Mitchell Lynn Walker (born 1951) is an American gay activist and Jungian psychologist who has written many influential articles and books on gay-centered psychology.
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Mitch Walker, Ph.D. was the first openly gay writer to be published in the formal Jungian literature, when his groundbreaking paper, “The Double: An Archetypal Configuration,” appeared in Spring in 1976.[1]
This achievement was followed up by his seminal article, “Jung and Homophobia,” published in Spring in 1991. He is the author of the popular sexual liberation primer, Men Loving Men: A Gay Sex Guide & Consciousness Book (Gay Sunshine Press, 1977/1994), which has gone through nine printings, and he also wrote Visionary Love: A Spirit Book of Gay Mythology and Transmutational Faerie (Treeroots Press, 1980). In 2008, he completed a major new study, The Uranian Soul: A Gay-Centered Jungian Psychology Of Male Homosexual Personhood For a New Era of Gay Liberation Politics With Universal Implicational Import, which is currently under review for publication.
In 1979, Walker co-created with activists Harry Hay, John Burnside, and Don Kilhefner the first gay-centered spiritual movement, the Radical Faeries,[2] which is now a worldwide phenomenon.
In 1982, he co-founded with Don Kilhefner the non-profit educational organization Treeroots, which has provided a variety public events on gay soul-making for the Southern California gay community, and in 2005 he spearheaded the establishment in Los Angeles of the Institute for Contemporary Uranian Psychoanalysis, the world’s initial organization dedicated to developing the theory and practice of gay-centered Jungian analytical psychology. For the Institute, Walker is presenting in 2009 a new four-part lecture series entitled, Gay Liberation at a Psychological Crossroads: A Commentary on the Future of Homosexual Ideology. A book featuring the text of these lectures is planned for publication in 2009.
A licensed psychologist, Dr. Walker maintains a private practice in Hollywood, California, specializing in gay-centered depth psychotherapy and advanced training.
Born and raised in the Los Angeles area, Walker received his B.A. from the University of California at Berkeley, his M.A. in psychology from Lone Mountain College in San Francisco, and his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from William Lyon University in Orange County, California.