‘Who is my Jung?’ The progressive,though sometimes ambivalent,expansion of Jung's idea of the collective unconscious: from an ‘unconscious humanity’ to – in all but name – the soul of the world

This paper discusses Jung's idea of myth as a projection of the collective unconscious, suggesting that the term ‘projection’ separates human beings from nature, withdrawing nature's life into humanity. Jung's discovery of a realm independent of consciousness – in conversations with his soul in The Red Book, and in synchronicity, began a dialogue which finally brought him, through the Alchemical Mercurius, closer to the idea of a world‐soul.     

The weariness of the hero: depression and the self in a civilization in transition

According to the World Health Organization, depression is currently the leading cause of disability, which is of great concern worldwide; however there is much dispute about depression and its causes. This article raises the hypothesis that depression could be related to an increase or inflation of ego‐consciousness, which, in turn, is inseparable from the development of modernity. The ‘hero’, symbol of this historical process of self‐consciousness and autonomy, stands now wearied and disoriented. The paper outlines how, in this cultural scene, certain ideas from Carl Jung's and James Hillman's depth psychologies may be useful in addressing the issue: the rediscovery of figures of the other through the analysis of the unconscious (Jung) and associating with others in groups imbued with communal sense (Hillman) could help the depressed individual to mitigate his or her inflated ego‐consciousness. These are two complementary ways of experiencing the conglomerate nature of the self, thus promoting the process of individuation.     

Link between early maladaptive schemas and defense mechanisms

IntroductionDefense mechanism and early maladaptive schemas are two concepts distorting the perception of reality.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to explore the link between two reality-distorting concepts from two theoretical models: early maladaptive schemas from the cognitive and behavioral model and defense mechanisms based on the psychoanalytic model.MethodTwo hundred thirty-two non-clinical participants completed the Defense Style Questionnaire and the Young Schema Questionnaire (short version). Then a Bravais Pearson correlation analysis connecting these two concepts, and a multiple regressions analysis using early maladaptive schemas as predictors for defense style mechanisms levels were conducted.ResultsThe results indicate that 2 early maladaptive schema domains (i.e. other-directedness as well as over-vigilance and inhibition) predict the frequency of use of the neurotic defense mechanism, and 3 schema domains (i.e. disconnection and rejection, impaired autonomy and performances as well as impaired limits) predict the frequency of use of the immature defense mechanism.ConclusionTo conclude, two psychological concepts based on two different theoretical models (psychoanalytic and cognitive and behavioral therapy) seem to share an important link justifying the use of integrative therapies such as schema therapy.     

L’anormalité du dommage : une notion juridique stabilisée ?

Medical liability, in accordance with liability law, is traditionally based on the triad of operative event, causal link and damage. The emergence of systems of no-fault liability gave rise to the concept of abnormal damage, which is a necessary condition for liability. In terms of medical liability, in 1958 the administrative courts ruled that this criterion was necessary in order to compensate medical damage in situations of liability for alleged misconduct, then from 1990 in situations of no-fault liability. This condition was extended to compensate medical hazard from 1993. The Court of Cassation refused to adopt a no-fault liability system, leading to unequal treatment. Thus, the law of March 4, 2002 created a system which, in situations of no-fault liability, allowed national solidarity to be engaged in the event of abnormal damage. However, the legislation did not clearly set out the character of this abnormality, and jurisprudential hesitation over this criterion has made compensation uncertain. In 2014, the administrative and judicial courts clarified their jurisprudence by adopting a more specific definition of this criterion of abnormality. However, a very restrictive view taken of this criterion means that many victims now risk being excluded from the scope of compensation. As such, this jurisprudential stability is perhaps but temporary.     

Contribution de la motricité graphique à la reconnaissance visuelle des lettres

The ability to recognize single letters, an important step in reading, is traditionally assumed to depend only on visual processes. However, as many of the objects surrounding us, letters are learnt through a matching between a visual configuration and movements. We review arguments suggesting that the characteristics of writing movements impact visual recognition of letters, at both a behavioral and neural levels. This impact might be especially strong when the orientation of letters has to be processed.     

Rorschach et Psychiatrie : à la découverte du malade derrière la maladie

The Rorschach Comprehensive System is a very powerful tool for understanding the dynamics of psychopathological conditions and describing personality. Recent literature indicates a promising new area of research, that of evaluating psychotherapy processes and outcome. Clinical psychologists can therefore bring a unique and complementary perspective to the traditional psychiatric field by introducing it to proper psychological diagnosis as opposed to psychiatric diagnosis. The validity and reliability of the method having today been well established in the USA, it is incumbent on French researchers and clinicians to verify them locally and eventually make the necessary adaptations.     

No one here gets out alive: the Bluebeard story in therapy and in the culture

In this paper, the Bluebeard story is used to highlight mechanisms underlying an individual analytic case and some cultural phenomena from a Jungian perspective. I describe a patient whose psyche was dissociated into a tormenting monstrous figure and a regressed childish self, which Kalsched explains as activation of the archetypal defence system. As her analyst, I had to survive attacks of the patient's persecuting inner object, which she related to Bluebeard as a representation of relentless murderousness. At the cultural level, Bluebeard pertains to the concept of the totalitarian object (Sebek 1996) and to the pole of grandiosity of the Russian cultural complex.     

Vers une nouvelle appréhension des mathématiques par traitement EMDR : actualités et perspectives

ObjectiveEMDR for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing developed since 1989 by F. Shapiro has demonstrated its effectiveness in the treatment of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). In Science of Education, no study has been previously developed in the application of EMDR protocols. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate the relevance and effectiveness of EMDR in supporting cognitive and emotional remediation of students in Master 1, with respect to mathematics, preparing Schools Teacher contest. The first encounters with the students revealed, through their discourse, an aversion to mathematics linked to one or more particularly painful experiences in a learning situation. Mathematics may cause anguish, sometimes tinged beliefs such as “I’ll never be able to… I am very bad at math”. This represents even an insurmountable obstacle in the professional life of some.MethodsNearly 170 students in Master 1 “Professor of the Schools” registered on the ESPE (College of the Teaching profession and Education) were asked about their relation to mathematics, both in their emotions as their self-efficacy. Among those who suggested a traumatic memory in a learning situation in mathematics, forty were selected and divided into two groups. The control group received two hours of information about relaxation techniques that could be used before mathematics. The other group benefited of the EMDR treatment according to the standard protocol in eight phases.ResultsThe results showed that students who received EMDR treatment experienced after treatment and one month later, a significant decline in their negative emotions with mathematics and an increase in the strength of their self-efficacy, unlike the control group.DiscussionEMDR demonstrates its effectiveness in reprocessing beliefs and emotions of students with respect to mathematics and opens ways of research in Educational Sciences. So, it will be necessary, from the principle of alternated bilateral stimulation, to develop specific protocols for the struggling students, to measure the effects in the long term and develop them in a group situation.     

The early biopsychosocial development of boys and the origins of violence in males

We apply a biopsychosocial approach to introduce early-in-life experiences that explain a significant part of the male preponderance in the perpetration of violence. Early caregiver abuse and neglect, father absence, and exposure to family and neighborhood violence exacerbate boys’ greater risk for aggressive behavior and increase the probability of carrying out violent acts later in life. We examine the development of the psychological self and explore conditions that encourage physical aggression, focusing on the impact on the infant and toddler's emergent mental representation of self, others, and self–other relationships. Boys’ slower developmental timetable in the first years of life may enhance their vulnerability for disorganization in emergent neurobiological networks mediating organization of socioemotional relationships. Emergent attachment and activation relationship systems may differentially affect risk and resilience in boys and girls, particularly in single-parent families. Evidence has suggested that the dramatic increase in single-parent families is especially linked to corresponding increases in behavioral undercontrol, antisocial behavior, and the emergence of violence in boys.