Jean Shinoda Bolen, MD
Class of 2025
Dr. Jean Shinoda Bolen could be seen driving in her beloved red mustang convertible on the highways and byways of Marin in 1966 when she first moved to Marin as a medical student at UCSF Medical Center. For almost seven decades, Dr. Bolen has thrived in, and contributed to, the local community. Mostly from the home she now lives in, near Muir Woods, she raised her two children who attended the great Marin public schools, established her private practice, wrote her many internationally acclaimed books, and became an inspiring and action-oriented voice for women’s equality.
When she wrote Goddesses in Everywoman, 1985, Dr. Bolen did not yet know she would go on to write a total of fourteen books to date. These books have been translated into 25 languages and distributed internationally by 32 publishers. However, Dr. Bolen can be more known personally through her memoir, Ever Widening Circles and Mystical Moments. She invites readers to journey through a life interwoven with personal experiences and historical events. The memoir commences with Bolen’s childhood, marked by her Japanese American family’s forced relocation from California following the bombing of Pearl Harbor. This experience, along with an eye surgery at an early age and frequent moves to different states and schools where she was perceived as an “exotic other”, deeply impacted Bolen’s worldview. She describes the challenges her family faced and the impact these experiences had on her own psychology.
As Bolen matured, she followed a path that led her to become an author, activist, psychiatrist, and Jungian analyst. Bolen examines the archetypes, synchronicities, and mystical moments that guided her life, including her decision to pursue medicine and her evolving relationship with spirituality and Christianity. Throughout the book, she reflects on pivotal moments: becoming a Jungian whistleblower, her role in the women’s spirituality movement, her experiences leading workshops and pilgrimages, and her advocacy for gatherings as part of The Millionth Circle initiative. Bolen candidly shares her personal challenges, including her brother Stephen’s struggles after a birth injury, the complexities of her marriage, her son Andy’s battle with neurofibromatosis type 2, and her own health experiences with cancer.
Throughout her career, Bolen has sought to integrate her understanding of Jungian psychology with action in the world. She describes this integration as a form of “binocular vision,” where she uses both psychological and social lenses to analyze and understand human behavior and societal structures. Her enormously popular book, Goddesses in Everywoman, explored the archetypes of Greek goddesses and their influence on women’s lives. The Millionth Circle emphasized the importance of spiritual connection and the transformative power of collective action. Bolen’s commitment to social change and her belief in the power of women’s voices make her a unique and influential figure who inspires others to find their own paths to action and create positive change.
Through these narratives, Bolen emphasizes the importance of finding meaning and purpose in life, even amidst adversity. She reflects on the significance of love, gratitude, and embracing one’s authentic soul’s purpose, encouraging readers to discover their own meaningful life paths. The memoir concludes with Bolen’s reflections on working from home during the pandemic, the completion of her memoir, and her enduring passion for empowering individuals through the transformative power of circles.
Dr. Bolen, a longtime resident of Mill Valley, California, is an activist, psychiatrist, Jungian analyst, an internationally known inspirational speaker and author of thirteen influential books in over one hundred foreign editions: The Tao of Psychology, Goddesses in Everywoman, Gods in Everyman, Ring of Power, Crossing to Avalon, Close to the Bone, Goddesses in Older Women, Crones Don’t Whine, The Millionth Circle, Like A Tree, Urgent Message From Mother, Moving Toward the Millionth Circle, and Artemis: The Indomitable Spirit in Everywoman. Her memoir, Ever Widening Circles and Mystical Moments is her latest book, released March 4, 2025, during Women’s History Month and the date of induction into the Marin Women’s Hall of Fame. She is a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, a past Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, University of California San Francisco, and a former board member of the Ms. Foundation for Women, the Association for Transpersonal Psychology, and the C.G. Jung Institute of San Francisco. She is a 2020-21 Lifetime Achievement Award honoree from Marquis Who’s Who. Her website is Jeanbolen.com
