Get to know us
We are a diverse group of analysts and teachers that shares a commitment to well-being and a love of contemplative practices. Our personal and professional lives have revolved around explorations of the science, art, and experience of transformative ideas, images and practices. We hope to share some of these with you during our retreat.
Our mission:
Contemplative Jung
Our inspiration comes from a contemplative approach to the work of C.G. Jung. We endeavor to help people find the time and space to nourish their own contemplative practices. Our goal is to bring some of the insights and experiences from a Jungian analytic encounter to more people - and in a way that can become a way of life. Another way to say this is that we have no answers for you - but we have found that your own images have the answers. We offer a way into those experiential images and a way to make sense of them. In this way, a contemplative practice can be built regardless of your previous experience or spiritual tradition.
Our vision: Meaningful life
and action via inner process
Our plan is to help everyone explore and then practice some of Jung's concepts - in their everyday lives. We are inspired by Jung's comment that people can become disoriented in a world that can become overwhelming - it can hinder our growth and take us off the path. But there is a path based on the wisdom of images that emerge from the unconscious. This path is available to any of us if we can pay attention to and work with these images, affects, body states and behavior patterns. It is this attention that allows us to "shed light on the secret chambers of the soul" (C.G. Jung) and to regain our orientation and sense of purpose.
Our team
Morgan Stebbins
Morgan Stebbins (Mdiv, Dmin, LMSW, LP) is a supervising analyst, faculty member and former Director of Training at the Jungian Psychoanalytic Association in New York, where he also maintains a private practice. His doctorate is in Religious Studies and Hermeneutics. He began his Zen training at the San Francisco Zen Center in 1979 and was a monastic resident. He has written on symbol formation, dreams, the role of mindfulness in analysis, the meaning of compulsion, the archetypal psychology of Buddhist sutras and precepts, and the theories of Paul Ricoeur and Jacques Lacan in conversation with CG Jung.
Allison Avery
Allison F. Avery, is a Jungian Analyst, executive coach, and the Chief People and Flourishing Officer at a boutique management consulting firm in New York. Allison has a Master of Arts in Applied Psychology from NYU, is on the faculty of the Jungian Psychoanalytic Association and is a professional member of the International Society for the Psychoanalytic Study of Organizations. Allison’s professional experience spans the organizational and team—to the interpersonal and intrapsychic. She leads workshops and has written on implicit bias and projection, cultural empathy, intersectional inclusion, and personal flourishing.
Ilana Storace
Ilana Storace (MAPCC, LP, Jungian Analyst) is a Certified Jungian Analyst and Licensed Psychoanalyst with a private practice in New York. Ilana has a Master of Arts in Pastoral Care and Counseling and is on the faculty of the Jungian Psychoanalytic Association where she is also the Director of Admissions. Ilana has taught Taijiquan and Qigong for over 30 years, and is a published and exhibited photographer. Ilana grounds the ancient philosophy of Taoism in daily life. She explores expressions of dynamic harmony in art, movement, and the psychological lens of C.G. Jung.
Melissa Amdur
Melissa Amdur is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with a private psychotherapy practice in Brooklyn, NY. She has worked as a multi-faith chaplain in the palliative care and hospice departments of Mt. Sinai and Beth Israel Hospitals. Melissa has also been an adjunct instructor in English and Religion at Hunter College and maintains a Zen Buddhist practice.