Archetypes and/or original fantasies

In presenting clinical case material for a panel on archetypes and/or primal fantasies an initial discussion of archetypes as emergent phenomena organizing “moments of complexity” is given. The relationship of such moments to “moments of meeting” as developed by the Boston Process of Change Study Group is commented on and explored within the context of the case. A condensed report of a multi-year analytic treatment of a bipolar patient having a severe trauma history is offered for discussion. Several unusual, enigmatic events are detailed to illustrate the occurrence of moments of complexity. Dreams highlighting psychological transformation stemming from a changing relationship to emerging archetypal material related to a psychotic process in the patient are offered to further detail moments of complexity.