Jungian Research Articles

AA, Bill Wilson, Carl Jung and LSD.

Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is an established resource for people suffering from alcohol use disorder (AUD). However, Bill Wilson, the co-founder of AA, in his second letter to Jung referred to its low success rate. One evidence-based alternative, dating back to the 1950s, is the clinical use of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) for treating AUD. Bill Wilson was a strong advocate of using LSD as a preparation for alcoholics who had difficulty grasping the spiritual aspect of the 12-step programme. Bill Wilson wrote a "secret" four-page letter to Carl Jung detailing his own use of LSD and the success two psychiatrists in Canada had in treating alcoholics and asked for his advice on using LSD to help alcoholics. Aniela Jaffé, a Jungian analyst and co-worker of Jung, replied to Wilson on May 29, 1961, "… as soon as Dr. Jung feels better and has enough strength to begin again his mail, I will show it to him." Jung died a week later. This article quotes Jung's previous hostile opinions on psychedelics and asks: Just as Jung overcame his negative views on groups when giving "complete instructions" on extending the 12-step programme of AA to "general neurotics", might he similarly have changed his mind when he saw the documented success of using LSD with recalcitrant alcoholics?

An autoethnographic study of a dance movement therapy practitioner and its link to analytical psychology

DMT as a therapy is among the new entrants in the field of psychology, which explores the connection between the inner world to that of the outside world through the expression of body movement. This connection between the two worlds has created a lot of curiosity both positive and negative in the field. This curiosity arises from the fact that even before the child is born, he uses his body to interact with the world outside. These movements precede even the first cry of the baby, implying that movement in any form is the most natural expression of emotions. Hence, to understand these natural movements and how it helps individuals to come in term with themselves we have used autoethnography as the primary research data. This has helped us to understand the process or the journey that a practitioner goes through while undergoing the DMT course. Analytical psychology was used as a theoretical anchoring to understand the conscious and the unconscious processes.

The Public Understanding of Analytical Psychology.

In 1960, Jung lamented psychology's limited impact on global fate. Although Fordham tried to reassure him that Jungians were promoting his work, Jung was looking from the other end of the telescope, seeing the need to rescue humanity from its one-sidedness that would ultimately lead to nuclear conflict. Astronomical evidence, such as the Fermi paradox, echoes Jung's concerns about likely self-destruction. Rather than promoting Jungian ideas to interested groups, the imperative lies in identifying crucial messages for global survival and engaging the public in them. Science provides some useful lessons because its concerted efforts over centuries led to the gradual integration of scientific thinking into the public psyche. These lessons suggest that, to cross the border from the Jungian to wider public domain, compromises are necessary, such as simplifying messages and making engagement enchanting and practical. Analytical psychology's task goes beyond one individual, group, or even generation, and a debate is needed to begin to form a consensus on the way ahead. Some initial suggestions are made for adopting terminology the public can relate to, focusing on the transcendent function as the main vehicle to overcome one-sidedness and conflict, and using figures like Nelson Mandela to demonstrate practical application.

‘(The unconscious) is a treasure box where coachees can find their answers’ – An interpretative phenomenological analysis of Jungian coaching

ObjectivesThis study aimed to fill in a gap in the research base on the applicability of psychotherapeutic approaches to coaching psychology. Thus, it explored the transference of knowledge, skills and expertise from Jungian psychology into coaching psychology.MethodsThe qualitative study investigated the perceptions and experiences of professional coaches and coaching psychologists with a Jungian approach to coaching, particularly with an intervention called the Jungian coaching method. This was done through semi-structured interviews with 6 professional coaches, from 4 different countries. Interpretative phenomenological analysis was used to analyse the collected data.ResultsThree main themes were identified: a unique coaching frame; a Jungian coaching method and its tools support the coach; and a Jungian coaching method and its tools empower the client and enable deeper exploration.DiscussionNovel concept of coaching container is proposed, with the unconscious as an important element. The unique Jungian conceptualisation of the unconscious could be further investigated for its potential contributions to coaching psychology as a resource during the coaching process.ConclusionThe findings suggest that a Jungian approach to coaching might be a feasible application of psychotherapy knowledge into coaching psychology, which enriches the coaching experience of both the coach and the coachee.

Tipologi Kepribadian Bob A. Sitorus dalam Kumpulan Puisi Haru Hara: Kajian Psikoanalisis Carl Gustav Jung

This research aims to determine the personality of Bob A. Sitorus and the factors influencing his personality in the poetry collection "Haru Hara." The study employs a qualitative descriptive method to clearly and thoroughly describe and explain the data. The primary source of data is the book "Haru Hara," published by Obelia Publisher in 2023. Data collection involved listening and note-taking techniques, and the analysis was conducted using Carl Gustav Jung's Psychoanalytic theory. The results indicate that Bob A. Sitorus's personality can be understood through both conscious and subconscious realms, consisting of mental function and mental attitude. His personality type is identified as feeling-introverted. The unconscious structure is divided into the personal unconscious, including rational thinker aspects, and the collective unconscious, represented by the anima-archetype. Factors influencing his personality are personal unconscious elements such as maturity, love motives, and frustration, as well as collective unconscious elements like biological and religious factors.

John Boorman’s “Excalibur” as a Quasi-Jungian and Eclectic Story of Arthurian Psyche

Abstract For four decades John Boorman’s “Excalibur” has been either partially analyzed by scholars in Jungian categories or just described as a Jungian-inspired film in more general terms by film critics. The six-stage model of King Arthur’s personal and archetypal development in “Excalibur” was first published by Jungian analyst Al Collins in 1981, but remained unknown in mainstream scholarship. This article describes this significant absence and argues for a shift to significant presence, merging many Jungian approaches to “Excalibur” with Piotr Toczyski’s own depth-psychological vision of Boormanian quasi-Jungian Arthurianism. The scholars globally may get further inspiration to relaunch new interpretations of this classic Arthurian retelling in terms of dynamics of conscious and unconscious, meeting the shadow, coping with anger, underlying projections, withdrawal of projections as the moment of lysis similar to psychotherapy, and the self-awareness of archetypes. The process of projection withdrawal is the hero’s journey on its own, bringing some similarities with well-known Joseph Campbell’s post-Jungian model.

Towards a forgotten language I implications of prelinguistic language and aphasia in my vocal works

Prelinguistic language and aphasia share common ground, both in theory as in practice. Approaching the two fields as a pool of information and even more as a metaphor for composing vocal – based music, opens up a new window of tools and potentials. This paper is a collection of concepts, originating from prelinguistic language, aphasia and from my general vocal composition practice. Application examples are given from my own work, for each of these concepts. These concepts are gathered together into one diagram, which eventually questions whether the playful deconstruction that creators often look for is a step forward or backwards in time. Eventually, the paper questions the use of existing texts in composition under the scope of Jungian theory.

The Jung-Hisamatsu Dialogue

ABSTRACT In 1958 Japanese Zen master and professor of philosophy Shin’ichi Hisamatsu and C. G. Jung held a historic meeting at Jung’s home in Küsnacht, Switzerland. Hisamatsu was touring the world and meeting with leading figures in the disciplines of psychology and philosophy, not unlike the traditional practice of accomplished Zen masters taking extended pilgrimages to test, deepen, and refine their enlightenment experiences. This meeting has received scant professional attention at least in part because Jung asked that it not be formally published. Nonetheless, Hisamatsu did publish their dialogue in Japanese and, thereafter, several translations followed. Commenting on their dialogue many months afterward, Hisamatsu summarized the meeting by highlighting three central areas of interface between Zen Buddhism and analytical psychology: 1) The relationship between “No Mind” in Zen and the unconscious; 2) The similarities and differences in what is meant by the “Self/self” in both disciplines; and 3) The means of identifying and seeking to relieve human suffering. This paper looks more closely at these junctures by briefly highlighting their theoretical implications and, in doing so, seeks to further the dialogue between Zen Buddhism and analytical psychology.

The Hummingbird

ABSTRACT As Jungian analysts, we rarely discuss our medical conditions, especially chronic illness and disability and their effects on our work and lives. The sense of being judged by our colleagues and being forced to give up our practices by prevailing cultural and societal norms can create fear and apprehension in a disabled analyst, who may not feel able to discuss the depths that can also emerge from serious physical conditions. These apprehensions may also be connected to the overused and often misused concept of psychosomatic illness, a reductive and causal approach that may stifle a more creative experience emerging from illness and disability. C. A. Meier brings a different understanding and approach to the links between soma and psyche, connecting the two at the psychoid level, where synchronistic experiences may emerge. Furthermore, through the myth of Inanna’s journey to the death world of Ereshkigal, this paper includes a personal account of illness and disability, connecting it to a wider conversation concerning the Jungian approach to ourselves as analysts, to our colleagues, and to our clients.

From the Psychoanalytic Personal to Cold War Psychwar: Martha Graham’s Modern Dance, Jungian Archetypes, and Allen Dulles’ Central Intelligence Agency

ABSTRACT For the choreographer Martha Graham, the personal became politicised because she used Jungian psychology and its archetypes to reveal and make ‘universal’ what she and Cold Warriors called ‘the soul of mankind’. Graham thereby became useful as pro-Western, and particularly pro-United States (US), propaganda as she and her company toured Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. Post-World War II (WWII) networks shared a Jungian approach to psychology seeded by Carl Jung, the first president of the International Psychiatric Association in 1907. During WWII, the US Office of Strategic Services (OSS) in Switzerland under Allen Dulles relied on Jung’s work. During the postwar period, Graham entered therapy with Jung’s American protégée, Frances Wickes. Dulles became the first civilian director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Because the post-WWII fight against the Soviet Union was ideological, and utilised psychwar strategies, ‘total warfare’ included the consistent US government deployment of psychwar and Martha Graham. Graham’s highly profound, personal works about the inner working of mankind through the Jungian use of archetypes became politicised when they were staged internationally by the US government between 1955 and 1987. The article uses Graham’s letters to Wickes to support the argument.

Concept of ressentiment by Max Scheler and its contemporary relevance

The article deals with Max Scheler's philosophical concept of ressentiment. In “Ressentiment in the Structure of Morals”, he uses Friedrich Nietzsche's concept of "ressentiment" to describe an important negative phenomenon in modern moral and culture in general. The article shows that Max Scheler's descriptive method organically grows out of the phenomenological philosophy of Edmund Husserl and at the same time imitates some specific features of Wilhelm Diltai's descriptive and analytical psychology. On the basis of this methodological approach, Max Scheler does not explain ressentiment and does not give a clear definition of this concept, but instead reproduces its formation in the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche and describes the phenomenon of ressentiment. Using the descriptive method, Scheler concludes that ressentiment is related to the desire for revenge and feelings of powerlessness. He also describes the different dimensions of ressentiment, which can be formulated as follows: Kinship and sexual dimension. Age dimension. Professional dimension. Class dimension. There is also noted in the article that Scheler demonstrates national ressentiment rather than critically analyzes it. This circumstance to some extent brings to light the Zeitgeist, i.e. the spirit of time, when authoritarian and totalitarian ideologies and regimes such as Russian Bolshevism and German Nazism were formed, being undoubtedly feed by the destructive energy of resentment. The author of the article also discovers a connection between Scheler's concept of ressentiment and Freud's concept of suppression. The study shows how, on the theoretical basis of Max Scheler's concept of ressentment, it is possible to critically deconstruct not only such historical manifestations of ressentiment as Bolshevism and Nazism, but also some dangerous and destructive trends in the modern world, namely the ideology of the "Russian world" (“Russkii mir”).

Unmasking the Minds of Serial Killers: A Jungian Analysis of Jeffrey Dahmer's and Javed Iqbal's Personalities

Unmasking the Minds of Serial Killers: A Jungian Analysis of Jeffrey Dahmer's and Javed Iqbal's Personalities

Recreational Space as the Embodiment of the Garden of Eden Archetype

The purpose of the article is to research the spiritual basis and motivation of human activity in the relationships between humans and the natural environment to create various forms of recreational spaces in the socio-cultural context of the post-industrial era. Theoretical basis. The research is based on the approach of analytical psychology by C. Jung, who identified the archetypes of the collective unconscious. These archetypes help overcome the limitations of the functional and pragmatic approach, which is focused on mere survival. They make sense and provide values in the relationship between humans and nature. Originality. The article evaluates how archetypal images of the collective unconscious, with the help of the Garden of Eden image in the socio-cultural context of European civilization, influence the recreational space in contemporary urban environments. The novelty of the work is also in the interdisciplinary approach, integrating knowledge from various fields such as philosophy, sociology, cultural studies, analytical psychology, and urban planning, which contributes to the profound understanding of complex socio-cultural processes. This paradigm emphasizes the interconnection and interdependence, adaptability, and co-evolution of society and nature, as well as requires the interdisciplinary methodological approach. Additionally, the article presents a fresh perspective on nature and its elements in terms of their importance both for individuals and society. Conclusions. The article investigates the socio-cultural factors that evoke the interest of man and society in natural factors as a recreational resource and determine the latest theoretical approaches to their use. Various recreational activities to create a renewed space provide a person with a full physical, socio-psychological and cognitive development. The humanization of the natural environment becomes the embodiment of the collective memory and history of mankind. The recreational space symbolizes spiritual values, so it is transformed from physical to socio-cultural and provides theoretical approaches to its implementation in modern urban planning practices.

Жертвенность как психологический феномен (на примере жизни и деятельности Фридриха Иосифа Гааза)

The article attempts to study the phenomenon of sacrifice within the framework of psychological science. The theoretical and methodological foundations of the analysis were the ideas of the founder of analytical psychology Carl Gustav Jung. He considered an important component of psychological work on the harmonization of the inner world to be the willingness of a person to come into contact with a variety of mental material, including those related to negative, unpleasant characteristics of his own personality in order to analyze them. Sacrifice in the context of analytical psychology involves systematic reflection, self-deepening, increasing awareness and, as a result, enriching the personality with meanings that are not subjective, but universal. In the article Jung's ideas are considered regarding the life and charitable activities of a man of high spiritual life, an outstanding silverless physician of the XIX century Friedrich-Joseph Haase. It is shown that his prosocial activity is the result of personal transformations under the influence of deep religious faith, orientation to Christian symbols and dogmas, introspection and subtle psychological reflection. Haaz endowed a person's life path with a sacred meaning, trusted the natural flow of life, considered the circumstances of life, turns of fate, meetings as tasks set for him from Above. The doctor's high degree of awareness expanded the boundaries of perception of reality and contributed to the fact that public interests and concerns became deeply personal for him.

Torments of Being Other

I am bipolar. Writing has helped me during very troubled times. These are just some of the extracts written between 2013 and 2016, expressing despair, agony, loneliness, and desperation. My brother died when I was 7 years old and my father 2 years later. Fifty years later, it is the loss of my wonderful Jungian therapist that opened deep scars and mangled wounds. In the poem—the Dead came upon Me—I have tried to turn each expression of despair into one of hope. As the struggle of being bipolar continues, I am deeply aware of an affinity to so many others who suffer through being “other,” “troubled,” “isolated”—perhaps if this resonates with a few of the readers it has done some good. I am so grateful to those who have helped me along the way—and continue to do so. Particularly, thank you to Paul Ashton for showing me (in The Dead came upon Me) that words matter and that it is possible to accept “difference” or “otherness,” to use poetry or images to transform pain into something more meaningful and perhaps, with time, even into something of beauty

Image design for kazakhstan children’s sports uniform

The relevance of the research topic lies in the popularization of Kazakhstani children's sports team’s image in the world as a significant part of human capital by means of uniform design. The purpose of the study is theoretical and methodological substantiation of Kazakhstani children's sports uniform design identity. The scientific novelty of the research lies in conducting an interdisciplinary theoretical analysis of the structural components of children's sports team’s image in Kazakhstan. The research methodology is based on Kazakh and foreign scientists' works in the field of pedagogy, psychology, analytical psychology, personal development, motivation, acmeology, epistemology, brand building, semantics, cultural studies, cultural anthropology, ethnography and costume studies. The study’s results made it possible to identify the mechanisms to form the value bases of the image for young athletes’ uniforms in Kazakhstan. An interdisciplinary, theoretical, and methodological analysis of children's sports uniform design made in this research will contribute to the popularization of Kazakhstan's young athletes’ image in the world. The practical significance of the research is based on the studying Mimioriki brand’s contribution to creating the image of Kazakhstan uniforms for the children's sports team.

Imaginal Practices in Dialogue:

Jungian psychology considers image to be the basis of psyche, and its principal technique is active imagination. While the importance of image is appreciated in Jungian circles, it is not shared outside the field, where the imagination is generally seen as “not real.” The unreality of the imagination contradicts the assertion of French philosopher Corbin who insisted that the imaginal realm is not only real but also a crucial bridge between the spirit and material realms, whose split has been diagnosed as the root cause of many modern problems. The reality of the imaginal provides the ontological foundation to place Jung’s active imagination in dialogue with the imaginal practice of self-generation from the Tibetan school of Tantric Buddhism, highlighting key tensions between the approaches. By applying the principle of Jung’s transcendent function, it seeks a third path from that tension, providing modern psychological and spiritual adepts with insight to cultivate the power of the imaginal realm in their own lives.

Field Theory, Intercorporeality, and the Sámi Underworld

Field theory as a concept entered scientific discourse in the mid-nineteenth century. Yet the essential features of a field long predate discoveries about the physical properties and behavior of matter. The paper briefly describes ancient esoteric precursors to scientific field theory, including the Hermetic tradition and archetypal astrology, before turning to twentieth-century sociological field theories and their elemental idea of subjectivity and intersubjectivity. Jungian psychology is a field theory, expanding the limits of sociology in important ways. The paper adopts a somatic archetypal perspective to argue that intersubjectivity, the basis of sociological and psychological field theories, is inadequate. Instead, depth psychologists should embrace intercorporeality, the more embodied, holistic field theory originating in the work of Husserl and Merleau-Ponty. The paper concludes with a discussion of nekyia to illustrate how an intercorporeal field theory can include the underworld in world mythologies. The inverted cosmic geography of one tradition, the Sámi, gives new meaning to numinous encounters with one’s ancestors and spirit guides. Such encounters intertwine the subtle energy bodies of the personal and transpersonal worlds, a meeting one can imagine as soul to sole, not just soul to soul.

Antonio Tabucchi and the Journey of Self-Discovery:

The article centers on two novels by Italian writer Antonio Tabucchi—Requiem: A hallucination and For Isabel: A mandala. It analyzes the polysemic elements that constitute the symbolic construction of both works, supported by the main tenets of Jungian psychology and in particular the notions of coniunctio oppositorum, individuation, and journey of self-discovery. The investigation explores the relationship of Tabucchi’s narrative with works by Ferdinando Pessoa and Herman Hesse. Homologies between the author’s view of the self, cognition, human reality, and the formal structure of the novels are examined through the Bakhtinian notion of dialogical narrative and through his metaliterary and self-reflexive mode of writing.

Poetry’s “shimmering robes”

Despite the many essays that provide instructive tracing of Carl Jung’s archetypes in Romantic literature (and elsewhere), critics have declined to examine the important implications and consequences of parallels between Jung’s theory of artistic awareness and Romantic aesthetic ideology. This ideology finds expression in the language of Blake, Percy Shelley, Emerson, Coleridge, Wordsworth and others regarding artistic creativity, specifically its origins and aims, but especially the creative process itself. In this essay, I examine the way Jung samples Romantic ideas and imagery in his characterization of art and in his conception of the religious experience of the artist in the act of creation. In doing so, I suggest that attachment to popular (not always accurate) Jungian ideas about art has reinforced the continued acceptance of compelling Romantic myths about unconscious creativity. I argue that, in his essay “On the Relation of Analytical Psychology to Poetry” and other essays, as part of an effort to liberate modern conceptions of art from reliance on mechanistic views of the human mind, Jung impeaches the merits of the Freudian model tied to medical forensics and installs in its place a Romantic theory of art rooted in the idea of intuitive creativity.