Emotional Intelligence and Transformation in Analytical Psychology: A Case Study

Emotions are evident in Jung's work with regard to feeling-toned complexes and the feeling function in psychological types as well as in the clinical processes of therapeutic change and transformation. Emotional Intelligence (EI) is an empirically-grounded theory that involves a set of abilities for working with emotions, allowing the patient to unlock the inherent wisdom and meaning that emotions convey. EI can be embedded in analytical psychology and other dynamic-oriented therapies as an approach for engaging with emotionally charged material. The four EI abilities include the perception, facilitation, understanding and management of emotions. The emotion-management ability is particularly necessary during a client's confrontations with the unconscious. The case of a woman with Dissociative Identity Disorder in Jungian psychotherapy is examined from an EI perspective. A series of active imagination activities in the clinical encounter is presented, outlining the transformation of imagery that accompanies the individuation process. The case illustrates the use of EI strategies to attenuate the over-powering effect of complexes in the service of building ego strength. There is also emphasis on the importance of transference and the therapeutic container in this process of building EI capacity.