Jungian psychology and pastoral care

This article provides a review of the implications of analytic psychology for pastoral care and the caregiver. Four areas of Jung's thought are examined: (1) his mode of treatment, (2) the process of individuation, (3) his theory of personality types, and (4) his concept of synchronicity. We suggest that Jung's system of thought contains a rich reservoir of insight for the enrichment of pastoral care.     

The prospects for a Jungian psychology in China

The possibility of a Jungian psychology developing in China is considered by a brief historical excursion through the early translations of psychoanalytical works. Translation problems and the contentious nature of some of Freud's ideas have made for their difficult reception in China. The inattention to Jung's ideas in universities in the west in the past, and a reliance on science based subjects by Chinese students studying abroad, have meant little opportunity to study Jung, and, by implication, to translate him. The turbulent political climate in China over the course of the past century has also hindered developments in psychology generally. In addition, certain traditional practices of understanding mind-body relationships and reporting 'illnesses' have precluded the possibility of any psychotherapeutic psychology emerging. However, the present climate looks more favourable for the dissemination of Jungian knowledge, but the question of an appropriate context and a receptive readership remains. Certain Jungian notions can be seen to fit comfortably within traditional systems of Chinese thought but the present day psychology department in China is no more a congenial environment for Jungian psychology than its counterpart in the west. It may be that the success of importing Jungian ideas into China rests with those with a predilection towards arts and cultural sciences, and with the innovations of the organizers of conferences.     

A feminist's look at freud's feminine psychology

The psychology of women is admittedly incomplete and fragmentary, and sometimes it does not sound altogether flattering. You must not forget, however, that we have only described women in so far as their natures are determined by their sexual function. The influence of this factor is, of course, very far-reaching, but we must remember that an individual woman may be a human being apart from this. If you want to know more about feminity, you must interrogate your own experience, or turn to the poets, or else wait until Science can give you more profound and more coherent information.     

Evolutionary Jungian Psychology

The inferior function really is inferior. It may be a source of transformation, but we do not know how. We encounter it, but we do not understand it. It is like opening a door and being confronted by a rhino, or, for some, coming upon a mathematician talking in numbers in the basement. Yet from this least expected place and in forms that have nothing to recommend them, may come new life, regeneration for ourselves and for the times in which we live.     

Picture interpretation and Jungian typology

This study examined a Jungian picture interpretation schema, which utilizes a specific quadrant method. This proposed schema, which is used in training at the C. G. Jung Institute in Zürich, attaches significance to specific areas of a drawing. The upper left of a drawing is associated with the father; the lower left with the unconscious; the lower right with the mother; and the upper right with the future. Three questions served as the foci of this study: Is the schema valid? Do certain types within Jung's personality theory respond better than others to the schema? Does the schema work best when it elicits a strong affective response from the person who created the picture? Subjects took one of two tests: a space domain test, or a colour associative test. The results revealed only two significant effects: a positive association (in the space domain test) between unconscious material with the unconscious quadrant and a negative association (in the colour associative test) of mother material with the mother quadrant. These results suggest that the Jungian quadrant schema used to interpret drawings is invalid and of minimal practical utility. Other methods of picture interpretation are discussed as well as suggestions for future research that would be helpful to this field.     

From reassurance to irrelevance: adolescent psychology and homosexuality in America

American psychology by the 1920s contained a greater capacity for viewing some homosexual experiences as normal than most current historical literature suggests. Developmental psychologists agreed with psychiatrists that adult homosexuality was pathological, but they also agreed that adolescent sexual development included a homosexual phase. Until the late 1960s, developmental texts reassured parents and teachers that homosexual behavior among adolescents was transitory and quite normal. The psychiatric view of homosexuality as pathology came under attack after the middle of the century and eventually was abandoned. The developmental concern with a transitory homosexual phase disappeared gradually. This trend in psychology suggests underlying social and cultural changes.     

Jungian metapsychology and neurobiological theory

This paper deals with brain research and depth psychology. Because brain research is becoming significantly more sophisticated and increasingly able to assay the neurobiology of subjective (i.e. mental) events in vivo , it is suggested that any school of depth psychology will probably not survive as a mainstream treatment modality if its theory and practice is found to be in frank variance with the findings of the modern neurosciences. Jung's psychology is compared to Freud's and shown to be reasonably consonant with such findings. Historical highlights of Jung's non-reductive way of conceptualizing and working are presented and put in the context of more recent scientifically defensible concepts (emergence, supervenience, complexity theory) from the fields of both philosophy of science and philosophy of mind. These concepts postulate a hierarchical model of reality which permits an exploration of the mind/brain relationship without resorting to reductionism or dualism. A sense of the present struggle is conveyed between the proponents of these and more traditional scientific concepts. Finally, the nature of mind/brain confluence is elucidated by examples from the areas of learning, memory, and the capacity to symbolize in order to illustrate how clinical practices and observations familiar to experienced depth therapists and also in agreement with Jungian theory are compatible with neuroscientific findings. A research suggestion is offered.