Bringing Patients to the Land of Giants

One way of reading the fairytale Jack and the Beanstalk, is that the land of giants, refers to a place of wild imagination. When we are young children we live close to the world of fantasy, to the images that flow from the Unconscious.

Jack enters this world by climbing the beanstalk. Here the people are giants—large, dangerous and powerful, like adults are to children. There is magic here that Jack is able to steal— the goose that lays golden eggs.

Children need to overcome their fear of the giants in order to take what they need from them.

Then, the cord must be severed, the beanstalk chopped down, the giant killed, so that the treasures can be enjoyed without the threat of punishment and revenge.

Of course, we’re talking about a psychological drama.

Adults often need to replant the beanstalk, to be able to return to the land of giants, the land of imagination and fantasy.

In group therapy, we help them explore the fantasies that are contantly bubbling under the surface. One person seems dangerous, another alluring. Someone is moved and says they feel “compassion” for another member. Underneath that single, rather clinical word, is a longing to nurture, to take care of, to be received as an effective source of care, to be able to love, have that love cherished and to be loved in return.