The crashed voice--a potential for change: a psychotherapeutic view

Jungian analysis is based on the work and extensive writings of C.G. Jung. Jung worked for a while with Freud who expected him to carry on the work of psychoanalysis. However, the two men were very different and Jung broke away from the Freudian model to develop his own unique view of the unconscious and to explore what he believed to be its innate capacity for healing. He said: "My life is the story of the self realization of the unconscious. Everything in the unconscious seeks outward manifestation, and the personality too desires to evolve out of its unconscious conditions and to experience itself as a whole." (Memories, Dreams, Reflections C.G. Jung. 1963) The goal of the therapeutic work for Jung was individuation--the never ending process of becoming fully oneself. This process represents the individual's capacity to choose creatively between both internal and external necessity without denying either. Jungian analysts work in some similar ways to other analysts and see dreams as central to this process. They also sometimes work with archetypal symbols and other forms of creative expression such as painting or dance. All the methods used are there to enable patients to explore their unconscious, understand and accept who they are, and access powers for healing the self. People in creative and expressive fields are often drawn to the work because of its belief in the uniqueness of the individual and its understanding of the healing power of a creative relationship to oneself.