Longing for Belonging:
Healing the Scapegoat Complex in Ourselves and Our World
Course runs from July 8th to August 12th, 2025
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“Those who are identified with the scapegoat . . . feel inferior, rejected and guilty. They feel responsible for more than their personal share of shadow.”
– Sylvia Brinton Perera
Healing starts with us. We heal our collective by first healing ourselves.
The inspiration and starting point for our journey is this remarkable book, The Scapegoat Complex, as relevant today as when it was first published. As a fellow long-time depth therapist, and especially because I’ve been passionate about issues related to justice and oppression since childhood, Sylvia’s invitation in her Preface, to bring the reach of this work farther out, resonated very much with me:
“While I do not deal here with the broader problems of shadow projection that lead to war and are the basis of collective scapegoating of ‘enemy’ shadow carriers, I hope that my work derived from individual depth analysis will encourage others to deal with the societal implications of the scapegoat archetype. My descriptions of its effects and healing in therapy are only a step toward the necessary healing of collective scapegoat pathology that threatens the survival of our earth.”
Blame, Shame, and Exile
In the simplest terms, scapegoating is the tendency to blame someone else for one’s own problems, attempting to hold onto a positive identity by thrusting out what’s felt to be negative.
It’s woven into all levels of our relating, from the individual level, to the family level (including intergenerational and ancestral patterns), to the collective level. As the saying goes, hurt people, hurt people.
– Sylvia Brinton Perera
"It is a terrible calling, to be ‘a living darkness."
At the family level, the sensitive kids who are scapegoated are typically seen as “dangerous viewers of shadow material best left unseen” (Perera). Because they attune to the deeper layers of the psyche, they often evoke unconscious discomfort in their parents (though they may also be secretly or overtly envied). Their astute perceptions are frequently denied, also known as gaslighting, and they’re shamed and rejected for all the disowned family material they see and hold.
– Bert Hellinger
“Those so-called ‘black sheep,’ the ones that don’t fit, the ones that howl with rebellion, actually repair, detox and create new thriving branches in their family tree.”
As we now realize, trauma isn’t just an individual experience. It’s informed by a wider scale of historical, cultural, collective, and intergenerational experiences and patterns, caused in large part by the pain and degradation of othering and being othered.
From Families to Societies
In family systems therapy, there’s a term that’s synonymous with scapegoat called the identified patient (or IP). The IP is seen as carrying the family’s emotional burdens or unresolved conflicts for the entire system.
Frequently the most sensitive and intuitive member, the IP enacts the underlying distress that’s being held within a family system and is then labeled the “problem” by the family (though the family therapist knows better).
Societies are just like large family systems, and we (sometimes unconsciously and unintentionally) scapegoat those with less power who are most sensitive to being marginalized.
From witch hunts to school bullying, we blame other people for our own problems and fears, from the small scale to the large – and the result is that the people blamed are alienated, excluded, and at times, even dehumanized.
This is how scapegoating relates to racism, misogyny, LGBTQ discrimination, ETC. It’s me vs you, us vs them, “right/good” vs “wrong/bad.”
– Dr. C.G. Jung
"A collective problem, if not recognized as such, always appears as a personal problem; and in individual cases, may give the impression that something is out of order in the realm of the personal psyche. The personal sphere is indeed disturbed, but such disturbances need not be primary; they may well be secondary, the consequence of an insupportable change in the social atmosphere. The cause of disturbance is therefore not to be sought in the personal surroundings, but rather, in the collective situation."
We’ve all been on both sides of this equation, right? So we know how it feels.
There is no short-cut to healing, on the individual or societal level. But if we’re able to hold and integrate both sides of this archetypal shadow (victim and perpetrator), and ultimately transmute this energy within ourselves, we can transform it into new, as-yet-unknown offerings to the outside world – especially collaborative ones, allowing our healing to ripple outward.
My all-time favorite quote from Jung applies perfectly here:
“In our most private and most subjective lives we are not only the passive witnesses of our age, and its sufferers, but also its makers. We make our own epoch.”
Course Info
During this 6-class journey, we’ll first explore your own personal experiences with the scapegoat complex, within your own psyche and family. Then, we’ll move outward into looking at intergenerational patterns, and ultimately, collective ones.
Through it all, our focus will be on healing the complex, the inner split that plagues both our private lives and the world around us.
Here are some things you can expect to receive in this class...
Course Curriculum
The Problem of Shadow Projection
Class 1 - Tuesday, July 8th from 1 - 2:30 pm, ET
Here’s what we’ll cover…
- how and why scapegoating happens, including the central role of guilt and shame; we’ll look through the lenses of both depth psychology and sociology (through the work of Emile Durkheim and René Girard)
- our immature and often unconscious defense mechanisms, including splitting, denial, and magical thinking, that need to be (lovingly) grown up through our efforts to make the unconscious, conscious
- projective identification (by which we take on the burden), and identification with the aggressor (by which we unconsciously perpetuate and inflict pain); since we internalize both sides of the complex, we must understand both
Psychological Fallout from the Scapegoat Complex
Class 2 - Tuesday, July 15th from 1 - 2:30 pm, ET
Here’s what we’ll cover…
- problems associated with experiencing pain, because pain is associated with punishment, rejection, and humiliation instead of just pain (which creates an intense need to escape, often impulsively and/or compulsively)
- problems with both self-assertion and receiving from others, which leads to a terrible double-bind characterized by lack and internal poverty (“illusion of proud self-sufficiency”); can also be associated with eating disorders
- long-term problems related to victimhood, including in ways that are more subtle and nuanced (e.g., depression/exile as a way of “belonging” to the whole, unfair expectations for others to mirror us, unnecessary “surrogate suffering”)
Intergenerational Cycles of Scapegoating
Class 3 - Tuesday, July 22nd from 1 - 2:30 pm, ET
Here’s what we’ll cover…
- how intergenerational scapegoating occurs, rolling on down the line from parent to child until someone is brave and aware enough to break the cycle; I’ll share about my own ancestral lineage and invite you to explore yours too
- the unexpressed life inside each of us goes back much further than us, but so does the wisdom, which we can invite into our awareness through our intention and through deeply honoring our ancestors’ unfinished business
- using genetic genealogy for ancestral healing provides a giant, worthy rabbit hole; it’s very helpful for bridging gaps and silences and awakening our inner connection to our ancestral lineages and the wisdom stored inside us
Scapegoating, Power, & the Collective Shadow
Class 4 - Tuesday, July 29th from 1 - 2:30 pm, ET
Here’s what we’ll cover…
- especially when there’s a power differential (such as between men and women in a patriarchal culture, or between people in historical and current positions of power and those in marginalized groups such as people of color and LGBTQ folks), scapegoating contributes to cycles of oppression, reverberating across generations and causing ongoing harm to all of us
- our guest of honor will be Drisana (Dru) McDaniel, Healing-Centered Facilitator, Educator, Writer, and Transformation Activist, with Q&A
- we’ll continue our discussion of maternal lineages from last week and also expand it by weaving in racialized dimensions of trauma, as well as resilience, capacity, and healing within the Alchemy of Now framework
Empathy and Creativity as Resistance
Class 5 - Tuesday, August 5th from 1 - 2:30 pm, ET
Here’s what we’ll cover…
- healing the scapegoat complex involves alchemizing our wounds into empathic service (“the wounded healer”) or creating something of beauty; both involve processing life’s intensities, work at the edges of the collective
- our guest of honor will be Sabina Espinet, Multi-Cultural Artist, Oracle Deck Illustrator/Author, and First-Generation Colombian Immigrant, with Q&A
- as we continue our discussion of the scapegoat complex and ancestral healing, another focus will be discussing with Sabina HOW she goes about creating beauty from her suffering, in an attempt to make the process more accessible for those who don’t yet know their creative capacity as such
Healing Through Community and Ritual
Class 6 - Tuesday, August 12th from 1 - 2:30 pm, ET
Here’s what we’ll cover…
- “Home is created and discovered as a result of one’s own work and search” (Perera); finding a sense of “belonging to the world” by deepening our connection to the transpersonal as well as those who can truly relate to us
- important role of community in healing, since trauma is relational and group experience was so negatively affected by the complex; “Our hearts are longing to participate in each other’s healing.” – Amy Elizabeth Fox
- as a way to close our journey, we’ll create a final collective sharing container for our group, inviting sharing about anything we’ve transmuted or created as part of our transformation that we want to bring into the collective space
During each module, we’ll set the stage for our conversation with a brief meditation where I’ll invite you into an experience of coherence between your body, heart, and mind. (For those who know the work of Thomas Hübl, this attunement to the inner world will likely feel familiar as I have been trained in his method.)
Classes will be held LIVE with time for sharing, interaction/processing, and Q & A after each module’s teachings.
All live classes will be recorded, and the recordings will be sent to you within 48 hours after the completion of each class.
Class Registration
$189Early bird price until July 6th*$249Regular price after July 6th$899Total Value*Early Bird pricing ends at 11:59pm on July 6th.
Be sure to register before the first class starts on July 8th at 1pm ET.
This price honors the depth of what this 6-module journey includes — from live teaching and group process to the integration of psychology, ancestral healing, and collective trauma.
💞 A few pay-what-you-can community scholarship spots are available to make this work more accessible to those impacted by economic or systemic injustice. If that’s you, please reach out. I believe healing this archetype — and reimagining belonging — is essential collective work, and no one should be excluded for financial reasons.
Class Registration
$249Your Price$899Total ValueBe sure to register before the first class starts on July 8th at 1pm ET.
This price honors the depth of what this 6-module journey includes — from live teaching and group process to the integration of psychology, ancestral healing, and collective trauma.
💞 A few pay-what-you-can community scholarship spots are available to make this work more accessible to those impacted by economic or systemic injustice. If that’s you, please reach out. I believe healing this archetype — and reimagining belonging — is essential collective work, and no one should be excluded for financial reasons.
Here are some of the benefits you can expect to receive through this experience...
- More awareness of your own (possibly previously unconscious) defenses and inner psychological dynamics
- Help understanding the dynamics of your family system and ancestral lineages, including repetitive patterns
- Increased compassion for everyone, as we all work to hold our own small piece of the collective shadow
- Moving the needle on something that’s felt stuck in place for a long time, or a more tangible sense of freedom from burdens you were never even able to explain exactly why you carried
- Hope for our collective future, along with the courage to continue to process and explore shadow material
A little about Stacy...
I’ve been a clinical psychologist in private practice for more than twenty years, and I taught psychology courses at University of Colorado – Boulder for almost ten. In 2019, I wrote a book about psychological astrology called Psychstrology: Apply the Wisdom of the Cosmos to Gain Balance and Improve Your Relationships.
On my mission to find meaning and order (and much-needed self-compassion), I first found practical healing from astrology via feeling seen by the Universe. Eventually, that relationship evolved into a much deeper sense of trust and belief that there’s an important meaning and order to life, and that it’s holding us all – which is another way of saying that astrology paved my pathway into a spiritually rich existence. I spoke to this when I presented at the annual ACEP (Association for Comprehensive Energy Psychology) Conference in May 2022.
I consider myself an ambassador of ancient wisdom and strongly advocate combining mainstream psychology with spiritually-based modalities to help us grow in the direction of balance and wholeness, both individually and as a profession. As the scapegoated child of two scapegoated parents, I’ve also been passionate about issues related to oppression and justice since childhood, and I’ve worked hard to become healed enough to be a genuine, compassionate force for good I know I came here to be.
I’m excited for our co-creative adventure!