Clarissa Pinkola Estés

Clarissa Pinkola Estés Ph.D. (; born January 27, 1945) is a Mexican-American writer and Jungian psychoanalyst. She is the author of Women Who Run with the Wolves, a New York Times bestseller that remained on the list for 145 weeks and has sold more than 2.7 million copies according to the publisher. The book was reissued in a 30th Anniversary Edition by Rider & Co (Ebury Publishing) in 2022.

Life and career Dr. Estés was born in Gary, Indiana, to Emilio Maria Reyés and Cepción Ixtiz, who were from Mexico. Following the 1999 Columbine High School massacre, she provided trauma recovery services to students and the local community from 1999 to 2003.

Dr. Estés served as a board member of the Maya Angelou Minority Health Foundation (now called Maya Angelou Center for Health Equity) at Wake Forest School of Medicine. Dr. Estés served as appointee by Colorado governors Romer and Owens to the Colorado State Grievance Board of the Department of Regulatory Agencies (D.O.R.A.) from 1993 to 2006. She was elected as chair and for thirteen years worked with the state of Colorado Attorney General's lawyers, as well as a board of legal experts and helping professionals, to focus on public safety regarding mental health practitioners. She has been an advisory board member for the National Writers Union, New York; and an advisory board member of the National Coalition Against Censorship, New York. She is an advisor to El Museo de las Americas, Denver, Colorado, and a contributing editor and storyteller-in-residence for The Bloomsbury Review.

Dr. Estés debuted in spoken word performance at Carnegie Hall, New York (2000), along with Maya Angelou and Toni Morrison. Together the author-poets wrote lyrical song-poems for a libretto of woman.life.song..

Dr. Estés serves as managing editor for The Moderate Voice, a political news blog. She has contributed commentary to the Huffington Post, the Washington Post, Publishers Weekly, and The Denver Post.

Dr. Estés was a recipient of the Joseph Campbell Keeper of the Lore Award in 1994, Dr. Estés is the recipient of the President's Medal for Social Justice.

Cantadora tradition Dr. Estés identifies as a cantadora — a term from the Latina oral tradition meaning "keeper of the old stories". Her approach bridges Jungian analytical psychology with indigenous narrative traditions, emphasizing story as a tool for soul retrieval and cultural memory.

Scholarly analysis has examined Dr. Estés's work through both Jungian and feminist lenses. A 2018 study in Rozprawy Społeczne noted that while Estés applies Jungian archetype analysis consistently, her interpretations also reflect a feminist-oriented approach that revalues female curiosity, intuition, and instinct as strengths rather than flaws. Some feminist scholars, however, have critiqued Dr. Estés for asserting a universal "feminine nature," arguing that such claims may overlook intersectional differences among women. Despite these debates, Dr. Estés's work is recognized for bringing female-centered narrative analysis into mainstream psychological and literary discourse.

Books

Audio works Untie the Strong Woman: To Know and Honor Holy Mother & La Nuestra Señora, Our Lady of Guadalupe (2011) (mp3s/CDs) How To Be An Elder: Myths and Stories of The Dangerous Old Woman, Volume 5 (2012) (mp3s/CDs) The Late Bloomer: Myths and Stories of The Dangerous Old Woman, Volume 4 (2011) (mp3s/CDs) The Joyous Body: Myths and Stories of The Dangerous Old Woman and the Consort Body, Volume 3 (2011) (mp3s/CDs) The Power of the Crone: Myths and Stories of The Dangerous Old Woman and Her Special Wisdom, Volume 2 (2010) (mp3s/CDs) The Dangerous Old Woman: Myths and Stories of the Wise Woman Archetype, Volume 1 (2010) (mp3s/CDs) Mother Night: Myths, Stories and Teachings for Learning to See in the Dark (2010) (mp3s/CDs) Seeing in the Dark: Myths and Stories to Reclaim the Buried, Knowing Woman (2010) (mp3s/CDs) Warming the Stone Child: Myths & Stories About Abandonment and the Unmothered Child (1997) (mp3s/CDs) The Radiant Coat: Myths & Stories About the Crossing Between Life and Death (1993) (mp3s/CDs) The Creative Fire: Myths and Stories About the Cycles of Creativity (1993) (mp3s/CDs) In the House of the Riddle Mother: The Most Common Archetypal Motifs in Women's Dreams (1997, 2005) (mp3s/CDs) Theatre of the Imagination: Volume I (1999, 2005) (mp3s/CDs) Theatre of the Imagination: Volume II (1999, 2005) (mp3s/CDs) The Red Shoes: On Torment and the Recovery of Soul Life (1997, 2005) (mp3s/CDs) Bedtime Stories: For Crossing the Threshold Between Waking and Sleep (2002) (mp3s/CDs) Beginner's Guide to Dream Analysis (2000) (mp3s/CDs) How To Love A Woman: Myths and Stories about Intimacy and The Erotic Lives of Women (1996) (mp3s/CDs) The Faithful Gardener: A Wise Tale About that Which Can Never Die (1996) (mp3s/CDs) The Boy Who Married An Eagle: Myths and Stories About Men's Interior Lives (1995) (audio cassette) The Gift of Story: A Wise Tale About What is Enough (1993) (mp3s/CDs) Women Who Run With the Wolves: Myths and Stories about the Wild Woman Archetype (1989 audio bestseller, released before the completed manuscript was in book form ) (mp3s/CDs)