[attach id=554619 size="medium"]Laner Cassar[/attach]
Laner Cassar was recently awarded a PhD from the University of Essex, UK, for his thesis entitled ‘Bridging Imaginal Pathways: The Jungian Technique of Active Imagination and Robert Desoille’s Rêve éveillé dirigé’ Method’.
Following postgraduate degrees in clinical psychology, psychotherapy and diplomatic studies, Dr Cassar embarked on and successfully completed a part-time PhD in Psychoanalytic Studies at the Centre for Psychoanalytic Studies in Essex, UK. It was funded by the Malta Government Scholarship Scheme.
In his PhD, Dr Cassar carried out a historical and comparative study of C.G. Jung’s technique of active imagination and Desoille’s directed waking dream therapy, and pioneered a psychotherapeutic framework of the visualisation modality in active imagination, known as Imaginative Movement Therapy (IMT).
During his PhD, Dr Cassar was supervised by the Jungian analyst Prof. Andrew Samuels. The latter is known internationally as an influential commentator on political and social themes and has worked with politicians, political organisations, activist groups and members of the public on an international level. Prof. Samuels has evolved a unique blend of Jungian and post-Jungian, relational, psychoanalytic, and humanistic approaches.
Some of Dr Cassar’s work was published and presented in various international journals and conferences. He is president of the Malta Depth Psychological Association – a group member of the International Association of Analytical Psychology, and project co-ordinator of the International Network for the Study of Waking Dream Therapy.