Language, Culture, and Psychological Communication

Abstract

This paper gives an account of the author’s experience during his four years of training in the International Analytical Psychology Student Program at the C. G. Jung Institute of San Francisco. Beginning with linguistic and cultural barriers, it elaborates on how we can move from the verbal realm into another dimension of interpersonal relationships, in an attempt to find the meaning of our experience and to overcome the limitations. It is by attuning into the direct nonverbal experience of the here and now and through exploring what lies beyond conversational understanding, that we can enter the analytic space and find an opening into the imaginal world. Two kinds of thinking, as described by Jung, operate in parallel in psychic life. The ability to move freely between the two seems to be the essence of analytic work. By acknowledging the unknown and holding this tension, we open the space for the emergence of both personal associations and archetypal content. In this process, what seems to be an obstacle and a personal limitation may become a source of meaningful transformation and set forth the experience of togetherness, facilitating the growth of the relationship with the deeper layers of psyche.