Jungian psychotherapy
Jung understood and worked with the psychoanalytic theories that Freud had developed, but he took things further. He viewed the psyche as purposeful, with goals that we may be unaware of, but which we need to discover in order to live a more fulfilling life. He believed that we all have an inner drive to “individuate”, that is to become as fully as possible ourselves, but he saw that this process can be derailed by adverse experiences. We don’t always recognise the ways we adapt to such experiences, and as long as this remains unconscious (i.e. out of consciousness) we can find ourselves driven to think and behave in ways which are not helpful. These unconscious motivations can be brought into the light and given attention in psychotherapy.
He saw the unconscious as potentially helpful and creative, and he emphasised the importance of dreams and images to help us to discover the areas of ourselves that we need to be paying attention to, and to bring these parts of ourselves into consciousness. Some people bring artwork or poetry to sessions, or other types of creativity, as these can help us to discover more about the unconscious processes and meanings in the psyche.
He also paid attention to the cultural contexts in which we find ourselves, and the impact that culture, past and present, has on us. His view of culture included politics, the arts and prevailing spiritual and religious beliefs. He paid particular attention to myths and fairy tales from all over the world, and in which he saw similarities, even though they may have developed in different countries. He believed that these developed in different cultures as part of our human heritage and thus connect us all. He called this the “collective unconscious”. In discovering these connections we therefore discover more about ourselves, and this can help us to grow and fulfil our potentials.
I am deeply influenced by Jung, but I do not work overtly using Jungian language or talking about myths and fairy tales, unless clients bring this up themselves. Similarly, although I believe that the spiritual aspects of our lives, which we may or may not be aware of, are as important as the mental and physical aspects, I will not impose this on clients. By spiritual, I mean what “meaning” we make of our lives, and this may or may not include religion.
