Jung’s Approach

Carl Jung’s analytical psychology stresses the complex interaction of opposing
forces within the total personality (psyche) and the manner in which
these inner conflicts influence development. Personality is driven by general
life process energy, called libido. It operates according to the principle
of opposites, for example, a contrast between conscious and unconscious.
An individual’s behavior is seen as a means to some end, whose goal is to
create a balance between these polar opposites through a process of selfrealization.
Personality is composed of several regions, including the ego (a
unifying force at the center of consciousness), the personal unconscious
(experiences blocked from consciousness), and the collective unconscious
(inherited predispositions of ancestral experiences). The major focus of
Jung’s theory is the collective unconscious, with its archetypes (primordial
thoughts and images), persona (public self), anima/animus (feminine and
masculine components), shadow (repulsive side of the personality), and self
(an archetype reflecting a person’s striving for personality integration).
Jung further proposed two psychological attitudes that the personality
could use in relating to the world: introversion and extroversion. He also
identified four functions of thought: sensing, thinking, feeling, and intuiting.
Eight different personality types emerge when one combines these attitudes
and functions. Like Freud, Jung proposed developmental stages:
childhood, young adulthood, and middle age. Through the process of individuation,
a person seeks to create an inner harmony that results in selfrealization.
In conjunction with dream analysis, Jung used painting therapy
and a word-association test to disclose underlying conflicts in patients. Therapy
helped patients to reconcile the conflicting sides of their personalities
and experience self-realization.