Archetypal

E = ego complex (or our conscious mind)

T (solid lines) = threshold lines or barriers (these can be more or less permeable, that is stuff can move across this space in either direction)

1(PUncs) = sphere of the personal unconscious. Contents and processes here are known as complexes. Complexes get formed when material is not acceptable to consciousness 'falls' back into the psychic system carrying an emotional charge with it. Similarly 'charged' bits of experience sort of clump together and eventual can exert influences in how the psyche works.

2 (CUncs) = sphere of the collective unconscious. Contents and processes here are known as archetypes. The core of a complex will be an archetype. Jung has much to say about archetypes but suffice it say here that there are four ideas to keep in mind when you think about the concept and phenomenon of archetype. This include the ideas that:

• what we are talking about is a collective unconscious pattern of energy or libido flow
• it is both dynamism and structure
• as dynamism it transforms as various aspects of it are manifested thus becoming visible in images and symbols (symbol I use here in the Jungian sense of serving as a carrier of psychic energy ... it is something more than what it appears, our experience tells us this)
• as structure it contains both positive and negative dimensions (both together form the totality of the archetype itself)

The collective unconscious or the archetypal realm, Jung believed, is common to all humans, if not all of life. His extensive studies of symbols and symbolic expressions in different cultures and in different time periods in human history led him to this conclusion. There is an richness of this symbolic material in the Collected Works, but it is not easy reading.

S = the Jungian notion of Self. From a scientific perspective this is a hypothesis. The very nature of the Self is that it cannot be clearly defined by consciousness. This idea is something Jung insisted upon in his thinking and writings. Some other terms used to describe and discuss the urge within the psyche to organize our experience are the archetype of wholeness and the archetype of meaning.

An analyst is trained to work with the archetypal dimension of the psychic experience. What distinguishes an analyst from any other school of thought or therapy is understanding and attempting to work consciously with this aspect of the psyche. In the words of the late Edward Edinger: "What frequently happens as one proceeds is that the personal level of the transference is assimilated and then the archetypal one is opened up. That feature is utterly unique to Jungian psychology - no other school of psychotherapy knows beans about the archetypal transference. It's unknown. That's a treasure we carry, the awareness of that archetypal dimension of the transference" (Edinger, E. The Mysterium Lectures. Toronto: Inner City Books, 1995, page 316).

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Centering of the Whole Personality

Dialectic Process

Dialectic process is a term used to describe a type of situation in which in the case of analysis two persons meet regularly for the purpose of exploring something. The something that is being explored in analysis is the psyche of the individulal analysand, that is the structures and processes of this particular personality. The person who enters into analytic work is called an analysand and the person with whom s/he does this is called the analyst. A Jungian analyst has had an extensive personal analysis experience as part of the training program in analytical psychology.

Grist for the analytical mill can include discussions of any experiences that shape development of the personality. Some examples could include:

• early family situation and life
  • patterns of interactions
  • values
  • general life situations
  • how problems were dealt with
  • emotional climate of the family
  • illness, accidents, deaths, etc
• religious background
• intellectual and academic development
• friendships
• peer and work relationships
• intimate relationships
• inner life: for example, fantasies, fears, wishes

In the Collected Works Jung said the following: "In many cases ..... the patient who comes to us has a story that is not told, and which as a rule no-one knows of. To my mind, therapy only really begins after the investigation of that wholly personal story. It is the patient's secret..... if I know his story, I have the key to the treatment." Analysts are concerned with narratives of inner and outer lives. They can enter real and imagined lives and help an analysand invent richer and deeper stories in which one can be more than just the characters, but also be an author consciously creating one's own live. Return to text.

Psychodynamics