Friday, August 23, 2002

ROSE F. HOLT, Jungian Analyst

Offices:


St. Louis, MO (314) 740-6207

Voice Mail: [314 740-6207]
e-mail: rosefholt@gmail.com


Analytical (Jungian) Psychology is based upon the work of C.G. Jung (1875-1961), a Swiss psychiatrist who spent his life working to understand and to "map" the human psyche. He demonstrated that the psyche, like the body, is fairly uniform in fundamental ways, manifesting itself in people's lives in universal patterns which he called archetypes, or "ancient imprints." Just as a bird has an inate pattern of a nest which serves as a guide, Jung saw that human beings also have inate characteristic and repeating patterns which inform our existence. Central to the archetypes is Jung's notion of the Self, the architect of order and meaning. The Self, according to Jung, envelops and surrounds the individual ego, influencing and guiding while also seeking its own fulfillment in the ego. If ego consciousness strays dangerously far from the Self, the ground of being of the ego, disastrous consequences can result. Important and impressive dreams, emotions and affects, as well as significant life events/patterns are the primary ways the Self communicates with the ego

In the Jungian approach to psychotherapy/psychoanalysis, analyst and client work together to facilitate better relations between the ego and the Self. Through careful attention to the client's history, early traumas, relationships, significant events, and through examination and discussion of the client's dreams, analyst and client may establish this critical ego-Self relationship. Work with dreams is important because the images in dreams "are symbols, that is, the best possible formulation for still unknown or unconscious facts, which generally compensate the content of consciousness or the conscious attitude." [Jung, COLLECTED WORKS, Vol. 14, Para 772] Focus on and discussion of dream images are techniques for understanding the messages the Self is trying to convey via the dream. The dreamer begins to glimpse his/her role and function in the psychic background and see in what ways he/she is at odds with psychic unfolding.


Psychological maturity, for Jung, is the individual's commitment toward the responsible living and fulfilling of the archetypal dimensions of the psyche and the demands of the Self.



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