Depth Psychology and the Complexity of Mother’s Day

Mother’s Day, while celebratory for many, can be triggering for those grieving the loss of a mother, a child, or an unfulfilled longing to become a mother. From a depth psychological perspective—which draws on Jungian, psychoanalytic, and archetypal traditions—these experiences are not merely individual losses but encounters with the deeper, often unconscious dimensions of the psyche.

Grief and the Archetype of the Mother

Depth psychology views the mother not only as a personal figure but as an archetype. An archetype is a universal symbol residing in the collective unconscious, a concept developed by Carl Jung, a foundational figure in depth psychology. It refers to a level of the unconscious mind shared by all human beings, containing universal patterns, symbols, and instincts. The mother archetype embodies nurturing, origin, protection, and the ground of being. When someone loses their mother or cannot embody the role of mother themselves, it can feel like a rupture in the foundation of life itself. This can look like a soul wound or existential disorientation. It might include encounters with the Terrible Mother archetype (e.g., abandonment, loss, rage, betrayal). Finally, it often is characterized by a crisis in identity. The latter is especially relevant for women defining themselves through relational or maternal roles.

Mother Hunger is a term coined by therapist and author Kelly McDaniel to describe a deep, often unconscious longing for the essential elements of maternal care—nurturance, protection, and guidance—that were insufficient or absent during early development. This concept identifies a form of attachment injury that can profoundly affect emotional well-being and relational patterns throughout adulthood.

Mother Loss (Adult or Child)

Grieving a deceased mother can evoke deep longing and a sense of being orphaned. Feeling emotionally and/or spiritually unmothered, can lead us to regress to earlier psychological states. In this case, nurturing of the inner child becomes vital. In mother loss, we may experience dreams or images from the unconscious related to maternal themes. The depth tradition encourages healing through engaging with symbolic mothers through Jungian therapists, nature, or spiritual figures.

Infant Death and Pregnancy Loss

Losing a child—born or unborn—plunges the psyche into the depths of mourning. The mother archetype, once a source of life, becomes a site of trauma. Depth-oriented therapy may explore shadow aspects—feelings of failure, rage, or numbness. It might incorporate imaginal techniques like active imagination to dialogue with lost or never-born children. Rituals of mourning may also be integrated to connect with the soul of the child and reweave meaning.

Infertility and Pregnancy Termination

Infertility or choosing (or being forced) to terminate a pregnancy can stir profound unconscious material. Guilt, shame, or grief may activate the negative mother complex—internalized judgments and critical self-images. The body itself may be experienced as a site of betrayal or failure. Depth therapy might focus on healing through symbolic fertility. Creativity, inner child work, or connection with the Great Mother in myth and dream.

Matrilineal Generational Trauma

Cross-generational healing through connection to the matrilineal line—our mothers, grandmothers, and female ancestors—invites us into a soulful process of reclamation, grief work, and restoration. In depth psychology and many indigenous or ancestral traditions, this form of healing acknowledges that we carry the emotional, psychological, and sometimes even physical imprints of those who came before us.

Healing the matrilineal line frees the next generation from repeating unconscious patterns. It helps to reclaim your own voice, worth, and feminine power. Finally, it restores a sacred continuity—you become not only a daughter, but a healer and ancestor-in-the-making.

Complexity of Mother’s Day

Mother’s Day can open a portal into the archetypal dimensions of grief. Depth therapy honors it as a day to reflect on meaningful and necessary parts of the soul’s journey. Healing often involves reclaiming the inner mother, mourning, and finding a symbolic rebirth through creative or spiritual pathways.

Depth psychotherapists often invoke several powerful mythic mother-daughter relationships drawn from various traditions. These archetypal stories reflect themes of love, loss, transformation, individuation, and generational healing. The core material in depth psychology.

Demeter and Persephone (Greek Mythology)

Theme: Loss, initiation, descent, and return

Story: Persephone, daughter of Demeter (goddess of the harvest), is abducted by Hades and taken to the underworld. Demeter’s grief causes the earth to go barren. Eventually, a compromise is reached: Persephone spends part of the year above (spring/summer) and part below (fall/winter).

Relevance to Depth Therapy: The daughter’s separation represents individuation—the necessary descent into the unconscious. The mother's grief reflects the pain of letting go. This myth is a map of grief, transformation, and cyclical renewal, often evoked in depth therapy.

Inanna and Ereshkigal (Sumerian Myth)

Theme: Shadow integration and feminine wholeness

Story: Inanna, goddess of love and fertility, descends to the underworld to confront her dark sister Ereshkigal, queen of death. In the process, she is stripped of her worldly power and dies, only to be reborn.

Relevance to Depth Therapy: Though not a literal mother-daughter pair, Ereshkigal represents the underworld shadow. She is often linked to the rejected or feared maternal aspects. This myth speaks to the descent into the dark feminine, a rite of passage needed for full feminine maturity.

Kali and Parvati / Durga (Hindu Mythology)

Theme: Fierce love, protection, and transformation

Story: Kali, an aspect of Parvati (consort of Shiva), emerges in moments of rage to destroy evil. Though terrifying, she is also maternal—protecting her children fiercely.

Relevance to Depth Therapy: These goddesses show dual aspects of the Mother—nurturing and destructive. For daughters, internalizing both aspects can lead to emotional sovereignty and empowerment.

Hecate and Her Priestesses (Greek / Pre-Hellenic Myth)

Theme: Matrilineal wisdom and initiation

Story: Hecate, goddess of the crossroads, magic, and the underworld, is a crone figure associated with the dark moon and guiding souls. Often seen as a wise maternal ancestor who supports transitions and rites of passage.

Relevance to Depth Therapy: Represents the ancestral mother—a source of deep intuitive knowledge. Relationships with spiritual or ancestral “mothers” can substitute or supplement wounded real-life dynamics.

Sky Woman and Her Daughter (Iroquois Creation Myth)

Theme: Creation and continuity

Story: Sky Woman falls from the sky world, lands on the back of a turtle (now Earth), and gives birth to a daughter. The daughter gives birth to twin sons—one good, one destructive—before dying.

Relevance to Depth Therapy: This myth illustrates the creative power of the mother line, even through death and sacrifice. It honors the earth as both mother and daughter—an ongoing lineage of feminine creation.

Pele and Hi‘iaka (Hawaiian Mythology)

Theme: Sisterly and maternal mentorship

Story: Pele, the volcano goddess, and her younger sister Hi‘iaka, a healer and seer, share a complex relationship of rivalry, care, and betrayal.

Relevance to Depth Therapy: Though framed as sisters, their dynamic reflects intergenerational feminine conflict and growth. It explores the tension between destruction and healing within the same lineage.

Myths as Mirrors

These myths offer more than stories—they serve as mirrors of the psyche. In depth therapy exploring these mythic pairs can help illuminate inherited patterns, unresolved grief, or forgotten inner resources.

If Mother’s Day incited grief or other complex emotions, depth psychotherapy may be a helpful path to understanding and healing. The depth therapists at Rezak Therapy are available for free consultation calls to help you determine if this approach is appropriate for you. Please reach out if you are seeking support.