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Carl Jung was a pioneer in the field of psychology, especially as it related to spirituality and religion. Jung anticipated much of the alienation and isolation leading to emotional crises that are seen so often in therapy offices now. Symptoms of mental distress for Jung were not a sign of a problem to be fixed, but rather an indicator that something new is trying to be birthed in the person’s life for which there is no appropriate support or container.
These symptoms often present in someone’s life around difficult life transitions that are in some sense archetypal, meaning they have occurred for humans since time immemorial. It is, for example, very common to see people in midlife run into something that they have no tools to get around. A divorce, a loss of an important job, a mysterious illness, anxiety or depression (to name a few) are often the push that sends us into despair as we search for a way to make meaning in ways the first half of life did not prepare us for.
Analytic Psychology (Jung’s Psychology) is a depth psychological framework that draws on analytic traditions, yet combines a spiritual understanding of our internal world. In layman’s terms, Jungian Psychology is soul work. Dreams, interpretation and other tools are used to explore the deeper forces that are often at work below the surface and provide insight and understanding of the purposeful nature of the present symptoms. Artistic expression and imagination are also encouraged, as they often help individuals personalize and hang onto key intuitions and discernments.
Soul work from this perspective also provides a non-dogmatic way for individuals to locate and grow into a deepened sense of their own spirituality based on personal experience. Insights from spiritual traditions the world over inform the work as clients are able to use new understandings to move into the next phase of life with a renewed sense of meaning and purpose, getting their lives back on track and moving in a position that honors their inherent wholeness.
An approach that dovetails nicely with Jungian Psychology is the Internal Family Systems (IFS) work of Dick Schwartz, informally known as “parts work.” In this system, it is acknowledged that all of us have different “parts” that work together more or less to form our personality. Most of us know the feeling of being conflicted, pulled in a couple of different directions internally. IFS work uses methods to access these often unconscious parts of ourselves that are driving symptomatic behaviors, thoughts and feelings in ways that we are unaware of.
Like a depth psychological approach, IFS sees psychological health as a function of wholeness and works not to get rid of these disparate parts, but rather to develop relationship and awareness of the roles they play. The goal here is making the unconscious conscious, and in so doing moving toward a greater self-acceptance and the ability to live less conflicted and more wholehearted lives.
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