Overview
Jung developed his own distinctive approach to the study of the human mind. In his early years when working in a Swiss hospital with schizophrenic patients and working with Sigmund Freud and the burgeoning psychoanalytic community, he took a closer look at the mysterious depths of the human unconscious. Fascinated by what he saw (and spurred on with even more passion by the experiences and questions of his personal life) he devoted his life to the exploration of the unconscious. Unlike many modern psychologists, Jung did not feel that experimenting using natural science was the best means to understand the human psyche. For him, an empirical investigation of the world of dream, myth, and folklore represented the most promising road to its deeper understanding.
The overarching goal of Jungian psychology is the reconciliation of the life of the individual with the world of the supra-personal archetypes. Central to this process is the individual's encounter with the unconscious. Humans experience the unconscious through symbols encountered in all aspects of life: in dreams, art, religion, and the symbolic dramas we enact in our relationships and life pursuits. Essential to the encounter with the unconscious, and the reconciliation of the individual's consciousness with this broader world, is learning this symbolic language. Only through attention and openness to this world is the individual able to harmonize their life with these suprapersonal archetypal forces.
"Neurosis" results from a disharmony between the individual's consciousness and the greater archetypal world. The aim of psychotherapy is to assist the individual in reestablishing a healthy relationship to the unconscious (neither being swamped by it — a state characteristic of psychosis — nor completely shut off from it — a state that results in malaise, empty consumerism, narcissism, and a life cut off from deeper meaning). The encounter between consciousness and the symbols arising from the unconscious enriches life and promotes psychological development. Jung considered this process of psychological growth and maturation (which he called the process of individuation) to be of critical importance to the human being, and ultimately to modern society.
In order to undergo the individuation process, the individual must be open to the parts of oneself beyond one's own ego. In order to do this, the modern individual must pay attention to dreams, explore the world of religion and spirituality, and question the assumptions of the operant societal worldview (rather than just blindly living life in accordance with dominant norms and assumptions).
The fundamentals
The unconscious
The basic assumption is that the personal unconscious is a potent part — probably the more active part — of the normal human psyche. Reliable communication between the conscious and unconscious parts of the psyche is necessary for wholeness.
Also crucial is the belief that dreams show ideas, beliefs, and feelings of which individuals are not readily aware, but need to be, and that such material is expressed in a personalized vocabulary of visual metaphors. Things "known but unknown" are contained in the unconscious, and dreams are one of the main vehicles for the unconscious to express them.
Analytical psychology distinguishes between a personal and a collective unconscious. (see below)
The collective unconscious contains archetypes common to all human beings. That is, individuation may bring to surface symbols that do not relate to the life experiences of a single person. This content is more easily viewed as answers to the more fundamental questions of humanity: life, death, meaning, happiness, fear. Among these more spiritual concepts may arise and be integrated into the personality.
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Analytical psycology in Italy
- Ernst Bernhard: born in Berlin in 1896 friend and student of Martin Buber, Sigmund Freud and Carl Gustav Jung. Of Jewish origins as the father of psychoanalysis, the doctor Benhard, the first Jungian analyst in Italy, is psychoanalyst in Rome from 1936 to 1965. In the middle of a serious creative crisis, the Italian film director Federico Fellini met the Dr. Ernst Bernhard. With his experience of psychoanalyst Fellini he found a friend who helped to develop a reflection on the world of dreams and on the relationship between art and psyche.
- Silvia Montefoschi: born in Rome in 1926. Student of Ernst Bernhard. Known are its studies on "intersubjectivity and interdependence".
- Mario Trevi
- Aldo Carotenuto
External links
- Archive for Research in Archetypal Symbolism website
- International Association of Analytical Psychologists
- International Association for Jungian Studies
- Pacifica Graduate Institute - Graduate school offering programs in Jungian and post-Jungian studies
- The Journal of Jungian Theory and Practice
- An Outline of Analytical Psychology by Edward F. Edinger, M.D.
- Jung Arena - Analytical Psychology books, journals and resources
- Website of leading Freudian-Jungian scholar-author, Dr. Robert Aziz
- Carl Jung - Life and Work Information about life and work of Carl Jung.
- ADEPAC Colombia Analytical Psychology news, biographies and resources. In English, Spanish and Portuguese.
- Jungian Outline by Clifton Snider[1]
- Jung Films- Rare Interviews
- Jungian Psychology and Analytical Psychotherapy Info/Resources
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