Analytical Psychotherapy

Depth Psychology

Depth psychology encompasses those theories, models and therapeutic approaches that take into account the existence of the unconscious. Sigmund Freud, Alfred Adler, Otto Rank and Carl G. Jung, but also Melanie Klein, Donald Winnicott and James Hillman are among its notable contributors.

Analytical Psychology

My personal background lies in analytic psychotherapy, a branch of depth psychology, founded by Swiss psychiatrist, Carl G. Jung in the early 20th century. His understanding of the human psyche is grounded in the notion that there is a vast well of unconscious material, both personal and collective, within all of us.

According to Jung, the personal unconscious is comprised of all psychic content that is (temporarily) repressed, forgotten or defended against by the ego. The ego is the conscious actor we perceive as “who we are”. When speaking of the form and content of the personal unconscious, Jung used the term “complex”, an emotionally charged group of ideas or images, built around an archetype. He saw them as fully autonomous and therefore outside of our conscious control. The personal unconscious is very specific to us individually: our families of origin, our upbringing and development, our culture and our experiences.

The collective unconscious, on the other hand, is comprised of archetypes. Archetypes are archaic, innate and universal symbols passed down through our ancestry. They are informed by the sum total of human history and could be described as the psychological counterpart to instincts.

Neurosis

As our thoughts, feelings, desires, and behaviors are fueled by the unconscious, it can feel like a frustrating and fruitless endeavor to just change our behavior or will ourselves into feeling differently.

Jung saw psychological symptoms, or neuroses, such as depression or anxiety, as a sign of an imbalance or tension between conscious and unconscious attitudes. Imagine your symptoms as red flags, urging you to acknowledge something you might not otherwise look at.

The Jungian approach sees symptoms as an attempt at self-healing. Sometimes this means serving as a distraction, attempting to protect the individual from something yet too painful to face consciously; a red herring of sorts. Symptoms may seem maladaptive or nonsensical on the surface and often cause a great deal of suffering to the afflicted. Jung, however, believed symptoms to be symbolically meaningful, containing within them the blueprint for solving the problem.

By letting the unconscious speak in its own language through dreams, imagination and fantasy, symbols and images, myths and stories, we can bring these unconscious motives to the surface and address them accordingly.

Individuation

At the heart of Jungian theory is the concept of Individuation, a process of psychological differentiation. Its goal is the development of the individual personality, distinct from the general, collective psychology. It is the process, however simple or complex, by which every living organism moves toward what it was destined to become from the beginning.

Jungian analysis allows us to slowly remove the blocks and hurdles keeping us from becoming who we truly are. This is, at its core, soul work.