Assessment Techniques

Jung made use of several interesting assessment techniques in addressing

the problems of his patients. Like Freud, Jung was an advocate of the casestudy

method. He believed that much could be learned through an in-depth

analysis of the problems of his patients. In his cases, Jung made extensive use

of dream analysis. Jung maintained that dreams serve many purposes. They

can be used to address and resolve current conflicts or to facilitate the development

of the self. Dreams can therefore be oriented toward the future.

While Freud focused his analysis on individual dreams, Jung would examine

a group of dreams in order to uncover the problems of the patient. This ex

amination of multiple dreams was viewed by Jung as a superior approach to

gaining access to the deeper meanings of dreams, which could often be

found in the collective unconscious.

Another important assessment device used by Jung which continues to

have applications today is the word-association test. In this test, a person responds

to a stimulus word with whatever comes to mind. Jung originally

worked with a group of one hundred stimulus words and would focus on issues

such as the response word given by the patient, the length of time it

took the patient to respond, the provision of multiple responses, the repetition

of the stimulus word, and the absence of a response. These and other

factors could be used to establish the existence of an underlying neurosis as

well as specific conflicts and complexes.