The Returning Spiral
Psyche · Soma · Embodied Art · Creative Imagination
An Embodied Exploration of the Heroine's Journey
A 12-month in-person depth-psychological container for women's work facilitators, therapists, counsellors, mentors and those curious in Jungian psychology
What does the journey towards Wholeness ask of us?
There are many maps that attempt to chart the terrain of the human psyche and the process of Individuation. Yet how might we move beyond understanding these maps intellectually and begin to experience them through the body, the imagination, our expression, our relationships and the living world around us?
The Returning Spiral offers a space to explore Maureen Murdock's Heroine's Journey as a lived, embodied and relational process. Bringing together Jungian depth psychology, creative imagination, somatic enquiry and shared reflection, this 12-month container invites us to deepen our understanding of the feminine psyche, explore the stories we have inherited, and consider what psychological Wholeness might mean for women in our time.
This is an invitation to journey both personally and professionally: to deepen into your own unfolding whilst cultivating a richer, more nuanced understanding of the women you accompany in your work.
THE MAP
Exploring the Heroine's Journey
We all know the power of a roadmap. It offers orientation, illuminates possible routes and helps us make sense of the terrain ahead. And yet, any map is also a particular interpretation of the landscape: shaped by the perspective from which it was drawn, the ground it seeks to cover, and the experiences it may leave uncharted.
Within depth psychology, numerous models seek to depict the process of Individuation: the lifelong movement towards a more integrated expression of the Self.
Perhaps the most widely recognised mythological framework is Joseph Campbell's Hero's Journey, or Monomyth. Its influence can be seen throughout literature, mythology and contemporary storytelling. However, its emphasis on departure, conquest, achievement and return has also prompted important questions about whose experiences are represented, whose stories remain marginalised, and whether a predominantly heroic model adequately captures the psychological journey of women and the current times in which we live.
Maureen Murdock, a psychotherapist and author who studied with Campbell, recognised that his framework did not fully reflect the experiences of the women she worked with. In response, she developed the Heroine's Journey, first published in 1990, as an alternative framework for exploring the psychological and spiritual journey of women.
Murdock's map explores themes including separation from the feminine, identification with masculine values, the pursuit of achievement, experiences of spiritual and emotional aridity, the descent into the depths, the healing of wounded feminine aspects, and the eventual integration of feminine and masculine principles.
Rather than understanding these stages as a prescriptive sequence or a universal account of women's lives, in the Returning Spiral we will approach the map as a framework for exploration: one that can be encountered, questioned, embodied and interpreted through our own experiences.
THE CONTAINER
Psyche · Soma · Embodied Art · Creative Imagination
The Returning Spiral is an experiential meeting point between depth psychology, embodied practice and creative imagination.
Across twelve in-person monthly gatherings, we will explore the Heroine's Journey not simply as a psychological theory, but as a living enquiry into the relationship between psyche and soma: the symbolic and the felt, the conscious and the unconscious, the individual and the collective.
Each gathering will offer opportunities to engage with a particular aspect of the journey through teaching, embodiment, discussion, creative practice and shared reflection.
We will explore how archetypal patterns might manifest in our own lives, how inherited cultural narratives shape our relationship with ourselves, and how the process of Individuation might unfold through the body, relationships, creative expression and our connection with the natural world.
There will be space for complexity, uncertainty and difference. Rather than seeking definitive answers or prescribing a particular way of being a woman, we will approach the work with curiosity, allowing individual experience to inform our understanding of the map.
The group itself becomes part of the enquiry: a space in which our experiences can be witnessed, reflected upon and brought into dialogue with the experiences of others.
Alongside our monthly gatherings, participants will be encouraged to continue exploring the terrain in their daily lives through personal creative practice, reflective enquiry and engagement with the world around them.
Monthly readings and take-home invitations will support this ongoing exploration, allowing the work to continue reverberating between sessions.
This is an emergent space in which embodied art, psyche and creative imagination meet. A place to explore the existing map, whilst remaining open to what might emerge beyond it.
Murdock writes:
“The heroine's journey begins with separation from the Feminine and ends with Integration of Masculine and Feminine.”
Maureen Murdock, The Heroine's Journey (1990, p. 5)
REIMAGINING THE MAP
The Heroine's Journey in our time
Our exploration will extend beyond the individual psyche.
The stories we inherit about womanhood, achievement, success, care, power and belonging do not emerge in isolation. They are shaped by the cultures, systems and histories in which we live, and by the values that have come to dominate our collective imagination.
The historical silencing, devaluation and violation of the feminine principle form an important backdrop to this enquiry. Yet our intention is not simply to reverse existing hierarchies or to replace one rigid set of expectations with another.
Instead, we will explore what becomes possible when we begin to question the binaries through which we have been taught to understand ourselves. What might integration look like beyond fixed ideas of masculine and feminine? How might we honour the complexity of our individual experiences whilst remaining attentive to the cultural differences that shape them?
We will also consider the relationship between the human psyche and the living Earth.
Moriarty's words below offer a flavour: to consider the ways in which our psychological lives are shaped by our relationship with the more-than-human world, and what might become possible when we begin to restore that connection.
Could the Heroine's Journey be understood not only as an individual process of psychological transformation, but also as an invitation to reconsider our relationship with culture, community and the Earth?
And what new stories, images and possibilities might emerge if we allow ourselves to dream the map anew?
John Moriarty writes:
"It might be time, if we aren't going to sicken further, to break out of our cultural grow-bag. It might be time to make contact with wild nature.”
Dreamtime (1994, p. 172),
This container may be for you if you:
Work with women as a therapist, counsellor, mentor, facilitator or in a related helping profession.
Feel drawn to Jungian depth psychology, archetypal exploration and the process of Individuation.
Want to deepen your experiential understanding of the Heroine's Journey and its potential relevance to women's lives.
Are curious about bringing creative, embodied and imaginal approaches into your personal or professional practice.
Have an established personal development, contemplative or embodied practice and feel ready to explore a deeper layer of your own journey.
Want to reflect critically on inherited cultural narratives about femininity, wholeness and the relationship between feminine and masculine principles.
Value reflective dialogue, creative exploration and meaningful connection with fellow practitioners.
You do not need to arrive with a complete understanding of Jungian psychology or Maureen Murdock's model. What matters most is a genuine curiosity about the psyche, a willingness to engage in experiential exploration, and an openness to the different perspectives and experiences that others bring.
THE FORM
Twelve months of embodied enquiry
The first gathering will open the container, establish our shared intentions and lay the foundations for the year ahead. The following ten gatherings will explore particular aspects of the Heroine's Journey. Our final gathering will offer a space for integration, reflection and celebration: an opportunity to notice what has shifted, what has emerged, and what continues to unfold.
Each session will combine teaching, embodiment, discussion and sharing, followed by creative group and individual practices.
Between sessions, participants will receive monthly readings and invitations for personal reflection and creative enquiry, encouraging an ongoing relationship with the material in everyday life.
An optional peer-led WhatsApp group will offer an additional space for connection and exchange between gatherings.
For those wishing to explore particular themes in greater depth, individual depth-psychological sandtray sessions will also be available upon request at an additional cost.
About Turiya
My work weaves together Jungian depth psychology, integrative counselling, embodied practice and the mysteries of the feminine.
I hold a First-Class Master's degree in Jungian Psychology (Art, Psyche & Creative Imagination) from TUS Limerick and an Advanced Diploma in Integrative Counselling from Iron Mill College, Exeter. Alongside my therapeutic work, I have spent over a decade immersed in meditation, Hatha Yoga and contemplative practice, exploring the relationship between psyche, soma and spirit.
My path has also led me deeply into women's work, exploring feminine wisdom, archetypal imagery, cyclical ways of knowing and the reclamation of aspects of the feminine that have been silenced, marginalised or forgotten. Through women's circles, retreats, mentoring and creative ritual, I have long been interested in the ways we gather, witness one another and create the conditions for deeper remembering and transformation.
I am particularly drawn to the spaces where the personal meets the collective, where image and imagination offer a language for the unconscious, and where our relationship with the living Earth becomes part of our psychological story.
The Returning Spiral emerges from this ongoing enquiry. It is an invitation to bring together the wisdom of our lived experience, the richness of depth psychology and the creative possibilities of the imaginal - exploring the Heroine's Journey not as a fixed map to follow, but as a living terrain to enter, question and dream anew.
THE PRACTICALITIES
Duration: 12 months
Dates: The first Tuesday afternoon of each month, from February 2027 to January 2028.
Time: 2.00 pm - 5.30 pm
Location: Ashburton / Totnes / Buckfastleigh area, Devon.
Exact Venue to be confirmed.
The Monthly Rhythm
Opening the circle
Establishing our shared space, intentions and relationship with the map.
Exploring the terrain
Engaging with the Heroine's Journey through depth-psychological teaching, archetypal enquiry and embodied exploration.
Creative enquiry
Working with image, imagination, movement and creative expression to explore what may emerge beyond words.
Witnessing and integration
Making space for reflection, dialogue and the integration of personal insights into everyday life and professional practice.
Continuing the journey
Taking the enquiry beyond the group through monthly readings, creative invitations and personal reflection.
The Dates
Tuesday 2nd February 2027
Tuesday 2nd March 2027
Tuesday 6th April 2027
Tuesday 4th May 2027
Tuesday 1st June 2027
Tuesday 6th July 2027
Tuesday 3rd August 2027
Tuesday 7th September 2027
Tuesday 5th October 2027
Tuesday 2nd November 2027
Tuesday 7th December 2027
Tuesday 4th January 2028
A LITTLE ABOUT THE ENQUIRY THAT BROUGHT ME HERE
In 2025, I completed my Master's degree in Jungian Psychology, specialising in Art, Psyche and Creative Imagination. My research explored feminine-masculine Wholeness through archetypal imagery, Jungian arts-based research, alchemical hermeneutics and terrapsychological enquiry.
I was interested in moving beyond simplistic gender constructs to explore how feminine and masculine principles might be understood through depth psychology and creative practice, and how a fuller expression of these principles might emerge within the psyche.
As my research developed, my attention increasingly turned towards the feminine principle: its historical suppression, its symbolic representation, and the importance of creating space for its fuller expression. The Heroine's Journey piqued my interest as a valuable map for women in their quest for Wholeness.
This enquiry continues to inform my work as an integrative counsellor and my interest in the relationship between psychological exploration, embodiment and creative imagination.The Returning Spiral emerges from this ongoing enquiry.
My MA Jungian Thesis Research
As part of my Master’s thesis, Following the Magdalene Red Thread, emerged as an embodied inquiry at the meeting place of psyche, spirit, and land. Rooted in Jungian depth psychology and devotional practice, I approached Mary Magdalene as a living, relational symbol - one who bridged dark and light, Logos and Eros, psyche and soma.
My research journey culminated in a pilgrimage across the Mary Line in Dartmoor, where the intimate artistic processes I had been working with were carried into my body and into the landscape itself, allowing the land to speak and respond to Magdalene’s wisdom.
This work stood as both research and offering: a devotional weaving that sought to reawaken an accessible, embodied sense of divinity and Feminine–Masculine wholeness within the collective imagination.
Watch my Research Video Below.
THE INVESTMENT
Early Bird until 9th December
OPTION ONE - The Returning Spiral
12 payments of £69 per month
OR
£759 Upfront Payment (1 month free)
Regular
12 payments of £79 per month
OR
£869 Upfront Payment (1 month free)
OPTION TWO - The Returning Spiral + 1:1 Monthly Sand-tray Session
Individual sandtray sessions offer an additional opportunity to explore the symbolic landscape of the psyche through image, objects and the process of creating within the sandtray. These 50-minute 1:1 sessions are intended to complement the group experience by offering space for a more personal and focused enquiry. Find out more HERE
Early Bird until 9th December
12 payments of £108 per month
OR
£1188 Upfront Payment (1 month free)
Regular
12 payments of £119 per month
OR
£1309 Upfront Payment (1 month free)
Please note that this is a closed group of 10 participants maximum, therefore if you agree to paying monthly, upon joining the journey you commit to paying the 12 payments. More information in FAQ section below.
Non-refundable deposit: First Month payment (to reserve your place) either £69/£79 or £108/£119.
First Monthly payment due 1st February 2027 - with direct debit due the 1st of the month for 11 months.
Feeling the Call to Join?
Please feel free to reach out to schedule a free 1:1 15-minute discovery call - there is a FAQ section below with some immediate questions and answers. After our call together, I will then send over the relevant information to secure your place. Please note that places are first-come-first serve.
FAQ's
Who is this offering for?
This container is for women. It is for therapists, counsellors, mentors, facilitators and those working in related helping professions who feel drawn to deepen their understanding of depth psychology and the feminine psyche. It is for practitioners who wish to nourish their own ongoing journey of self-discovery whilst exploring how this work might enrich their practice with other women.
Do I need to be familiar with Jungian psychology or the Heroine's Journey?
Not at all. Whilst some familiarity with depth psychology may be helpful, you don't need to be an expert in Jungian theory or have read Maureen Murdock's book. We will explore the framework together, allowing the theory to unfold through teaching, embodied enquiry, creative practice and discussion.
Do I need to be an artist or have a creative practice?
Not at all. This isn't about artistic skill or creating something beautiful; it's about allowing creativity to become another language through which we can explore the psyche. Our creative practice might take many forms, from image-making, writing and working with natural materials to movement, collage, or simply following an impulse to make something. There is no right or wrong way to engage. The invitation is to loosen our expectations of what creativity should look like, become curious about what wants to emerge, and allow the process itself to become part of our enquiry. You are welcome to arrive exactly as you are, with no previous artistic experience required.
Is this personal development or professional development?
Both. The intention is for these two dimensions to inform and enrich one another. Our own lived experience provides an important ground from which to understand the psychological processes we encounter in our work with others. Alongside personal exploration, the programme offers an opportunity to deepen your experiential understanding of archetypal patterns, creative approaches and the complexities of women's journeys. It is intended as experiential professional development rather than a formal qualification or accredited training programme.
Is this a therapy group?
No. The Returning Spiral is an experiential learning and reflective enquiry space for practitioners, rather than a substitute for personal therapy or a therapeutic group. Personal material may naturally arise through the work, and participants will be encouraged to take responsibility for their own boundaries and seek additional support where needed. Please note that the add-on Sandtray 1:1 sessions are therapy-based - and I also offer 1:1 Integrative sessions should you wish for either a therapeutic add-on or as a stand-alone.
Will I need to share personal experiences with the group?
There will be opportunities for reflection, sharing and witnessing, but you will always be encouraged to work at a pace that feels appropriate for you. The intention is to cultivate a respectful and thoughtful space where different experiences can be held with care. You are not expected to disclose anything you would prefer to keep private. After the Discovery Call, my Confidentiality Policy will be shared with you before you reserve your space.
What if I miss a gathering?
As this is a year-long container, continuity is an important part of the experience. If you are unable to attend a session, the monthly reading and take-home enquiry (and optional WhatsApp group participation) can help you remain connected to the material. Missed sessions still require payment - no refunds are possible. You can find more information below - and after the Discovery Call, a full cancellation/withdrawal policy will be shared with you before you reserve your space.
What if I want to withdraw part-way through the programme?
A full cancellation/withdrawal policy will be shared with you after the Discovery Call and before you reserve a space. In summary - because this is a closed month 12-month process I won't be able to fill your space if you leave, therefore generally no refunds will be possible for those that pay up-front - and for those that pay monthly, the continuing monthly payment will still be required. This being said, there are unforeseen, exceptional circumstances, therefore I will try where possible to offer a solution should something unforeseen occur which means it is no longer possible for you to continue with the journey. This will be taken on a case-by-case basis. I hope you understand.
Feeling the Call to Join?
Please feel free to reach out to schedule a free 1:1 15-minute discovery call - there is a FAQ section above with some immediate questions and answers. After our call together, I will then send over the relevant information to secure your place. Please note that places are first-come-first serve.