Discussion Question: What is your impression of the concept of archetypes? Think about mythic heroes and gods, or concepts of motherhood or being a father. Can you identify commonalities between different cultures, now or throughout time, which seem to suggest themes that are common to all people? Jung initially refused, but then he had an interesting dream, receiving advice from his unconscious psyche that he should reconsider his refusal:.

Jung then agreed to write the book that became known as Man and His Symbols , but only if he could hand-pick the co-authors who would help him. Jung supervised every aspect of the book, which was nearly finished when he died. Many of the symbols were represented in dreams, and symbolic dreams are the primary means by which our unconscious psyche communicates with our conscious psyche, or ego.

It is extraordinary to see how similar such symbolism has been throughout time and across cultures, even though each individual example is unique to the person having the dream or expressing themselves openly. Symbols, according to Jung, are terms, names, images, etc. More specifically, they represent something within our unconscious psyche that cannot ever be fully explained. Exploring the meaning will not unlock the secrets of the symbol, because its meaning is beyond reason. Jung suggests that this should not seem strange, since there is nothing that we perceive fully.

Our eyesight is limited, as is our hearing. Even when we use tools to enhance our senses, we still only see better, or hear better. And yet, the symbols created by our unconscious psyche are very important, since the unconscious is at least half of our being, and it is infinitely broader than our conscious psyche Jung et al.

Jung believed that the symbols created in dreams have a deeper meaning than Freud recognized. Jung believed, however, that dreams represent a psyche all their own, a vast and ancient psyche connected to the entire history of humanity the collective unconscious. By virtue of the same reasoning, Jung considered dreams to be quite personal. They could not be interpreted with dream manuals, since no object has any fixed symbolic meaning.

What makes the symbolism within dreams, as well as in everyday life, most fascinating, however, is how common it is throughout the world, both in ancient times and today. There are also many Biblical references. It would be safe to say that no one else in the history of psychology has so clearly demonstrated the cross-cultural reality of their theory as is the case with Carl Jung.

Of course, as with dreams, many of these symbols are unique to the culture in which they have arisen. Therefore, it takes a great deal of training and experience for a psychotherapist to work with patients from different cultures. Nonetheless, the patterns represent the same basic concepts, such as self, shadow, anima, animus, hero, etc.

Once recognized in their cultural context, the analyst would have a starting point from which to begin working with their patient, or the artist would understand how to influence their audience. One important type of art that relies heavily on cultural images and cues is advertising. Cultural differences can create problems for companies pursuing global marketing campaigns. It contains all aspects of human nature — light and dark, beautiful and ugly, good and evil, profound and silly.

The study of individual, as well as of collective, symbolism is an enormous task, and one that has not yet been mastered. Jung had conducted an extensive review of the available literature on personality types, including perspectives from ancient Brahmanic conceptions taken from the Indian Vedas see below and types described by the American psychologist William James.

Based on his research and clinical experience, Jung proposed a system of personality types based on attitude-types and function-types more commonly referred to simply as attitudes and functions.

The introvert is intent on withdrawing libido from objects, as if to ensure that the object can have no power over the person. In contrast, the extravert extends libido toward an object, establishing an active relationship. Jung considered introverts and extraverts to be common amongst all groups of people, from all walks of life.

Of course, one cannot have an orientation to objects without consciousness, and consciousness cannot exist without an ego.

For Jung, the ego is a complex, so it is associated with both the conscious psyche and the personal unconscious. The first opposing pair of functions is thinking vs. Thinking involves intellect, it tells you what a thing is, whereas feeling is values-based, it tells what a thing is worth to you.

For example, if you are trying to choose classes for your next semester of college, perhaps you need to choose between a required general education course as opposed to a personally interesting course like Medical First Responder or Interior Design. If you are guided first by thinking, you will probably choose the course that fulfills a requirement, but if you are guided by feeling, you may choose the course that satisfies your more immediate interests. The second opposing pair of functions is sensing vs.

Sensing describes paying attention to the reality of your external environment, it tells you that something is. In contrast, intuition incorporates a sense of time, and allows for hunches. Intuition may seem mysterious, and Jung freely acknowledges that he is particularly mystical, yet he offers an interesting perspective on this issue:.

It is a function which normally you do not use if you live a regular life within four walls and do regular routine work. But if you are on the Stock Exchange or in Central Africa, you will use your hunches like anything. You cannot, for instance, calculate whether when you turn round a corner in the bush you will meet a rhinoceros or a tiger - but you get a hunch, and it will perhaps save your life… pg.

The two attitudes and the four functions combine to form eight personality types. Jung described a so-called cross of the functions, with the ego in the center being influenced by the pairs of functions Jung, Discussion Question: Jung described two attitudes introversion-extraversion and four functions thinking-feeling, sensing-intuition as the primary basis for psychological types.

There were now, according to Briggs and Myers, sixteen possible personality types. Decisive, quickly move to implement decisions. While it is relatively easy to find shortcut tests or variations of the MBTI online, if one plans to make any meaningful decisions based on their personality type they should consult a trained MBTI administrator. What sort of decision might one make? The MBTI has become a popular tool for looking at career choices and workplace relationships. David Keirsey uses plain language in an effort to make personality types easy to comprehend.

Setting aside introversion vs. Focused on own internal thoughts and ideas, do not communicate well, can be highly conflicted and will lash out at critics, generally stubborn and do not get along well with others. Tend to be silent, inaccessible, and melancholy, have deep emotions but hide them and appear cold and reserved on the surface, tend to be suspicious of others, most are women.

Guided by subjective impression of real-life objects, often express their sensations through artistic endeavors, the objective world may seem make-believe and comical. Tend to be peculiar and lack contact with reality, may be completely misunderstood even by those who are close to them, may seem like a mystical dreamer and seer on one hand but just a cranky person on the other, may have vision but lack convincing power of reason. Seek intellectual conclusions based on objective reality, seek to influence others, suppress emotion, can be rigid and dogmatic tyrannical when others penetrate their power province.

Feelings harmonize with objective situations, can be highly emotional, will avoid thinking when it proves upsetting, most are women. Immersed in realism and seek new experiences, whole aim is concrete enjoyment, most are men. Always seek new opportunities, may seize new opportunity with enthusiasm and just as quickly abandon it if not promising, has vision, often found among business tycoons and politicians, but have little regard for welfare of others.

However, he lamented the misguided attempts of society to educate children into their personalities. It is best not to apply to children the high ideal of education to personality. For what is generally understood by personality - namely, a definitely shaped, psychic abundance, capable of resistance and endowed with energy - is an adult ideal…No personality is manifested without definiteness , fullness , and maturity.

These three characteristics do not, and should not, fit the child, for they would rob it of its childhood. No one will deny or even underestimate the importance of childhood years; the severe injuries, often lasting through life, caused by a nonsensical upbringing at home and in school are too obvious, and the need for reasonable pedagogic methods is too urgent…But who rears children to personality?

In the first and most important place we have the ordinary, incompetent parents who are often themselves, all their lives, partly or wholly children. So, if childhood is a critical time, but most adults never grow up themselves, what hope does Jung see for the future? The answer is to be found in midlife. Man has two aims: The first is the aim of nature, the begetting of children and all the business of protecting the brood; to this period belongs the gaining of money and social position.

When this aim is satisfied, there begins another phase, namely, that of culture. For the attainment of the former goal we have the help of nature, and moreover of education; but little or nothing helps us toward the latter goal So where does one look for the answers to life? Obviously, there is no simple answer to that question, or rather, than are many answers to that question. Some pursue spiritual answers, such as meditating or devoting themselves to charitable causes.

Some devote themselves to their children and grandchildren, others to gardening, painting, or woodworking. It is not to be confused with the ego, or with the conscious psyche, since it includes aspects of the personal unconscious, as influenced by the collective unconscious. To some extent, this process draws the individual away from society, toward being just that, an individual. However, keeping in mind the collective unconscious, Jung believed that individuation leads to more intense and broader collective relationships, rather than leading to isolation.

This is what is meant by a whole person, one who successfully integrates the conscious psyche, or ego, with the unconscious psyche. Jung also addresses the Eastern approaches, such as meditation, as being misguided in their attempts to master the unconscious mind.

The goal of individuation is wholeness, wholeness of ego, unconscious psyche, and community Jung, , :. Consciousness and the unconscious do not make a whole when either is suppressed or damaged by the other. If they must contend, let it be a fair fight with equal right on both sides. Both are aspects of life…It is the old play of hammer and anvil: the suffering iron between them will in the end be shaped into an unbreakable whole, the individual. Discussion Question: Jung identified the first half of life as a time to take care of the biological needs of the species e.

Jung was deeply moved by his ability to help patients, and he took the process of analysis very seriously. This is not to say, however, that he considered a specific process to be necessary. He was suspicious of theoretical assumptions, he focused on each individual in therapy, and was just as likely to adapt Adlerian techniques as he was to adapt Freudian techniques. He did consider training to be very important, and that it should include medical training.

He was not opposed to lay analysts those with a Ph. He built his general system of psychotherapy on four tenets: the psyche is a self-regulating system, the unconscious has creative and compensatory components, the doctor-patient relationship is crucial, and personality growth takes place throughout the lifespan.

In addition, the process of psychotherapy involves four stages: confession , elucidation , education , and transformation see Douglas, The confession and elucidation stages involve the patient recounting elements of their personal history, dreams, and fantasies, followed by the analyst bringing attention to symptoms, transferences, and attempting to help the patient gain insight on both intellectual and emotional levels.

The education stage then involves moving the patient into the realm of an individual, hopefully as an adapted social being. Education focuses mostly on the persona and the ego, whereas confession and elucidation serve the role of exploring the personal unconscious. The education stage also involves trying to provide the patient with realistic options for changing their behavior. The final stage, transformation, was described by Jung as being similar to self-actualization.

Also like self-actualization, not every patient or person makes it to this stage. Addressing the archetypal image of the self, the image of wholeness, requires working with the whole range of the conscious, personal unconscious, and collective unconscious psyches.

The final goal is to inspire the patient to become a uniquely individual self without losing a sense of responsible integrity the collectiveness inherent in the collective unconscious; see Douglas, Since Jung did not want to be tied to any specific technique s , he incorporated a variety of techniques as appropriate for each patient. Like Freud, Jung experimented with hypnosis early in his career, but discarded the technique as ineffective. He used dream analysis regularly, but did not consider each dream to be necessarily important.

Instead, he looked for patterns in dreams over time, particularly recurring dreams. Jung taught his patients to get in touch with their own unconscious psyche through an active imagination technique. This meditative imagery procedure is somewhat similar to that of the Buddhist mindfulness techniques taught by Gotama Buddha some 2, years ago, but involves much more active cognition. Jung found it helpful, especially with particularly withdrawn patients, to have them act out their thoughts and feeling.

Jung would even mimic their movements to help himself better understand what his patients were trying to communicate Douglas, The importance of physical states, as reflective of psychological states, was developed in more detail in the somatic psychology theories of Wilhelm Reich. In addition, Jung extended his therapeutic approach to group therapy, family and marital therapy, art therapy, child therapy, and the recurrent nightmares of patients suffering from post-traumatic stress.

Through it all, Jung paid special attention to complexes, as representative of the psychic processes of the patient. Once an analyst understands both the symptoms and the complexes of the patient, Jung believed, the analyst has found the key to treatment Douglas, Like Freud, Jung felt that analytical psychology could serve a greater purpose beyond just helping individuals, so he turned his attention to society in several of his books.

A modern person, according to Jung, is one who is whole, aware of their conscious psyche and their unconscious psyche both personal and collective. Though such people are few and far between, Jung believed he saw evidence of a need for understanding the unconscious psyche. One obvious piece of evidence was the rise of psychology as a discipline at the beginning of the twentieth century.

Jung believed that we can learn a great deal from Yoga and Buddhism in terms of blending psychology and spirituality in order to understand the whole nature of human beings. As a general condemnation of our obsession with science, he questions any theory based on statistical averages, since those averages say very little at all about the unique units being studied, whether they are people or some other object.

The importance of understanding the true and complete nature of our psyche is that until we do we cannot live our lives to the fullest:. Our souls as well as our bodies are composed of individual elements which were all already present in the ranks of our ancestors. It lends itself more readily to, perhaps, the study of the humanities, with elements of medieval pseudo-science, Asian culture, and native religions an odd combination, to be sure. With titles such as Aion: Researches into the Phenomenology of the Self Jung, c and Mysterium Conjunctionis: An Inquiry into the Separation and Synthesis of Psychic Opposites in Alchemy Jung, , Jung is not exactly accessible without a wide range of knowledge in areas other than psychology.

Alchemy was of particular interest to Jung, but not in terms of turning base metals into gold alchemy is a strange mixture of spirituality and chemistry. Rather, Jung believed that psychology could find its base in alchemy, and that it was the collective unconscious that came forth in the ongoing human effort to understand the nature of matter Jaffe, ; Jung, ; Wehr, He even went so far as to write about flying saucers, the astrological seasons of time, and the prophesies of Nostradamus Jung, c; Storr, And yet, Jung addressed some very important and interesting topics in psychology.

He may always be best-known for his personal relationship with Freud, brief as it was, but the blending of Eastern and Western thought is becoming more common in psychology.

So perhaps Jung himself will become more accessible to the field of psychology, and we may find a great deal to be excited about in his curious approach to psychodynamic theory. Many people are deeply religious and many others consider themselves to be just as deeply spiritual, though not connected to any specific religion. As important as religion and spirituality are in the lives of many people, psychology has tended to avoid these topics, primarily because they do not lend themselves readily to scientific investigation.

Jung certainly did not avoid these topics, and he studied a wide range of spiritual topics. In addition to his varied spiritual interests, Jung became interested in psychological phenomena that could not be explained in scientific terms.

Such phenomena do not necessarily require a spiritual explanation, but in the absence of any other way to explain them, they are often thought of in spiritual terms. One such topic is synchronicity. I would like to share with you two experiences of synchronicity from my own life.

Having a Ph. Jung also found it difficult to address this topic:. In most cases they were things which people do not talk about for fear of exposing themselves to thoughtless ridicule. I was amazed to see how many people have had experiences of this kind and how carefully the secret was guarded.

So my interest in this problem has a human as well as a scientific foundation. Later that year, I was traveling across the country, taking a whole week to get to a neuroscience convention in California, and I decided to hike up Wheeler Peak, the highest point in New Mexico 13, feet. I arrived a little late in the day, but decided I had enough time to make the climb and get back down off the ridge before dark.

I just made it, but still had a few miles to go on the jeep trail down to the parking lot. Along the way, I stopped and looked back up at Wheeler Peak. I turned off my flashlight, and in the dark I could just make out the outline of the mountain against the night sky. I prayed to God for a sign that our son was in Heaven. I took it to be the sign I had asked for. When I was young I mowed their lawn in the summer and shoveled their driveway in the winter.

When I was old enough to get a regular job, I asked Mr. He declined, saying he wanted me to work at their drugstore. So, I worked at the drugstore from the age of 15 to 20 years old. I even began college at the same school they had attended: the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy. Eventually I moved away, pursued my career in psychology, got married and had children, and visits to Massachusetts became few and far between.

One night, about 25 years after I had worked at the drugstore, I had a very vivid and moving dream. I was standing in the center of Foxborough, looking at the building where the drugstore had been.

I was overwhelmed by a profound sense of sadness, sad that things must change with time and cannot remain the same, no matter how much we may long for the past.

I awoke from that dream astonished by its sense of reality and its emotional impact. There can be no scientific explanation. I searched my mind for anything that might have coincidentally caused me to think about the drugstore the day before, but nothing came to mind except for an alternative explanation, which was not at all scientific. In the quote cited above, Jung wrote that he was amazed by how many people have had experiences of synchronicity.

The questions I would pose to you are quite simple. Have you ever experienced synchronicity? If you have not, do you consider it possible that such events occur as something more than simple if improbable coincidence?

Before dismissing synchronicity as non-scientific, keep in mind the circumstances that led Jung to this theory. Although these men are considered among the greatest scientists of modern times, Einstein perhaps the greatest, consider some of their theories. How can we accept things that cannot be observed or proved as scientific, while rejecting something that Jung and many others have observed time and time again?

Jung was impressed by the possibility of splitting atoms, and wondered if such a thing might be possible with the psyche. As physics suggested strange new possibilities, Jung held out the same hope for humanity Progoff, There also happens to be another well-known person in the history of psychology who has experienced synchronicity and who talked about many of her patients having had out-of-body and near-death experiences: Elisabeth Kubler-Ross.

In her book On Children and Death Kubler-Ross, , Kubler-Ross describes even more serious concerns than Jung about discussing this topic, but as with Jung, she has also met many, many patients who have had these experiences:.

These illuminations cannot be explained in scientific language. Listening to these experiences and sharing many of them myself, it would seem hypocritical and dishonest to me not to mention them in my lectures and workshops.

So I have shared all of what I have learned from my patients for the last two decades, and I intend to continue to do so.

Discussion Question: Jung studied and wrote about topics as diverse as alchemy, astrology, flying saucers, ESP, the prophecies of Nostradamus, and synchronicity. Does this make it difficult for you to believe any of his theories? Save Please log in to save materials.

Summary Table of Contents This is a personality theory textbook, with an emphasis on culture. In addition to traditional topics, chapters on Eastern and religious perspectives as positive approaches to adult personality development are included. There are also two appendices, one on personality disorders and another on African perspectives on personality. Definitions and Descriptions of Personality. Psychodynamic Factors. Learning and Cognitive Factors. Biological Factors.

Inherent Drives. Sociocultural Influences. Personality as a Discipline Within the Field of Psychology. Personality as a Common Thread in the History of Psychology. Methods of Studying Personality. Case Studies. Correlational Designs. Experimental and Quasi-Experimental Designs.

Cross-Cultural Approaches to the Study of Personality. Application of Personality Theory - Assessing Personality. Reliability, Validity, and Standardization. Assessing Personality with Objective Tests. Assessing Personality with Projective Tests. Clinical Interviews. Critical Thinking in Psychology.

Overview of the Approach of This Textbook. Review of Key Points. Personality, Culture, and Society. Cultural Studies in the Field of Psychology. The Challenges of Cultural Research. The Influence of Culture and Society on Personality. Different Cultural Factors Affecting Personality. Religion as a Cultural Influence. Gender and Culture. Aging Within a Cultural Context. Addressing the Degree of Cultural Integration. Culture and Diversity. Culture and Mental Illness. A Final Challenge. Sigmund Freud.

Freud's Psychiatric Career. Freud's Final Years. Basic Concepts. Hysteria and Psychic Determinism. Freud's Theory of Instincts.

The Development of Libido and Psychosexual Function. Levels of Consciousness. Structure of Personality. Id, Ego, Superego. Defense Mechanisms. Psychosexual Stages of Development. The Psychosexual Stages. Freud's Perspective on the Female Psyche. Free Association - Freud's Therapeutic Breakthrough. The Elements of Dream Analysis. The Therapeutic Process. Is Psychoanalysis Effective? Religion and Spirituality.

A Final Note. Carl Jung. Brief Biography of Carl Jung. The way in which people relate to inner and outer worlds is determined by their attitude type: an extraverted individual being orientated to the outer world, and an introverted one primarily to the inner world. Jung also noted that people differ in the conscious use they make of four functions which he termed, thinking, feeling, sensation, and intuition.

In any individual, one of these functions is superior and is therefore more highly developed than other functions, since greater use is made of it, but each attitude operates in relation to the introversion or extraversion of the person, as well as in conjunction with other less dominant functions, giving a number of different theoretical possibilities. The ego arises out of the Self during the course of early development.

It has an executive function, it perceives meaning and assesses value, so that it not only promotes survival but makes life worth living. It is an expression of the Self, though by no means identical with it, and the Self is much greater than it. Jung compared the nature of consciousness to the eye: only a limited number of things can be held in vision at any one time, and in the same way the activity of consciousness is selective.

Selection, he says, demands direction and other things are excluded as irrelevant. This is bound to make conscious orientation one sided. The contents which are excluded sink into the unconscious where they form a counterweight to the conscious orientation. Thus an increasing tension is created and eventually the unconscious will break through in the form of dreams or images. So the unconscious complex is a balancing or supplementing of the conscious orientation. The personal unconscious is a product of the interaction between the collective unconscious and the development of the individual during life.

One can see that there is more here than the repressed contents of the unconscious as envisaged by Freud, for while it does include repression, Jung also sees the personal unconscious as having within it potential for future development, and thus is very much in line with his thinking about the psyche. Jung considered that the personal unconscious is composed of functional units called complexes, and he reached the concept of the complex through some important and ground-breaking work he did as a young man on word association.

He found that there were internal distractions which interfered with the association of the subjects to the test words, so that their reaction time was longer for some words than others.

The word association test suggested the presence of many types of complex not merely, as Freud claimed, a core sexual complex, or Oedipus complex.

A complex is in the main unconscious and has a tendency to behave independently or autonomously so that the individual may feel that his behaviour is out of his control. This sense of autonomy is perhaps most marked in abnormal states of mind, and can be seen most clearly in people who are ill; whom we sometimes think of as possessed, but complexes are parts of the psyche of us all. Complexes have their roots in the collective unconscious and are tinged with archetypal contents.

Jung held that the psyche has the ability to bring into awareness dissociated complexes and archetypal material in order to provide a balance or compensation to conscious life. He thought that the ego was prone to making inappropriate choices or to one-sidedness, and that material arising from the unconscious could help to bring a better balance to the individual and enable further development to take place.

The further development tends to take place in a situation of conflict, which Jung saw as a creative and inevitable part of human life. When unconscious contents break through into consciousness it can lead to increased development in the individual. However, complexes can easily manifest themselves without the ego being strong enough to reflect on them and enable them to be made use of, and it is then that they cause us and other people difficulties.

Jung was more concerned with the present and with future development than with delving into the past, emphasising a teleological approach and being concerned with the meaning of symptoms and their purpose.

He took the view that the whole personality is present in potentia from birth and that personality is not solely a function of the environment, as was thought at the time when he was developing his ideas, but merely brings out what is already there. The role of the environment is to emphasise and develop aspects already within the individual.

Every infant is born with an intact blueprint for life, both physically and mentally, and while these ideas were very controversial at the time, there is much more agreement now that each animal species is uniquely equipped with a repertoire of behaviours adapted to the environment in which it has evolved.

These ideas are very close indeed to the theory of archetypes developed by Jung. CW18, para The archetypes predispose us to approach life and to experience it in certain ways, according to patterns laid down in the psyche. There are archetypal figures, such as mother, father, child, archetypal events, such as birth, death, separation, and archetypal objects such as water, the sun, the moon, snakes, and so on.

These images find expression in the psyche, in behaviour and in myths. It is only archetypal images that are capable of being known and coming to consciousness, the archetypes themselves are deeply unconscious and unknowable. I have mentioned the biological, instinctual pole of the archetype, but Jung perceived the concept as a spectrum, there being an opposing, spiritual pole which also has an enormous impact on behaviour.

Archetypes have a fascinating, numinous quality to them which makes them difficult to ignore, and attracts people to venerate or worship archetypal images. The Self for Jung comprises the whole of the psyche, including all its potential.

It is the organising genius behind the personality, and is responsible for bringing about the best adjustment in each stage of life that circumstances can allow. Crucially, it has a teleological function: it is forward looking, seeking fulfilment. Jung proposed that dreams can tell us something about the development and structure of the human psyche, and that dreams have evolved with our species throughout time.

Since consciousness is limited by our present experience, dreams help to reveal much deeper and broader elements of our psyche than we can be aware of consciously. As such, dreams cannot easily be interpreted. Jung rejected the analysis of any single dream, believing that they belong within a series.

He also rejected trying to learn dream analysis from a book. Thus, it is within the context of dreams, not the details, that meaning is to be found Jung, a, Stated another way, dreams are trying to show us parts of our psyche that we are unaware of, and teach us to be more whole and to have psychic balance. For example if we dream of a dragon shooting fire from its mouth, over time we may begin to know that this fiery power of the dragon is somehow related to us.

Perhaps we are passive in our ways, and dreams of fiery dragons begin to get us in touch with our fiery nature, which we have otherwise repressed or not expressed. For example Arnold Mindell PhD, a physicist and psychologist has written extensively about how the materials of dreams is reflected in other perceptual channels of experience.

Jung was suggesting that dreams were trying to bring parts of our psyche to awareness Mindell, Mindells calls his concept the Dreambody and suggests that body symptoms, as well as dreams, are trying to bring information to our awareness. Mindell gives the example of a woman who dreams of a tree on fire. The woman is also dealing with inflammatory arthritis.

As the woman describes the dream as well as the arthritis, both have a fiery quality. By talking about the information in our body symptoms we will arrive at similar information to what we dreamed about. Mindell has expanded his work to include relationship problems and world problems as ways perceptual channels that bring psychic information to our awareness. For example a conflict in a relationship can reflect the same information we dreamed about last night.

Dreams and body symptoms mirror or reflect similar information. Discussion Question: Jung believed that the source of our motivation was a psychological drive to achieve balance the effect of entropy on the psyche. Have you ever felt that you were being pushed or pulled in the wrong direction, or in too many directions at once, and simply wanted to achieve some balance in your life? In contrast, have there been times that your life was unfulfilling, and you needed something more in order to feel whole?

Jung used the term complex which is similar to the modern term schema, to describe the collective unconscious. Jung was trying to communicate that we have a complex or cluster or emotions and images related to a concept.

Some of those emotions and images are from our personal history, yet some seem to be not from us — they were with us from the start or they come from around us. Jung felt it was very important to be in contact with this sense of a bigger power Jung, c. Thus, according to Jung, the collective unconscious is a reservoir of psychic resources common to all humans something along the lines of psychological instinct.

These psychic resources, known as archetypes , are passed down through the generations of a culture, but Jung considered them to be inherited, not learned. As generation after generation experienced similar phenomena, the archetypal images were formed. Despite cultural differences, the human experience has been similar in many ways throughout history.

It is important to note that archetypal images are considered to be ancient. Archetypes have been expressed as myths and fables, some of which are thousands of years old even within recorded history.

As the eternal, symbolic images representing archetypes were developed, they naturally attracted and fascinated people. That, according to Jung, is why they have such profound impact, even today, in our seemingly advanced, knowledgeable, and scientific societies.

Brer Rabbit, Wile E. Coyote or, often, monkeys or a mischievous god such as the Norse god Loki. Jung described the shadow in many ways. At times Jungian psychology is referred to as shadow psychology. One way Jung described the shadow was Jung, , c that the shadow encompasses desires and feelings that are not acceptable to society or the conscious psyche.

This might include aggression, lust, and other parts of a person that they are less comfortable showing to others. With effort the shadow can be somewhat assimilated into the conscious personality, but portions of it are highly resistant to moral control. Portions of the shadow have a transpersonal power to them, a power beyond what most people can imagine.

Most people, Jung thought, do not try to be aware of their shadow. Yet the shadow had great creative power. As a result of not being in touch with our shadow aspects of our psyche, we tend to project those thoughts, feelings, or emotions onto other people. We also lose the creativity contained in the images and energies of the shadow. Jung initially refused, but then he had an interesting dream, receiving advice from his unconscious psyche that he should reconsider his refusal:.

Jung then agreed to write the book that became known as Man and His Symbols, but only if he could hand-pick the co-authors who would help him. Jung supervised every aspect of the book, which was nearly finished when he died.

Many of the symbols were represented in dreams, and symbolic dreams are the primary means by which our unconscious psyche communicates with our conscious psyche, or ego. It is extraordinary to see how similar such symbolism has been throughout time and across cultures, even though each individual example is unique to the person having the dream or expressing themselves openly. Symbols, according to Jung, are terms, names, images, etc. More specifically, they represent something within our unconscious psyche that cannot ever be fully explained.

Exploring the meaning will not unlock the secrets of the symbol, because its meaning is beyond reason. Jung suggests that this should not seem strange, since there is nothing that we perceive fully. Our eyesight is limited, as is our hearing.

Even when we use tools to enhance our senses, we still only see better, or hear better. And yet, the symbols created by our unconscious psyche are very important, since the unconscious is at least half of our being, and it is infinitely broader than our conscious psyche Jung et al. Jung believed that the symbols created in dreams have a deeper meaning than Freud recognized. Jung believed, however, that dreams represent a psyche all their own, a vast and ancient psyche connected to the entire history of humanity the collective unconscious.

By virtue of the same reasoning, Jung considered dreams to be quite personal. They could not be interpreted with dream manuals, since no object has any fixed symbolic meaning. What makes the symbolism within dreams, as well as in everyday life, most fascinating, however, is how common it is throughout the world, both in ancient times and today. There are also many Biblical references. It would be safe to say that no one else in the history of psychology has so clearly demonstrated the cross-cultural reality of their theory as is the case with Carl Jung.

Of course, as with dreams, many of these symbols are unique to the culture in which they have arisen. Therefore, it takes a great deal of training and experience for a psychotherapist to work with patients from different cultures.

Nonetheless, the patterns represent the same basic concepts, such as self, shadow, anima, animus, hero, etc. Once recognized in their cultural context, the analyst would have a starting point from which to begin working with their patient, or the artist would understand how to influence their audience. One important type of art that relies heavily on cultural images and cues is advertising. Cultural differences can create problems for companies pursuing global marketing campaigns.

It contains all aspects of human nature — light and dark, beautiful and ugly, good and evil, profound and silly. The study of individual, as well as of collective, symbolism is an enormous task, and one that has not yet been mastered. Jung had conducted an extensive review of the available literature on personality types, including perspectives from ancient Brahmanic conceptions taken from the Indian Vedas see below and types described by the American psychologist William James.

Based on his research and clinical experience, Jung proposed a system of personality types based on attitude-types and function-types more commonly referred to simply as attitudes and functions.

The introvert is intent on withdrawing libido energy from objects, as if to ensure that the object can have no power over the person. In contrast, the extravert extends libido toward an object, establishing an active relationship.

Jung considered introverts and extraverts to be common amongst all groups of people, from all walks of life. The first opposing pair of functions is thinking vs.

Thinking involves intellect, it tells you what a thing is, whereas feeling is values-based, it tells what a thing is worth to you. For example, if you are trying to choose classes for your next semester of college, perhaps you need to choose between a required general education course as opposed to a personally interesting course like Medical First Responder or Interior Design.

If you are guided first by thinking, you will probably choose the course that fulfills a requirement, but if you are guided by feeling, you may choose the course that satisfies your more immediate interests. The second opposing pair of functions is sensing vs. Sensing describes paying attention to the reality of your external environment, it tells you that something is. In contrast, intuition incorporates a sense of time, and allows for hunches. Intuition may seem mysterious, and Jung freely acknowledges that he is particularly mystical, yet he offers an interesting perspective on this issue:.

It is a function which normally you do not use if you live a regular life within four walls and do regular routine work. But if you are on the Stock Exchange or in Central Africa, you will use your hunches like anything. You cannot, for instance, calculate whether when you turn round a corner in the bush you will meet a rhinoceros or a tiger — but you get a hunch, and it will perhaps save your life… pg.

The two attitudes and the four functions combine to form eight personality types. Jung described a so-called cross of the functions, with the ego in the center being influenced by the pairs of functions Jung, There were now, according to Briggs and Myers, sixteen possible personality types. Decisive, quickly move to implement decisions. While it is relatively easy to find shortcut tests or variations of the MBTI online, if one plans to make any meaningful decisions based on their personality type they should consult a trained MBTI administrator.

What sort of decision might one make? The MBTI has become a popular tool for looking at career choices and workplace relationships. However, he lamented the misguided attempts of society to educate children into their personalities.