Jungian Research Articles

Simbolismos do coração: a relação entre conteúdo onírico e a espera pela cirurgia cardíaca

A espera pela cirurgia cardíaca pode vir a ser prolongada, provocando vulnerabilidade psicológica aos pacientes. A análise dos sonhos facilita o acesso à linguagem simbólica e temáticas que se relacionam ao adoecimento cardíaco, internação e tratamento. O objetivo deste estudo é compreender a relação entre o conteúdo onírico e a espera pela cirurgia cardíaca, a partir do referencial teórico da Psicologia Analítica. Foi realizado um estudo qualitativo e exploratório em pacientes internados em uma Unidade de Internação de Cirurgia Cardíaca. Participaram da pesquisa seis pacientes internados na unidade. Para coleta de dados, foi utilizado o prontuário multiprofissional, assim como um formulário de Registro de Sonhos e Associações. A análise dos dados aconteceu em duas etapas: análise categorial de conteúdo e ampliação simbólica. Os sonhos analisados proporcionaram um aprofundamento na vivência psíquica dos pacientes participantes e uma maior conexão com temáticas que são latentes durante o processo de hospitalização: medo da morte, fuga e transformação. Foi possível perceber a conexão dos pacientes com a possibilidade de finitude, diante da fragilidade do corpo e do coração. A falta de autonomia e controle das situações durante o processo de hospitalização fortalecem o medo da morte e a vontade de retomar a vida segura, estável, fluída, que era supostamente mais viável antes da internação, através da fuga da realidade. Entretanto, os pacientes se defrontam com o chamado da transformação em suas vidas, para além dos cortes e ajustes carnais, uma mudança de perspectiva, atitude, o que provoca mais uma vez o medo.

INFORMATIONAL METABOLISM OF THE IT SOCIETY

This article presents a study and analysis of the distribution of Socionics personality types in the IT community, covering different IT professionals from 6 countries. The integral psycho - informational metabolism of the IT society has been determined and proved by a socionic analysis of the statistical data, using different practices and tools. The conclusions drawn define the main peculiarities of the IT guild as well as the specific motivational, communication and value characteristics of the study group. The factors that differentiate IT people from the rest of the population are also analyzed. The illustrated methodology is applicable to studies of the behavioral characteristics of different communities, subcultures, social and minority groups, as well as various corporate units with integral informational metabolism. The author assumes that the reader is familiar with the fundamentals, terminology and concepts of Socionics as well as Jungian theory.

Una conversazione tra amici e colleghi affini. Alla ricerca di nuovi paradigmi junghiani su etnia, razzismo e cultura per l'individuazione della psicologia analitica

Alan G. Vaughan e Andrew Samuels, entrambi analisti junghiani, hanno avuto il piacere di incontrarsi durante la prima Conferenza di Analysis & Activism tenutasi a Londra nel 2014. Entrambi colpiti dalla presentazione di nuovi paradigmi e dalla applicazione dei principi della psicologia analitica oltre la stanza di analisi, alle comunità più diverse dal punto di vista etnico ed economico, le loro conversazioni si sono intensificate attraverso lo scambio di e-mail e la condivisione delle loro idee.Nell'agosto 2017 si sono incontrati di persona durante la conferenza dell'International Association of Jungian Studies (IAJS) a Cape Town, in Sudafrica, città natale di Nelson Mandela. Gli scambi sono stati animati e ricchi, il rapporto genuino. Hanno discusso di psicologia analitica, analisi e attivismo, politica, economia, diaspora africana e della diffusione della psicopatologia del razzismo. Le loro conversazioni sono continuate, sulle colline di Oakland in California, il 17 dicembre 2017.

Moving towards Soul - an alchemical journey. Rehabilitation of women suffering from 'chronic pain' in a clinical and Jungian context.

The aim of this paper is to explore the connection between symptom and symbol in the body of women suffering from chronic pain, diagnosed as fibromyalgia. The working hypothesis has been that the symbol that emerges from the symptom in the body can bridge the gap to a deeper meaning of pain and suffering, thereby becoming the agent of change for healing of the bodymind and the experience of pain in the physical body. To explore this subject I will introduce some recent research from the field of fibromyalgia, and the concepts of agency and affect systems in the body, which are important cornerstones in my work. I will briefly present my clinical concept of 'Form and Freedom'. From this theoretical base I give some clinical examples of what I see as an alchemical journey towards soul, presented through vignettes, images and the words of three women - Maria, Riba and Ishtar. I conclude with how I see analytical psychology taking its rightful place alongside, informing or in conjunction with, as in my case, other psychotherapeutic modalities, working in creative ways that enhance healing in patients who suffer from chronic pain.

Historico-philosophical interpretation of the archetypes of personality as symbolic images of the collective unconscious in the receptive field of psychoanalytic views of Сarl Gustav Jung

The purpose of the study is a historicо-philosophical interpretation of the archetypes of personality as symbolic images of the collective unconscious in the receptive field of psychoanalytic views of Carl Gustav Jung. The methodological basis of the study is the such general scientific principles: interdisciplinary approach, the principle of objectivity, the principle of integrity and general philosophical methods: psychoanalytic method; phenomenological method; hermeneutic method. Scientific novelty of the study consists in the fact that within the Jungian analytical psychology to the author managed to carry out historico-philosophical reconstruction of ideas about the archetypes of personality, as myth-making constructs that fill the gaps between conscious and unconscious instance and reveal the symbolic meaning of archetypal figures, which are translators of generic information. In the course of the study were obtained the following conclusions: (1) determined that the collective unconscious is a fraction that consists of structural components-archetypes, which are able to establish the internal relationship between the individual and the world around him and directly influence his worldview and behavior, which is accompanied by radical mood swings (emotional lability); (2) emphasized that the individual, as a conscious subject in order to reach maturity on a psychological level must go beyond «comfort zone», that is go through the «path of the hero» and to win their inner demons, overcoming their own fears, phobias and complexes; (3) substantiated that the archetypes are archaic images, which breaks through the «defense» of consciousness and affects the fate and life activities of human; (4) emphasized that the predominance in the collective unconscious of animal archetypes and instincts can negatively affect the human psyche and lead to the decentration of the subject (according to P.–M. Foucault), that is to the splitting of the personality; (5) analyzed the specificity of archetypes аs integrated images of own «Ego», which are reduced to universal mythologies (lat. summa summarum) and are common to the cultures of different peoples of the world; (6) found that the transcendental function is a link between conscious and unconscious structure, which in their collide is able to «painlessly» neutralize the effects of internal conflict.

Jungian film studies: The essential guide, by Helena Bassil-Morozow and Luke Hockley

Jungian film studies: The essential guide, by Helena Bassil-Morozow and Luke Hockley

The Jewish Complex, Whose Complex Is It?

Abstract In 1934, attempting to extricate himself from the accusation of connivance with the Nazis, Jung conjectured about the existence of a Jewish complex. Recently, Jungian analyst Tirzah Firestone has argued that Jews suffer from a Jewish cultural complex which revolves around clusters of tribal traumatic experience. This discussion takes up from both Jung and Firestone addressing the question: The Jewish complex, whose complex is it? Stressing the relational element of Jung’s complex theory, developed into a theory of cultural complexes by Singer and Kimbles, the author of this paper, whose grandfather died in Auschwitz, places the Jewish complex among us Westerners, Jews and non-Jews. The Jewish complex is considered an affectively charged shared mental representation of a traumatic history, whose denouement is the Shoah, that affects us all. Cultural complexes such as the Jewish complex need to be understood relationally if there is to be any form of ‘resolution’.

A Test of Ontological Relativity

Abstract Jung saw a role for the methods of natural science in analytical psychology alongside other ways of developing of knowledge. This paper puts a cryptic and undeveloped idea in Psychological Types to the test using the principles of Karl Popper’s philosophy of science. The idea is a combination of Jung’s philosophy, esse in anima, and his theory of opposites applied to politics. It is explained using a term coined by the philosopher W.V.O Quine—ontological relativity. There are key similarities between the two philosophical concepts, due to Jung and Quine having a common influence in William James’ radical empiricism. The ontological relativity of political opposites is subjected to three tests that attempt to falsify it. All three attempts at falsification fail, which therefore provides some support for the idea. However, there are a number of anomalous results that raise significant questions requiring further research. This paper should therefore be viewed as the first step in a programme of research to examine the ontological relativity of political opposites that is inherent within esse in anima.

Encounter with Shadow and Its Manifestations in Fairy Tales and Literature

Shadow is one of the basic concepts of analytical psychology, a structure with its archetypal basis, related to the contents separated from the conscious part of personality. Most often those are instinctive and inferior contents of sexual and aggressive nature, but also talents and potentials that are removed from the field of consciousness. We can talk about personal and archetypal Shadow that is manifested through different social phenomena of projecting negative and inferior content on marginal groups. Shadow as a universal and omnipresent structure can be recognized in myths, fairy tales and literature. Its presence in cultural heritage offers possibility for therapeutical work to clarify to our clients both its contents and the levels of integration, using amplification. In this paper, I will illustrate some of the manifestations of archetypal and personal Shadow. Article received: April 28, 2020; Article accepted: June 6, 2020; Published online: October 15, 2020; Original scholarly paper

Carl Jung, John Layard and Jordan Peterson

Abstract In this article I discuss the relationship between analytical psychology and theories of human social evolution. More specifically I look at debates in evolutionary studies and anthropology regarding the priority of matrilineal social structure in the emergence of Homo sapiens. These debates were occurring in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and they provide the context for many of the assumptions of psychoanalysis and analytical psychology. In this essay I will explore these issues in relation to analytical psychology. I will also discuss the work of anthropologist John Layard who proposed matriliny was humanity’s original form of social organisation. Interestingly, Layard’s field work had significant impact on Jung. I will also compare the work of Layard, and other theorists who adopt matrilineal theories of human social evolution, with the theories of Jordan Peterson. Peterson has developed an idiosyncratic evolutionary conception of analytical psychology, one in which he explicitly rejects the notion of matrilineal priority in human evolution. He also adopts certain assumptions about the evolutionary origins of contemporary socio-political hierarchy, assumptions I argue are not supported by data from numerous fields of scientific enquiry.

The Archetype as Form of Ontological Difference

Abstract It has often been argued that Jung failed to explain and ground his theory of the archetypes sufficiently, as he remained caught between a psychological, a biological, and a transcendent model of explanation. Inspired by Martin Heidegger’s methodology in Being and Time, this paper will combine an ontological inquiry with a phenomenological analysis of the archetype, to re-interpret it beyond the Jungian psychology and its inherent paradoxes. I will outline a distinction between a psychological appropriation of the archetype, and one that approaches its numinosity as such. According to my argument, this twofold phenomenology of the archetype reveals it to be a form through which we become aware of an ontological difference within our being. The argument will mainly be unfolded through an interpretation of the nymph-maiden in Lucas Cranach’s 16th century painting series Nymph of the Spring, followed by an assessment of our contemporary relation to the same archetype.

Vom Krieg zur Liebe. Nietzsches Philosophieren über Männlichkeiten im Lichte von Gegenwartsdebatten

Abstract Recent discussions have connected Nietzsche’s philosophy of masculinity to the return of authoritarian politics. Neoconservative debates about masculinity, and right-wing extremism, explicitly refer back to Nietzsche’s philosophy and often present democratization, a feminization of society, and political correctness as responsible for a weakening of masculinity. One example for this reception of Nietzsche’s writings is Jordan Peterson’s psychological diagnosis of a presumed crisis of masculinity. This article undertakes a comparison of Nietzsche’s philosophy of masculinities with Peterson’s neo-Jungian psychology of masculinity in the context of recent conceptualizations of patriarchy, misogyny, and gendered forms of ressentiment. This comparison will highlight that Nietzsche’s conception of masculinity is more complex, and has philosophically more to offer, than neoconservative ideas about masculinity that onesidedly foreground male strength. Finally it will be pointed out how a Jungian analysis discloses aspects of the Dionysian that are of relevance to contemporary gender studies of Nietzsche’s philosophy.

Can analytical psychology be applied to the therapeutic community?

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the theoretical potential of applying Jungian/analytical psychology concepts to a contemporary therapeutic community (TC) within the national health service. Design/methodology/approach A literature review concerning a Jungian understanding of group psychotherapy and TCs was undertaken. A summary and discussion of a detailed written account of a previous Jungian TC was then conducted. A comparison between a modern-day TC and Jungian approaches was then conducted with an ending discussion on the feasibility of incorporating Jungian ideas into modern work. Findings While Jung is thought to have a wholly negative view of groups and group psychotherapy, this was not found in the case. Furthermore, post-Jungian authors have attempted to use ideas from analytical psychology in their group work. While there are some aspects that could be implemented with relative ease in the modern TC, a complete shift into this different way of working would be a challenge and its current evidence base would not support this. Originality/value To the best of author’s knowledge, there are no other academic papers that have considered this subject.

Dancing with the Creative: In Conversation with Sharon Heath

Sharon Heath, Jungian analyst and novelist, and Pamela Freundl Kirst, Jungian analyst and writer, explore Ms. Heath’s fiction-writing and the nature of the creative process. The two women, friends from the C. G. Jung Institute of Los Angeles, speak intimately, contemplating ways to be in relationship to the imaginal realm and the void that precedes creation. The interview illuminates the profound connection between psyche and imagination and the nourishing link between dreaming and creativity. The deeply feminine nature of creation, including the power and importance of love, suffuses Heath’s writing and her creative process. She recounts the joys and terrors of venturing into the internal worlds of fictional characters and the numinosity of that journey. The conversation touches profound places: what it means to be human given the knowledge of the limits of our lives and the gifts that come from cultivating an enduring relationship to psyche.

Eros and the Value of Relatedness: The Lineage of an Enduring Friendship between Carl Jung and Ochwiay Biano

This article examines the relationship between Swiss psychiatrist C. G. Jung and Taos Pueblo leader Ochwiay Biano as a paradigm for experiencing the other. The paper also documents how analysts, colleagues, and students from California continued to nurture this friendship with Biano in the decades following Jung’s death in 1961. This enduring friendship is documented, in part, in the personal correspondence between Biano and three Jungian analysts: Dr. James Kirsch of Los Angeles, CA, Wilbur R. Sanford, MD, of San Diego, CA, and his wife, Katherine M. Sanford, author of The Serpent and the Cross (2006). These personal letters, held in the OPUS Archive and Research Center at the Pacifica Graduate Institute in Carpinteria, CA, evidence the relational and respectful thread of this authentic friendship. In this article, I assert that the tradition and practice of analytical psychology enables one to experience an other, recognizing both the dynamism of the whole and the dynamism of multifarious opposites. Dreamwork and active imagination also stimulate a relational practice that supports encounters of difference, experienced in both the inner and outer world. Attention to, and cultivation of, relationship with dream figures (often quite different from our outer world lived reality) introduces us to extraordinary, strange, and unfamiliar figures and images, which can make the unknown more knowable. This practice and capacity enables the possibility for respectful dialogue with people and figures of difference in both the inner and outer world, which is essential for the mutual survival and flourishing of humanity. Ensuing exchanges, deep understanding, and necessary reparations hold the seeds for deep relatedness and mutual transformation.

Relating to the Loser Complexity

ABSTRACT This article identifies a disorder of the self that is common to a number of clinical presentations, which all share the idea that the patient presenting him- or herself for psychological help is a “loser” who may not be able to be helped by psychotherapy. Resisting the reduction of this idea to a single complex bedeviling the patient, the author suggests instead that this idea is the consciousness that emerges, pathologically, from a complexity, a nest of linked complexes, which has the power to color all individual efforts to work on any of the patient’s issues. The author, a Jungian analyst, gives cultural examples of how this complexity can also be seen in films, in artists, and in political life. He shows how in psychotherapy the loser complexity can be resolved or at least reduced through a collaborative approach that takes therapist and patient through a series of stages that are described and explained.

Trauma, Soul, and the Body in Jungian Analysis

ABSTRACT Through a clinical vignette the author describes Jungian analytic work as it unfolds in a relational, affectively attuned way, while also focusing on the direct moment-to-moment experience of the body. The neuropsychological underpinnings of what Donald Kalsched refers to as the archetypal affect ignited in trauma are explored. Focusing on the body as the primary portal for the healing of trauma, the author highlights how attention to the somatic dimension of experience keeps Jungian analysis grounded and relevant. She elucidates how the mythopoetic reality revealed in depth psychotherapy weaves this into a tapestry of personal meaning, facilitating deep psychological transformation.

FOTOĞRAFLAR ÜZERİNDEN BİR YABANCILAŞMA ANALİZİ

Socrates' concept of daimon, Kant's internal court in the universal moral law, Maslow's self-realization step in the hierarchy of needs, Horney's theory of neurosis, the common point of all these thinking systems; It means that people will be liberated by realizing themselves by developing their birth potential, and they will build a productive, self-confident and happy identity. Otherwise, the individual who cannot realize himself will be dependent on the sociocultural society to which he is adapted, turn to temporary power centers, lose his self-esteem by moving away from his inner voice, and develop neurotic tendencies by alienating himself as a result of his self-conflict. According to Jung's analytical psychology, the characteristics that we have acquired through adaptation to the environment and culture, namely personas; By losing our relationship with our personality, it turns into masks that cause us to become alienated. The reputation that the individual tries to gain through consumption patterns or the profiles he creates in the virtual world is nothing but masks behind which he hides. In this study, using the descriptive method, the concept of alienation was tried to be defined in the dialectic of philosophy, sociology and psychology disciplines, and it was described through the art of photography, which is a universal language that does not get caught in language barriers through the mask metaphor.

An analysis of Chinese national character from the perspective of Jung's archetypal theory

An analysis of Chinese national character from the perspective of Jung's archetypal theory

The Unquiet Ghosts of Jung’s Abandoned Women: What Do We Owe Helene, Sabina, and Toni?

Running parallel to the story of Jung’s life is a shadow narrative involving a string of women who played crucial roles in the birth of analytical psychology. The most important of these were Helene Preiswerk, Sabina Spielrein, and Toni Wolff, each of whom served as a guide for Jung as he explored the strange new territory of the unconscious. Each lived outside the norms of conventional society, was abandoned by Jung, and ultimately came to a tragic end. The dark feminine or creative animus within these women was at first deeply alluring to Jung, but when it no longer served his purposes, he ultimately rejected it—and them. In doing so, he committed a crime against the laws of love as well as against the Divine Feminine. As our understanding of the intergenerational transmission of trauma grows, we see that elements repressed in the unconscious often return via the agency of unquiet ghosts or unresolved family and ancestral complexes. Like the wrathful furies of Aeschylus’ Oresteia, the unquiet spirits of our female ancestors seek revenge in order to balance the scales of justice. If the person who committed the crime is no longer living, the revenge will fall upon his or her descendants. Thus, for many of us contemporary women who inherit the mantle of Jungian psychology, the unquiet ghosts haunting our psyches may include not just our own personal grandmothers, but the women Jung himself rejected, our spiritual grandmothers, as it were.