About Life Artistry: an evolving story

Founded in 2005, Life Artistry is an Australian-based centre dedicated to advancing the understanding and creative applications of depth psychology in personal, professional and community life. 

Since our beginnings we have been honoured and proud to present innovative, high-quality and much-loved graduate-level courses, workshops, lectures, and retreats, informed by the wisdom traditions of depth (Jungian and archetypal) psychology.  

Life Artistry’s personalised and soul-nourishing educational programs have received numerous excellent reviews, from participants including psychologists, career counsellors, artists, writers, psychiatrists, sociologists, community workers, molecular biologists, dance teachers, university professors, retirees, Jungian analysts, transpersonal counsellors, secondary school teachers, nurses, medical doctors, organisational change managers, learning development consultants, geologists, lawyers, yoga practitioners, sustainability educators, architects, town planners… and more!

Read what people have said about Life Artistry here.   

Beginnings

The Life Artistry Centre emerged from a desire to facilitate affordable, high-quality educational opportunities in the field of depth psychology which were missing in Australia and New Zealand. The founder Suzanne Cremen began her working life in 1991 as a lawyer in Sydney, before embarking on a journey of over 20 occupations in an endeavour to find her calling and place in the world.  Eventually, she drew upon her experience and skills in career transitioning to requalify as a holistic career counsellor. With her husband James Davidson, Suzanne made a tree-change to the Sunshine Coast hinterland in Australia, where she established a successful careers practice for adults in midlife called Life Artistry.  The name Life Artistry had come to her years earlier in a dream, long before she knew what it was would be. 

Despite the value of mainstream career approaches, they are limited to support the individual who desires to attune to and live a more soul-centred calling, one which arises from a deeper place than the ego or conscious mind. Nudged further by dreams, synchronicities (and what Plato would call her daimon), Suzanne travelled to the accredited Pacifica Graduate Institute in the United States, to complete post-graduate degrees in the engaged humanities, mythological studies and depth psychology.

The radically transformative and healing power of a depth psychologically-oriented education impressed upon Suzanne the value of such an education being available to others in her homeland. Given the complex and pressing ecological, social, economic, and political challenges of our times, the necessity for the inner spark and true ‘genius’ of each person to awaken is not only of personal significance, it is of essential importance if we are to imagine and create a sustainable collective future.

In addition, the potential for extending ideas and insights from the humanities and depth psychology towards a profound re-imagining of the role of work in our lives was palpable to Suzanne.  This became the focus of her PhD thesis, for which she received an APA scholarship, on ‘The re-enchantment of work: A depth psychological approach to vocation and career’, and led to the re-launch of the ‘Life Artistry Centre for Archetype, Imagination and Vocation’ in Melbourne in 2016.

Life artistry COURSES AND EVENTS: 2016-2021

Since 2016, the Life Artistry Centre has been proud to offer high-quality, tremendously well-reviewed seminars, lectures, workshops and retreats in Australia, with internationally regarded teachers, on:

• The Archetypal Basis of Calling Part 1: Jung and Hillman on Purpose and Soulmaking – with Dr Glen Slater

• The Archetypal Basis of Calling Part 2: Joseph Cambell on Myth and Meaning – with Dr Safron Rossi

• The Afternoon of Life: A winter retreat to discover authentic vocation – with Dr Jennifer Selig and Dr Suzanne Cremen

• The Deep Psychology of Money, Vocation as Psyche’s Call and Complexes as Pathways to Vocation – with Dr Suzanne Cremen

• Ensouling our Work: Lessons from Ecopsychology, Spiritual and Indigenous Traditions – with Professor David Tacey and Dr Suzanne Cremen

• How Psyche Speaks: Archetypal & Mythic Perspectives for Life & Work – with Dr Glen Slater and Dr Safron Rossi

• The Feminine Face of Power: Becoming Transformational Elders – with Dr Cynthia King

• Retire your Family Karma – with Ashok Bedi MD

• Imaginal mind, indigenous Self: Activating deep relationships with nature through dreams, poetry & pilgrimage – with Professor Veronica Goodchild and Professor Robert Romanyshyn

• Psyche, Nature and Cosmos: Reimagining Inner and Outer Worlds (an educational retreat) – with Dr Glen Slater and Dr Safron Rossi

• Healing Trauma, Re-imagining the Future - with Dr Suzanne Cremen, Gael Beldon and Dr Peter Westoby.

• Tango, Soul and Psyche - with Dr Suzanne Cremen and Dianne Heywood-Smith.

The Career as a Journey of Soul series

In addition, Dr Suzanne Cremen has developed and delivered a unique modular program of intensive courses on aspects of depth psychology and vocation.  The four graduate level courses which comprise this program are personalised, affordable, creative, modular, and designed especially for people in Australia and New Zealand:

• Career as a Journey of Soul: Introduction to a depth psychological approach to vocation (8 week course - online and in person)

• Archetypal, Mythic and Cinematic Perspectives on Vocation (6 week course)

• Transforming Complexes as Pathways to Vocation (6 week course)

• The Re-enchantment of Work – 6 week course.

Please join our contact list to stay informed about our next stages, activities and programs, and drop us a line or telephone (03) 9444 0570 if you have any queries.  

We welcome your engagement and hope to hear from you soon!