In this episode, Jessica Dore discusses how tarot cards can be used as a psychological tool in creating meaning and finding connections in our lives. Jessica is 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. Her 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. Jessica's 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 Jessica hold a masters degree in social work and is licensed as a social worker in Pennsylvania, she does not consider herself a therapist. Prior to social work school, she worked several years in clinical psychology, self-help and behavioral science book publishing, where she spent time with the founders and developers of acceptance and commitment therapy, or ACT. What she learned during that time informed much of what went into her book, Tarot for Change, and other writing. These days, she continues to study things that interest her: 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. She was born and raised on the north shore of Massachusetts and currently lives 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. Shownotes: www.drkaitlin.com

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