Otto (Bruce) Betler OSB

Otto (Bruce) Betler OSB is a Benedictine monk, Catholic priest, and Jungian analyst practicing at the Archabbey of St. Ottilien in Bavaria, Germany — Europe's largest men's monastery. He studied English and philosophy at a Benedictine college in Pennsylvania and theology at The Catholic University of America during the 1980s before entering monastic life. He completed his diploma in analytical psychology at the C.G. Jung Institute Zürich, graduating in 2020, and serves on the Institute's faculty.

Betler served as Novice Master at St. Ottilien for seven years and maintains an analytical practice in Bavaria. His unique formation at the intersection of monastic life and depth psychology positions him to address the spiritual and psychological dimensions of individuation with particular authority. He notes that nearly all of his analysands seek him out precisely because of his dual vocation, though he does not foreground religion in the analytic setting and does not wear his habit when seeing clients.

His scholarly work includes chapters on the American Trappist monk Thomas Merton in two edited volumes, and a forthcoming book titled Analyzing the Church's Shadow — and Ours, applying Erich Neumann's depth-psychological concepts to institutional and personal shadow analysis. He has lectured on the intersection of Jungian psychology and theology, including the Fay Lecture on 'The Gospel According to Jung,' and has presented at the Jung Society of Montreal on Neumann's Depth Psychology and a New Ethic.