Thursday, September 14, 2006

Theories and Methods - Jung

Jung proposed that libidinal energy was more a general force than a sexual force. Furthermore, while paying attention to the ideas of the conscious and unconscious, Jung also proposed a personal and collective unconscious. The personal unconscious contains our experiences that were once conscious but are now unconscious. The collective unconscious is a vault of memories that is handed down from one generation to the next.

Archetypes are part of the collective unconscious and play a role in personality development. The most important archetypes include: the self, the persona, the shadow, the anima and the animus. Jung also posited four basic psychological functions of which one is generally in use by the conscious at all times. These four basic functions are: thinking, feeling, sensing and intuiting. For Jung, maladaptive behavior consists of a message from the unconscious that something has gone awry or that a task needs to be completed. Jungian therapists rely on interpretations in order to help people bridge the gap between the conscious and the unconscious in order to resolve conflict. Dreamwork and counter-transference also play significant roles in Jungian Analysis.

1 comment:

Short Stories said...

I shall test that theory.