Exploring Jungian Analytical Psychology, Depth-Work, and Symbolism; Part One
In this blog, I would like to offer a short, summarized list of some of the conceptual knowledge of Jung’s Analytical Psychology approach, and some of the scenarios where these techniques would be appropriate in addressing psychopathology. These concepts are from several sources of Jung’s writings, including Man and His Symbols, Modern Man’s Search for a Soul, and Aion; The Phenomenology of the Self. This blog will be part one of a series covering these topics in various depths. T
he first and foremost concept in his analytical psychology approach is the exploration of the personal unconscious, which is the generalized practice of understanding and recognizing the way the self is motivated by unconscious energies or dynamics. Specifically, this could mean unraveling unconscious cognitions, behaviours, or emotions, such as the need to respond with aggression when someone challenges our values or identity (an individual accuses you of dishonesty, and you react with anger, frustration, or sadness, as this challenges your sense of morality or integrity); integrating this unconscious motivation would alleviate the need to react negatively, or even interpret the accusation as truthful and thus the need to react or feel challenged at all. This integration would be fulfilled by confronting the part of the unconscious psyche responsible for the establishment of, say, morals, which is the part of the psyche that determines how one should act in relation to “the other”; this is the Shadow, and the role played by the Shadow is one of regulating the darker aspects of the individual’s personality and character. When threatened, or perceiving a threat, the Shadow will employ, unconsciously, those elements necessary to eliminate or consolidate the threat; depending on the individual’s personality type (see Aion: The Phenomenology of the Self; Chapter – A Psychological Theory of Types), will determine which underutilized (in other words, unconsolidated, or unconscious) aspect is brought to the fore to deal with this strange, unknown, threatening entity or experience. Thus, the calm, quiet type, when his morals are challenged, transforms into the righteous indignation of the insulted victim, and becomes unlike himself to dispel the accusation of the offending party. Alternatively, an integrated Shadow is brought under the operating agency of the higher conscious, the Self, and furthermore the Superego, which regulates the actions of the Id (unconscious or primal psychological mechanisms, i.e. Shadow), and presents alternative modes of being that would otherwise go unconsidered by an non-integrated individual who is captivated (or possessed) by their current paradigm of behaviour, that is, psychologically speaking, anger, or mythologically speaking, Mars, the God of War.
It is worthwhile to note that this process is not unique to the Shadow, or even to individual transformation; rather, this exploration and integration is generalizable across other concepts and phenomenon, from transcending the Self, to understanding and applying complex engineering or physics equations. In other words, seeking what is unknown and bringing it into the realm of the known, is, in the shortest possible sense, the Hero’s Journey, which is written about in countless cultural and religious texts, and denotes the ideal actions of the individual in expanding the known territory into the unknown realms, and garnering for themselves and their community those rewards and treasures heretofore undiscovered and unclaimed. The discussion of this process and the Jungian concepts used to enact this journey in each individual will be continued in the next part of this series, Part Two
