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274. Quarterlife: The Search for Self in Early Adulthood with Satya Doyle Byock

If you’re trying to figure out how to navigate this whole adulthood thing, and maybe even do some personal growth along the way, we have the perfect episode for you this week!

Listen in as Debbie talks with Satya Doyle Byock, Jungian psychotherapist, and author of the book Quarterlife: The Search for Self in Early Adulthood. Satya shares her ideas about the struggle to find both meaning and stability in adulthood, and offers ideas for fostering psychological growth.

Listen and Learn:

  • Hear Debbie’s attempt to “nutshell” all of Jungian psychology in two minutes or less (Jungians everywhere, please forgive her!)
  • Some of the unique aspects of the stage of quarterlife (or early adulthood), and why Satya loves working with young adults in her clinical practice.
  • Why quarterlife can be a time of “crisis” for some people, and how it can be viewed as an opportunity for psychological growth
  • How the traditional markers of adulthood reflect acquisition culture.
  • The tension between seeking meaning and stability, and the unique challenges faced by meaning types and stability types
  • What Carl Jung had to say about the “serpentine path” of self-exploration
  • Why it can be worthwhile to explore the darker, “shadow” aspects of ourselves
  • The four pillars of psychological growth
  • How Jungian and behavioral psychology approaches might have more in common than you realize! (And yes, non-therapist listeners, we know you might not care about this at all!)

Resources:

About Satya

Satya Doyle Byock is a psychotherapist in private practice in Portland, Oregon and the author of Quarterlife: The Search for Self in Early Adulthood (Random House, 2022). Her clinical work and writing focus on how developmental psychology attends to the first twenty years of adulthood, incorporating a depth psychological as well as social justice lens. Rather than just emphasize the search for security and stability in this stage of life, Satya has introduced a framework for an exploration of meaning as well.

Satya’s clinical work, writing, and teaching are rooted in Jungian psychology, trauma-informed care, and historical research. She teaches online at The Salome Institute of Jungian Studies, which she founded and directs.

You can find her at SatyaByock.com and SalomeInstitute.com and on Instagram: @satyabyock.

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2 comments
  • Love love love this podcast. I am the parent of two Humans in their Quarterlife. I hope to share it with them.

    As a geropsychologist i am accustomed to having these important conversations with people age 50 to 100 and beyond. This sort of work is normalized in decades 5+. AND we are living our lives, striving for meaning every single day, from birth on. Thank you for providing a framework for this.

    • Hi Lynn! I’m just now seeing this comment, I’m sorry for the delay. Just wanted to thank you for listening, and for reaching out. So glad you enjoyed the conversation!

      And, so true – these conversations are important across the lifespan!

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Episode 274