Towards A Jungian Theory Of The Ego

Despite their prevalence and weight in many of his collected works and letters, Jung did not articulate a general theory of the ego and consciousness. Towards a Jungian Theory of the Ego examines the development of Jung’s concept of the ego as he expanded and revised this concept, from his earliest formulations about consciousness while a student, to his mature thoughts at the end of his life. Drawing on Ego Psychology as a theoretical framework, Evers-Fahey proposes that Jung uses the concept of ego in four distinct ways and that he developed and used his ego concept based on two discrete paradigms. These distinctions explain the confusion and ambiguity found when examining the development of Jung’s analytical psychology over his lifetime. This book provides an examination of ego development and ego defenses based on a unique Jungian standpoint, as well as discussion of the relationship between the ego and the Self and the ego and ‘the individuum’. Furthermore, the inclusion of a historical framework helps to place the development of these concepts in context. This book proposes a theory of ego psychology based on Jungian theory rather than traditional psychoanalytic theory, thereby filling a gap in the knowledge of Jungian theory. The book will be essential reading for academics and postgraduate students engaged in the study of Jungian psychology and psychoanalytic theory and will also be valued by those interested in Jung and ego psychology more generally.

In this groundbreaking book, David H. Rosen, M.D., offers depressed individuals, their families, and therapists a lifesaving course in healing the soul through creativity. This is a book about transforming depression and its powerful pull toward suicide into a meaningful alternative.In Transforming Depression, Dr. Rosen applies Carl Jung's method of active imagination to treating depressed and suicidal individuals. Having dealt with depression in his own life and the suicides of loved ones, Dr. Rosen shows that when people learn to confront the rich images and symbols that emerge from their struggles, they can turn their despair into a fountain of creative energy. He details the paths of four patients whose work in painting, pottery, and dance -- in conjunction with psychotherapy -- led them from depression to a more meaningful life. Their dramatic paintings illustrate the text. Part One presents an overview of the biological, psychological, sociological, and spiritual factors involved in the diagnosis of depression. Part Two provides a new therapeutic approach to treating depression, focusing on the symbolic death and rebirth of the ego (ego-cide) as an alternative to suicide. Part Three presents in-depth case studies from Dr. Rosen's practice. Part Four discusses how we can recognize crisis points and how creativity can transform depression. The author pays particular attention to the problem of teen suicide.

Understanding the Self-Ego Relationship in Clinical Practice: Towards Individuation is a volume in the clinical practice monograph series from The Society of Analytical Psychology. This series is intended primarily for trainees on psychotherapy and psychodynamic counselling courses, and for those who are newly qualified. These compact editions will be invaluable to all who wish to learn the basics of major theories derived from the work of Freud and Jung, from an integrated viewpoint. The authors are Jungian analysts trained at the SAP, highly experienced in both theory and practice. The author argues for the profound importance of trusting the unconscious psyche in therapeutic work with adults. She considers various analytical meanings of the term "the self", with reference to a wide range of theorists, and various ways of thinking about the development of the ego. She uses primarily a Jungian model of the psyche from a developmental perspective, based on the assumption that the ego evolves in infancy and childhood out of a primary psychosomatic self.

Realizing the Self is the absolute goal of Jungian psychology. Yet as a concept it is impossibly vague as it defines a center of our being that also embraces the mystery of existence. This work synthesizes the thousands of statements Jung made about the Self in order to bring it to ground, to unravel its true purpose, and to understand how it might be able to manifest.

First published in 1985 this was the first introduction to Jung which related his theories to our everyday lives. Discover through this highly readable book that Jung’s views provide a full understanding of the concerns and anxieties of today. Sigmund Freud spoke to the generations who experienced the anxiety of sexual guilt and repression. Carl Jung speaks to our generation, who seek self-knowledge and a deeper understanding of life. This book outlines Jung’s theories and how we experience them in our personal relationships, marriages and dreams. It describes Jung’s eight psychological types and his thinking on the Self, alchemy, archetypes and the collective unconscious. Imperative for those who wish to gain insight into Jung and their own psyche.

Jung was fascinated by the problem of unity in the personality. If the personality is made up of multiple voices or affective-imaginal states, as he believed it was, then how does an individual achieve a core self? Jung concluded that a coherent and continuous self is the hard won achievement of consciousness, the product of a mature personality in the second half of life. His theory of the integration of multiple subjectivities into an individuating self' anticipates current trends in constructivism and developmental psychology. Jung did not systematize his own work, nor attempt to make accessible many of his most complex ideas about the self. This volume explores his self psychology, its meaning and its application within the context of other contemporary theories of subjectivity. To describe Jung's self psychology more fully in the light of contemporary theories, the authors introduce twelve other self theories in a comparative analysis of the clinical case of a midlife man in psychotherapy. From Kohut and Piaget to Lichtenberg and Loevinger, the authors compare Jung's theories with other clinical and developmental approaches. The book's final chapter offers cogent suggestions for future use of Jung's self psychology. Unique in its treatment and understanding of Jung's theories, this volume illuminates and simplifies many of his central ideas about the self. For Jungians, it provides a contemporary context in which to read and systematize his work. For professionals in the larger therapeutic and educational communities, it offers an up-to-date introduction to a provocative and imaginative body of work that is a central chapter of modern theories of subjectivity.

This book is about the individual's journey to psychological wholeness, known in analytical psychology as the process of individuation. Edward Edinger traces the stages in this process and relates them to the search for meaning through encounters with symbolism in religion, myth, dreams, and art. For contemporary men and women, Edinger believes, the encounter with the self is equivalent to the discovery of God. The result of the dialogue between the ego and the archetypal image of God is an experience that dramatically changes the individual's worldview and makes possible a new and more meaningful way of life.