Carl Gustav Jung - Analytical ...

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Ea
r
l
y i
n 1909 Ca
rl
jung
,
then a colleague and close friend of Freud
'
s, expressed a keen
in
terest in precognition and parapsychology
.
To jung
'
s dismay and
i
rritation
,
Freud strongly
d
en
oun
ced
s
uch be
li
efs as nonsensical
.
The rejection made jung feel as though his diaphragm
were m
a
de of
r
ed-hot i
r
on
,
whereupon a strange loud noise issued from a nearby
bookc
as
e
.
"
There
;'
jun
g
a
r
gued
, "
that is an example of a so-called catalytic exteriorization
p
h
enome
n
o
n:'
"
B
osh;' r
eto
rt
ed F
r
eud.
"It is not
;'
Jung replied
. "
And to prove my point I
now predict that in a moment there will be
another such loud report!
"
No sooner had these words been spoken than a
second inexplicable detonation went off in the
bookcase
. "
To this day I do not know what gave me
this certainty
;'
jung was to reflect years later
,
"but I
knew beyond all doubt that the report would
come again
.
Freud only stared aghast at me
.... "
(Jung
,
1961/1965
,
pp
.
155-156
.
)
I
jung
'
s quest for informat
i
on about the human
psyche led him to sources that many would regard
as farfetched-the occult
,
studies of extrasensory
perception, alchemy
,
the myth of flying saucers. Yet
jung regarded himself as an empirical researcher
,
possessed a fine mind
,
read voraciously and
acquired an immense store of knowledge
,
traveled
widely in order to study various races and classes,
and was an esteemed psychotherapist
;
and some of
his ideas have become part of the everyday
language of psychology and life.
I
Freud latertook a more positive approach to the occu
l
t
.
See for exa
m
p
l
e Freud
,
1933/1965b, pp. 31-56; Roazen,
1975/1976b, pp. 232-241
.
• To devise
a
theory
of
personality that greatly improves on Freud's
ideas while continuing
to
emphasize the importance
of
the
unconscious
.
• To correct Freud's extreme pessimism about human nature by
showing that
we
have both healthy and malignant instincts, and
that one
of
our healthy instincts
is
individuation (the forerunner
of
the humanistic concept
of
self-actualization).
• To show that every personality includes
a
collective unconscious
that contains archetypes, or inherited predispositions
to
perceive
the world in certain ways,
as
well
as a
personal unconscious that
contains repressed or forgotten material.
• To show that introversion
-
extraversion and the four ways in which
we
perceive the world (sensation, thinking, feeling, and intuition)
are important aspects
of
every personality.
• To correct Freud
'
s belief that mental illness usually has sexual
causes by showing that every personality consists
of
various
opposites, and that becoming too one-sided and ignoring the
corresponding opposite aspect
of
personality is the major cause
of
psychopathology
.
• To devise improved methods
of
dream interpretation and
psychotherapy.
• To relate areas that most would regard
as
beyond the realm
of
personality theory
,
including the occult, extrasensory perception
,
and alchemy
,
to
the study
of
personality.
Carl Gustav Jung was born on July 26
,
1875, in Kesswil
,
a small village in Switzerland
.
His
father was a Protestant country minister who was tormented by a lack of faith
,
and was unable
to an
s
wer Jung's penetrating questions about religion and life. Jung
's s
kepticism about the
Oedipus complex may have been due in part to a mother who was a
"
kindly
,
fat old woman
"
troubled by marital difficulties (lung, 1961/1965
,
p
.
48), an influence quite different from that
of Freud
'
s beautiful
,
young doting mother
.
Like Freud
,
Jung rose from austere middle-
c
las
s
origins to the heights of world fame.
Jung was an introverted and lonely child
,
deeply preoccupied with his inner psychic world.
From an early age he experienced visions of the supernatural, such as a faintly luminous fig-
ure with a detached head that appeared to emanate from his mother
'
s bedroom
.
He soon came
to regard himself as
"
a solitary
,
because I know things and must hint at thing
s
which other peo-
ple do not know
,
and usually do not even want to know
.
..
.
Loneliness doe
s
not come from
having no people about one, but from being unable to communicate the thing
s
that
s
eem im-
portant to oneself, or from holding certain views which others find
i
nadmissible
"
(Jung
,
1961/1965
,
pp
.
42, 356
;
see also pp. 18-19)
.
Jung became attracted to the fledgling field of psychiatr
y
during hi
s
medical studie
s
at the
University of Basel, where he received his degree in 1900. Some of hi
s
professor
s
were
amazed and disappointed by his choice
,
but Jung was convinced that he had found his true
calling. He became absorbed with the occult, participated in experiments with mediums, and
devoured books on parapsychology. In addition to his visions, various experiences appeared to
confirm the existence of the supernatural: A solid table and a steel knife in his parents' home
inexplicably shattered into pieces by themselves. He made up a supposedly imaginary story to
entertain a group, only to find that he was clairvoyantly revealing true and intimate secrets
about a man he did not know. And the morning after being awakened by a sharp headache, he
discovered that one of his patients had that night shot himself in the back of the skull (lung,
1961/1965
,
pp. 51,105-106,109,137,206).
Jung first worked at the famed Burgholzli Psychiatric Hospital in Zurich under the direc-
tion of Eugen Bleuler, who coined the term
schizophrenia
and was well known for his work
on this disorder
.
There he developed the word association test and remained until 1909, when
he departed to concentrate on his growing private practice. In 1903 he married Emma
Rauschenbach
,
who also became his collaborator and leamed to apply his psychotherapeutic
methods. The marriage was basically successful, with the Jungs having four daughters and a
son. But no one woman could make up for the emotional deprivations of Carl's childhood.
During middle age he entered into a lengthy affair with a young, attractive, and well-educated
former patient, Toni Wolff. He even drew Toni into his family life, making her a regular guest
for Sunday dinner. Emma ultimately decided to accept this situation, and Carl kept both his
mistress and his family. (See Stem, 1976/1977.)
Jung read
The Interpretation of Dreams
upon its publication in 1900, and he began what
proved to be a lengthy correspondence with Freud in 1906. The two men met a year later, and
were so captivated with each other that they talked continuously for 13 hours. Unfortunately,
the union of the two giants was based on a fundamental misconception that eventually
destroyed the relationship. Freud was seeking disciples who would carry forth the psychoan-
alytic banner and he saw Jung as his crown prince and successor. Jung
,
on the other hand,
regarded his association with Freud as a collaboration that left both sides free to pursue their
own ideas
.
It was inevitable that Jung would view Freud's insistence on the universality of the
Oedipus complex and the sexual nature of libido as dogmatism, whereas Freud would see
Jung's attempts to develop his own theory as a betrayal
.
For some years, Jung did follow in Freud's footsteps
.
Jung defended Freud's ideas
,
accom-
panied him to the United States as an invited lecturer at Clark University in 1909, became a
psychoanalyst and taught this subject at the University of Zurich, and served as the first pres-
ident of the International Psychoanalytic Association. But Jung had to be his own man. His
analysis of the delusions and hallucinations of psychotic patients at the Burgholzli had
persuaded him of the frequent occurrence of universal archetypes, and he came to view the
human personality quite differently from Freud. When Jung continued to argue for his own
constructs, the breach with Freud became irreparable-a trying experience that occasioned
two fainting spells on Freud's part, and more than a little anguish on Jung's. The formal part-
ing came in 1913
,
with Jung also resigning from the International Psychoanalytic Association
in 1914.
Jung now turned to the solitude of his home, a large and beautiful edifice of his own
design in Ktisnacht (a suburb of Zurich), where he was to live for the rest of his life. Here he
spent the years from 1913 to 1919 in relative isolation, probing the depths of his own uncon-
scious. He conversed with voices from within his psyche, including a female that he inter-
preted as his anima and a group of ghosts that he believed to be souls returning from the dead
(Jung, 1961/1965, pp. 170-199). He observed many archetypes emerging into his conscious-
ness, and felt that he was going through the process of individuation and discovering his self.
He also suffered symptoms of emotional disturbance, suggesting that this experience was
similar to the "creative illness" undergone by Freud (Ellenberger, 1970, p. 672). To avoid
succumbing to psychosis
,
Jung forced himself to retain close ties with his family and patient
s
and scrupulously fulfilled his commitments to the external world. He emerged from this
period of introspection in 1919 with a firm belief in the universal validity of the constructs
that he developed.
Jung was now widely admired as an unusually skilled psychotherapist, attracting patients
from England and the United States. He was an active and vigorous man, over six feet tall
and broad
-
shouldered
,
interested in sailing and mountain climbing as well as scholarly pur-
suits, a good listener and fine conversationalist, and a democratic man at ease with all types
of people. Like Freud
,
however
,
Jung
'
s personality was complex and multifaceted. Some saw
him as wise
,
sensitive
,
and caring
,
whereas others viewed him as cantankerous
,
womanizing,
sarcastic (even brutal)
,
and highly critical and condescending toward others
--
especially
those who failed to meet his high standards of scholarship. (See Brome
,
1978; Stem
,
1976/1977, pp. 181-182.)
In 1923, Jung built a primitive, towerlike house in nearby Bollingen, which served as a
place for reflection and meditation
.
He also traveled extensively and observed a variety of peo-
ples and cultures, including the Pueblo Indians of New Mexico and tribes in Tunis
,
Kenya
,
Uganda, and India
.
World War II sharpened his interest in world politics and mass psychoses
and also brought charges that he was pro-Nazi and anti-Semitic
,
which ultimately proved to be
unjustified. In 1944, Jung nearly died from a heart attack
,
had a vision of his soul leaving his
body
,
and at first felt bitter disappointment upon returning to life. He also predicted that his
doctor would die in his place
,
which actually happened shortly thereafter. Jung now became
the
"
wise old man of Kiisnacht
,"
with people coming from all over the world to visit him. His
many honors include the City of Zurich Award for literature and honorary doctorates from
Harvard and Oxford
,
and his prolific writings fill some 20 volumes
.
Jung died in his Kiisnacht
home on June 6, 1961
.
Jung called his theory analytical psychology
.
Despite the similarity of names (and of some of
the constructs)
,
analytical psychology is substantially different from Freudian psychoanalysis
.
Instincts and Psychic Energy
Libido and Value.
Jung agrees with Freud that humans are motivated by innate physi-
ological urges (instincts)
,
which he defines as inborn and regularly recurring modes of action
and reaction (Jung
,
1919/1971c
,
p. 54; 1921/1976, p. 376). He also concurs that mental activ-
ity is powered by psychic energy (libido). But Jung rejects Freud
'
s emphasis on sexuality:
I am no opponent of Freud
'
s
;
I am merely presented in that light by his own short -sighted-
ness and that of his pupils. No experienced psychiatrist can deny having met with dozens of
cases whose psychology answers in all essentials to that of Freud .
.
.
.
I do not mean to deny
the importance of sexuality in psychic life, though Freud stubbornly m
a
intains that I do
deny it
.
What I seek is to set bounds to the rampant terminology of sex which vitiates all
discussion of the human psyche, and to put sexuality itself in its proper place
..
.
.
Eros is
certainly always and everywhere present
.
... but the psyche is not
just
[that] [Therefore]
I do not connect any specifically sexual definition with the word
"
libido." [This term] is
used by me in much wider sense. (Jung, 1928/l969a, p. 30; 1917/1972d, pp. 46
,
52n.6;
1929/l975c
,
pp. 226
,
230. See also Jung, 1911-1912; 1961/1965
,
pp. 168
,
209.)
Jungian libido refer
s
to the psychic energy that is invested in a mental event
,
regardles
s
of
the instinct
(s)
involved
.
The greater the amount of libido (value)
,
the more the event is
desired
.
Even a child readily begins to form different values
,
a
s
by weighing whether the
mother or the father is more preferred
,
what objects in the environment are liked or disliked
more than others
,
and so forth
.
Jung
'
s construct of "value
"
is therefore similar to Freud
's
con-
cept of
"
cathexis
,"
except that cathexes are invariably sexual (in one sense or another) although
values need not be.
In an extremel
y
competitive
s
ociet
y
like our own
,
some people may value power
s
o highl
y
that they direct mo
s
t of their psychic energy toward professional success and become sexuall
y
impotent
.
Freud would t
a
ke a dim view of
s
uch behavior
,
since (
s
exual) libido is denied it
s
most satisfactor
y
outlet
.
But Jungian libido includes energy from man
y
source
s,
so di
s
charg-
ing it in a que
s
t for power is neither more nor less pathological than di
s
charging it in sexual
activit
y
.
"
The
s
ho
e
that fits one person pinches another
;
there is no universal recipe for living
"
(
Jung
,
1931/1933b
,
p
.
41
;
see also Jung
,
cited b
y
Evans
,
1976
,
p. 46
)
.
It is difficult to identif
y
all of the human instincts
,
and to ascertain the exact nature of
libido
,
because instinctual behavior is easily confused with our consciou
s
motives
.
A partial
list of instincts includes nutrition
(
hunger and thirst)
,
sexuality
,
power
,
activity
(
including the
love of change, the urge to travel, and play)
,
becoming whole or one's true
s
elf (individuation)
,
and creativit
y (
Jung
,
1917/1972d
;
1919/1971c, p
.
53
;
1937)
.
Jung also differ
s s
harply with
Freud b
y
concluding that human beings have an inborn religious need, and the idea of God is
absolutely necessary:
Man positi
v
el
y
need
s
general ideas and convictions that will give a meaning to hi
s
life
and enable him to find a place for himself in the univer
s
e. He can stand th
e
mo
s
t
incredible hardships when he is convinced that they make sense; he is crushed when
,
on
top of all his misfortunes
,
he has to admit that he is taking part in a
"
tal
e
told b
y
an
idiot
.
" (
Jung, 1964/1968
,
p. 76. See also Jung, 1957/1958b
,
p. 36; 1917/1972d
,
pp
.
27
,
71
;
1929/1975c
,
p
.
227.)
Complexes.
Psychic energy attracts constellations of related and emotionall
y
charged
idea
s
, or complexes
.
(See Jung, 1934a; 1938/1970a
,
pp
.
19ff
.
) For example
,
the group of thought
s
and feelings that concern "mother" cluster together to form the mother-complex
,
whereas the
complex relating to
"
I
"
or "myself' constitutes the component of personality known as the ego
.
The power of a complex to attract psychic material depends on the amount of libido at its
di
s
posal
(
its value
)
. A weak mother-complex possesses little psychic energ
y
(low
v
alue)
,
in
c
lude
s
only a
s
mall quantity of associated ideas
,
and has relatively little influence on behav-
ior
.
Alternativel
y, a
mother-complex may be so powerful that it dominate
s
the psyche like a
large electromagnet
,
attracting ideas that belong elsewhere. Such highl
y
valued complexes can
exert considerable control over one
'
s personality. For example
,
a man ruled by his mother-
complex may be unable to form satisfying heterosexual relationships because he is far more
concerned about her wishes and opinions. He may also talk about his mother at length
,
make
her the
s
ubject of v
a
riou
s s
lip
s
of the tongue
,
and con
s
tantly dream of mother-symbols. Com-
plexes may be wholl
y
or partly conscious
,
or the
y
may be entirely within either of the two
realms of the unconscious (personal and collective
,
to be discussed below)
.
(See Jung
,
1928/1969a, p
.
11; Fordham
,
1966, pp. 23-23.)
The Word Association
Test.
Jung cautions that the construct of libido is useful only
if quantitative difference
s
in values can be estimated
.
Otherwise this approach can never
become scientific and must be abandoned
.
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