р. М. Рилке
February 20, 2025
THE philosopher.
What all the stoics aimed for about "living a good life"...
James Hollis is the peak of all that, but so much deeper
What all the stoics aimed for about "living a good life"...
James Hollis is the peak of all that, but so much deeper
March 23, 2025
Gonna have to read this one again. Heavy lifting jungian thinking.
October 3, 2025
I simply love this man.
Each one of his books is like dominoes falling in my head. My first James Hollis book took a year to read as every paragraph took a few days to process. This one my third, took five days and I devoured it.
Such a gift.
Each one of his books is like dominoes falling in my head. My first James Hollis book took a year to read as every paragraph took a few days to process. This one my third, took five days and I devoured it.
Such a gift.
August 4, 2022
Intense. Superbly crafted. A peek into the mind of someone teetering between genius and madness.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews