Analytical Psychology

Analytical psychology is a theory of human personality and thought that takes into account the individual unconscious and its relationship to the collective unconscious. In analytical psychology, archetypes play a key role in helping people understand themselves and integrate different aspects of their personality. Exactly one hundred years ago, Jung coined the term 'Analytical Psychology' to differentiate his theories about the nature and dynamics of the human psyche from those of his compatriot, Freud, and Freudian 'Psychoanalysis'. Although regarded as a body of thought and therapeutic practice in its own right, Analytical Psychology has continued to encourage and incite dialogue and debate with many other academic traditions and fields of study, beyond its psychological and psychiatric disciplinary origins. Academic research into Analytical Psychology is subsequently found in a wide variety of fields and areas of study—including but not limited to, philosophy, political thought, literature, religious studies, education, sociology, film and media, fine art and art history, neuroscience, quantum physics, environmental studies. Its widespread appeal demonstrates its usefulness in clarifying the nature of our human behavior and interactions, and for establishing important links between otherwise disparate disciplines.

This book will show case a range of different applications of Jungian thought and practice. Jungian Psychotherapy has long been accused of not giving any empirical proof of its effectiveness. Since the 1990s several research projects and empirical studies (process and outcome) on Jungian Psychotherapy have been conducted mainly in Germany and Switzerland. Prospective, naturalistic outcome studies and retrospective studies using standardized instruments and health insurance data as well as several qualitative studies of aspects of the psychotherapeutic process will be summarized. In addition to viewing a person's behaviors as stemming from unconscious and conscious beliefs, the analytical psychology approach suggests that the human species has a collective unconscious as well as archetypes that influence our development as individuals and as a species.