Welcome to the seventeenth episode of Season Four of Wisdom for Wellbeing Podcast. On this episode I interview Jessica Dore, author of Tarot for Change: Using the Cards for Self-Care, Acceptance and Growth.
In this episode, Jessica Dore discusses how tarot cards may be perceived as quite esoteric but how it can be used as a psychological tool in creating meaning and finding connections in our lives.
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What is covered in this episode:
>>Introduction to the psychologically informed Tarot approach Jessica uses
>>Consideration of what Tarot cards are and their history
>>How Tarot cards can support meaning making
>>The integration of religious ecology/psychology and the four suits of the Tarot cards
>>How can the tarot cards support other psychological practices/skills for wellbeing
>>How the major arcana and minor arcana can be used
>>The use of cards individually, with another, and in a group/circle setting
>>Pulling a card for listeners to experience
>>Where can listeners connect with Jessica and grab a copy of Tarot for Change
Links Discussed
- Instagram @thejessicadore
- Jessica’s Website: jessicadore.com
- Jessica’s book: Tarot for Change: Using the Cards for Self-Care, Acceptance and Growth
Jessica Dore
I’m a writer interested in meaning-making through symbol and image, with a special focus on Pamela Colman Smith’s art in the Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot.
My first book, Tarot for Change: Using the Cards for Self-Care, Acceptance and Growth (Penguin Life, 2021) is a set of reflections on the Tarot that draws from the fields of contemporary psychology and behavioral science, among others. It was called “generous, practical and gently radical” by The New York Times Book Review.
My weekly newsletter, Offerings, braids together ideas from a range of fields including but not limited to psychology, philosophy, mythology, folk tales, religion, spirituality and social work with the images, characters and symbols from Smith’s art in the Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot.
Though I hold a masters degree in social work and am licensed as a social worker in Pennsylvania, I am not a therapist. Prior to social work school, I worked several years in clinical psychology, self-help and behavioral science book publishing, where I spent time with the founders and developers of acceptance and commitment therapy, or ACT. What I learned during that time informed much of what went into my book, Tarot for Change, and other writing.
These days, I continue to study things that interest me: old stories—especially Mediterranean and western European—behavioral psychology, process and liberation theologies, poetry, ecology, growing vegetables, learning to ride a horse as an adult, and ceramics.
I was born and raised on the north shore of Massachusetts and currently live and work outside of Philadelphia on land that was cared for by the Lenape people for more than 10,000 years prior to European settlement.
