“The great decisions of human life have as a rule far more to do with the instincts and other mysterious unconscious factors than with conscious will and well-meaning reasonableness. The shoe that fits one person pinches another; there is no recipe for living that suits all cases. Each of us carries his own life-form—an indeterminable form which cannot be superseded by any other.” C. G. Jung, Modern Man in Search of a Soul, p. 69 |
What Is Jungian Analysis?
Jungian analysis is the form of psychotherapy developed by Carl Gustav Jung, one of the leading pioneers of modern depth psychology. From the Jungian viewpoint, analysis is essentially a dialogue between two people - the analyst and the analysand. Its aim is to help the analysand get in touch with his/her own inner sources of healing and growth, and thus to arrive at individual solutions to life's challenges.
Because Jungian analysis is adapted to the needs and goals of the individual, it may in practice be any number of things: short-term counseling on a specific problem; sympathetic support through a difficult period; help in resolving conflicts and eliminating symptoms; guidance in developing creative potentials or discovering new life possibilities.
Although Jung's "analytical psychology" has its own distinctive viewpoint, it is, in the final analysis, less a school of psychology alongside others than a fundamental perspective and methodology capable of accommodating a many-sided truth, and thus of integrating the empirical findings of many disciplines, giving them in the process a richer context and new dimensions. Because analytical psychology sees the psyche as structured in terms of opposites, the Jungian viewpoint is characterized by many polarities.
In its application to psychotherapeutic practice, one of the central and distinguishing features of the Jungian viewpoint is that it sees emotional conflicts and symptoms as more than merely technical breakdowns of functioning. Thus Jungian analysis is not content with the mere alleviation of symptoms, as seriously as it takes that task. It also seeks to prevent their recurrence by dealing with their deeper causes, which are usually a matter of basic and far-reaching difficulties: lack of self-knowledge, failure to develop creative potential, doubts about the meaning of life, or absence of a spiritual orientation.
The basic outlook of Jungian psychology makes it possible to offer help in these areas, not in the form of any specific ideology or doctrine of salvation, but through assisting the individual to discover the meaning lying in his/her own soul. As Jung often stressed, it is finally within the individual, and not on the level of collective social measures, that the problems of our age must be met and the foundations for a healthy democratic society preserved and strengthened.
The spirit of Jungian analysis and therapy is perhaps best captured in Jung's own words: "The prime task of psychotherapy today is to pursue with singleness of purpose the goal of individual development. So doing, our efforts will follow nature's striving to bring life to the fullest possible fruition in each individual . . . The labors of the doctor as well as the quest of the patient are directed towards that hidden and as yet unmanifest 'whole' man, who is at once the greater and future man."
An Analyst's Training
The training of a Jungian analyst is separate and different from the normal training to become a psychotherapist. Normal professional training is generally considered to be the foundation for the further training of becoming an Jungian analyst. Analytic training generally requires an additional five to seven years depending on the individual and the training institute. The status of being an analyst is recognized by having a diploma from one of the internationally accredited C. G. Jung Institutes. In addition to other requirements, there are two important ingredients in the training of a Jungian analyst that are not generally present in psychotherapeutic training programs:
First, training to become a Jungian analyst includes study, not only of the principles of depth psychology, but also of creative expressions of the unconscious such as dreams, art, mythology, and fairy tales, as well as related disciplines such as comparative religion and anthropology.
In addition, training to become a Jungian analyst involves extensive personal analysis. This personal experience of one's own analysis prepares analysts for their work by deepening their inner experience and self-knowledge, as well as by clearing their garden of some of the "weeds and stones" that might interfere with the healing/creative field that will exist between them and their future analysands.
Jungian analysis is the form of psychotherapy developed by Carl Gustav Jung, one of the leading pioneers of modern depth psychology. From the Jungian viewpoint, analysis is essentially a dialogue between two people - the analyst and the analysand. Its aim is to help the analysand get in touch with his/her own inner sources of healing and growth, and thus to arrive at individual solutions to life's challenges.
Because Jungian analysis is adapted to the needs and goals of the individual, it may in practice be any number of things: short-term counseling on a specific problem; sympathetic support through a difficult period; help in resolving conflicts and eliminating symptoms; guidance in developing creative potentials or discovering new life possibilities.
Although Jung's "analytical psychology" has its own distinctive viewpoint, it is, in the final analysis, less a school of psychology alongside others than a fundamental perspective and methodology capable of accommodating a many-sided truth, and thus of integrating the empirical findings of many disciplines, giving them in the process a richer context and new dimensions. Because analytical psychology sees the psyche as structured in terms of opposites, the Jungian viewpoint is characterized by many polarities.
- On the one hand, it stresses the basic preeminence of the individual over and against the forces of society and culture, but on the other hand devotes the closest attention to exploring ways in which the life of the individual is shaped by collective factors in the unconscious.
- It regards the attainment of the greatest possible consciousness as the goal of psychic development, and at the same time recognizes the instinctive wisdom of the unconscious and the need to live in harmony with that wisdom.
- It emphasizes that there can be no psychic health without a recognition of the dark side of human nature, but it also maintains that an ethical way of life is ultimately essential to individual fulfillment, as well as to the common good.
- It maintains that the development of individual consciousness is the foundation upon which cultural consciousness is developed, and that every growing person contributes to the healing and "wholeness" of all life.
- It sees the creative encounter with the inner world of feelings and symbolic imagery as the heart of therapy, yet it never forgets the necessity of putting inner experience to the test in the everyday world.
- It understand the process of healing or "becoming whole" as something which is ultimately of a religious nature, but it knows at the same time that the only values and ideals which can heal are those which are based on direct personal experience of the spiritual dimension of life.
- Though it has discovered many hitherto unknown "laws" of psychic life, it does not make a dogma of these discoveries, but maintains an unprejudiced openness to all manifestations of the human psyche.
In its application to psychotherapeutic practice, one of the central and distinguishing features of the Jungian viewpoint is that it sees emotional conflicts and symptoms as more than merely technical breakdowns of functioning. Thus Jungian analysis is not content with the mere alleviation of symptoms, as seriously as it takes that task. It also seeks to prevent their recurrence by dealing with their deeper causes, which are usually a matter of basic and far-reaching difficulties: lack of self-knowledge, failure to develop creative potential, doubts about the meaning of life, or absence of a spiritual orientation.
The basic outlook of Jungian psychology makes it possible to offer help in these areas, not in the form of any specific ideology or doctrine of salvation, but through assisting the individual to discover the meaning lying in his/her own soul. As Jung often stressed, it is finally within the individual, and not on the level of collective social measures, that the problems of our age must be met and the foundations for a healthy democratic society preserved and strengthened.
The spirit of Jungian analysis and therapy is perhaps best captured in Jung's own words: "The prime task of psychotherapy today is to pursue with singleness of purpose the goal of individual development. So doing, our efforts will follow nature's striving to bring life to the fullest possible fruition in each individual . . . The labors of the doctor as well as the quest of the patient are directed towards that hidden and as yet unmanifest 'whole' man, who is at once the greater and future man."
An Analyst's Training
The training of a Jungian analyst is separate and different from the normal training to become a psychotherapist. Normal professional training is generally considered to be the foundation for the further training of becoming an Jungian analyst. Analytic training generally requires an additional five to seven years depending on the individual and the training institute. The status of being an analyst is recognized by having a diploma from one of the internationally accredited C. G. Jung Institutes. In addition to other requirements, there are two important ingredients in the training of a Jungian analyst that are not generally present in psychotherapeutic training programs:
First, training to become a Jungian analyst includes study, not only of the principles of depth psychology, but also of creative expressions of the unconscious such as dreams, art, mythology, and fairy tales, as well as related disciplines such as comparative religion and anthropology.
In addition, training to become a Jungian analyst involves extensive personal analysis. This personal experience of one's own analysis prepares analysts for their work by deepening their inner experience and self-knowledge, as well as by clearing their garden of some of the "weeds and stones" that might interfere with the healing/creative field that will exist between them and their future analysands.
"The art of interpreting dreams cannot be learnt from books. Methods and rules are good only when we can get along without them. Only the person who can do it anyway has real skill, only the person of understanding really understands."
- C. G. Jung. "The Meaning of Psychology for Modern Man" (1933). In CW 10: pg. 327.
Below is a staged dialogue that Howard and Karen created to give an idea of how one works with dream material.