The Theory of Carl Gustav Jung

Another remarkable example of a review of psychodynamic theory of Freud is Jung‘s analytical psychology (and in turn, the practice of psychoanalytic psychotherapy has also undergone a revision.)

The main discrepancy between both scientists concerns the nature of the libido. Freud saw the last as the primarily, sexual energy, while Jung regarded the libido as a creative vitality that can contribute to ongoing personal growth of the individual.

Jung saw in the personality structure three interactions: the ego, personal unconscious and collective unconscious.

-       The ego represents all that a person realizes.

-       Personal unconscious – is the storage of the repressed material, displaced from the consciousness, as well as clusters of interconnected thoughts and feelings, which are called complexes.

-       The collective unconscious is made up of archaic, primordial elements, called archetypes. The archetypes cover the experience of all the humanity, from our earliest ancestors, predisposing to react in a certain way on our current experiences.

The most important archetypes in Jungian theory are the mask, shadow, anima, animus and the self. The symbol of the archetype “self” is the mandala.

Jung introduced the concept of two types of personal orientation, or attitudes: extraversion and introversion.

Introversion-Extroversion Diagram

• Extroverts are usually lively, quickly forming communications and attachments, the driving force for them stand the external factors.

• Introverts are usually contemplative tend to solitude, their interest is focused on themselves. 

Jung also identified four psychological functions: thinking, feeling, sensation and intuition.

Thinking and feeling are rational functions, sensation and intuition - irrational.

The result of a combination of two kinds of personal orientations and the four psychological functions are the eight different types of personality (e.g., extraverted thinking type).

When considering the development of personality, Jung emphasizes the movement toward self-fulfillment by balancing and combining different elements of personality. To describe what is going on throughout the life the process of unification of all aspects of personality around “self”, he used the term “individuation“. Individuation process allows “self” to be the center of personality and this in turn helps the individual to achieve self-realization. According to Jung, a few reach the highest level of personal development.

Analytical psychology and psychotherapy in the last years has a huge impact on the public intellectual.