Jungian Psychoanalysis (Analytical Psychology)

Presentation

Analytical psychology is the psychotherapeutic approach developed by Carl Gustav Jung (1875–1961), Swiss psychiatrist, initially a disciple of Freud then founder of his own school after their break in 1912. Where Freud saw the unconscious as essentially a reservoir of repressed drives, Jung proposed a broader vision including a collective unconscious shared by all humanity, populated by archetypes — universal primordial images structuring human experience.

The central therapeutic goal is individuation: the process by which a person integrates different aspects of their psyche (persona, shadow, anima/animus) to realize the Self — personality totality beyond the conscious ego alone.

Founder: Carl Gustav Jung (1875–1961), psychiatrist, Küsnacht, Switzerland

Core Principles

Collective unconscious: beyond the personal unconscious, a shared psychic substrate containing archetypes.

Archetypes: universal structures — Great Mother, Father, Divine Child, Hero, Sage, Trickster, Shadow, Anima/Animus, Self.

Shadow: rejected, denied or projected aspects of self. Shadow integration is essential to individuation.

Anima/Animus: inner contrasexual figures enabling authentic relationship with otherness.

Self (Selbst): central archetype of totality, the psyche's regulatory center transcending the ego.

Main Indications

• Existential and meaning crisis (especially midlife)
• Depression linked to loss of meaning
• Identity and individuation difficulties
• Recurrent dreams and nightmares
• Blocked creativity
• Major life transitions
• Non-pathological spiritual quest

Session Overview

Jungian therapy takes place face-to-face in 50-60 minute sessions, 1-2 times per week. The work is dialogic and collaborative. The Jungian analyst uses amplification — enriching dream images with mythological, cultural and archetypal parallels.

Dream work is central. Active imagination is a specifically Jungian technique where the patient dialogues in waking state with inner figures. Expressive work (painting, modeling, writing) is often encouraged.

Variations and Sub-techniques

• Classical Jungian analysis
• Sandplay therapy (Dora Kalff)
• Active imagination
• Jungian art therapy
• James Hillman's depth psychology (post-Jungian)
• Archetypal psychology

Contraindications

• Active psychosis (risk of unconscious inflation)
• Uncontrolled magical thinking tendency
• Too fragile personality structure for shadow work
• Need for rapid symptomatic treatment
• Severe active unstabilized addiction