Carl Jung: What is the Individuation Process?

Far too many of us are oblivious to the dangers that some of our behavioral patterns pose to our long-term well-being. Instead of facing up to our problems, we either try try and convince ourselves that our issues are trivial and so can be ignored, or we pretend that the problems do not exits at all. We can only delude ourselves for so long.

As eventually what were once manageable problems turn into problems of unmanageable proportions For this reason, Carl Jung maintained that a crucial first step toward self-improvement is simply to become more aware of the reality of one's situation. Jung, however, is not unique in this respect as many philosophers ans psychologists, both past and present, share in this view. Where he is more unique is in his belief that no only do we have to overcome our ignoragnce regarding the reality of our external situation but just as importantly, we need to become more aware of what he called, "the reality of our psyche.

" The "psyche" in Jung's view i not merely a byproduct of a certain configuration of matter Rather, the "psyche" is an irreducible, a priori, fact of nature, that should be considered as real as the physical world, and just as impactful to our overall well-being. Most people, however, know little of this "World Within. " One reason for this lack of knowledge can be attributed to our Christian heritage and the associated belief in an omniscient god, who not only knew if we were committing bad deeds, but also if we were thinking blasphemous thoughts.

While belief in such a god has dwindled, there remains a tendency to repress elements of our personality which run counter to the moral system of our day, and thus to strive for a type of moral perfectionism. Jung was no proponent of this ideal. Striving after perfection is like chasing after wind, and far from making us better people, it in fact greatly hinders our development.

The more we strive for perfection, the further we fuel our dark side, and lose control of how it manifests itself in our day to day actions. In addition, if we constantly repress thoughts that run counter to the dominant, moral system of our society, we will never reach the deeper layers of the "psyche" an awareness of which can often substantially improve our lives The task of striving toward "completeness," or what is also referred to as, "wholeness of the personality," was of such great importance that most of Jung's career was dedicated to exploring this process. A process he would eventually call, "Individuation.

" Jung did not use the term, "Individuation," until 1921, however the seeds of this idea reach back to his doctoral dissertation. In this dissertation, titled, ". .

. " Jung attempted to explain his observations of a medium who claimed to interact with spirits during seances. To account for this Jung hypothesized, that the manifestations of these spirits was the result of "splinter personalities" which lay dormant in the unconscious mind of the medium, but which were somehow brought to her conscious awareness by the act of the seance Rather than accepting that these "splinter personalities" emerged from within, from the reality of her psyche, the medium believe they were spirits manifesting themselves from the realm, independent of her.

As Jung's study of the "psyche" progressed, he came to believe that the experience of this medium was but one example of a more general phenomenon All of us have unconscious components which reside dormant in our psyche, and as --- explains in her book, "The Way of Individuation" It is important to know that the individuation process according to Jung, is something that occurs naturally and does not require any initiation by the individual. As we age, the depth and complexity of our consciousness increases, whether we are intentionally striving for that outcome or not The natural individuation process however does not advance in a smooth and uninterrupted manner, rather it often comes to a halt or develops in a way unconducive to mental health. When this happens, it is imperative for our well-being that we reignite the process and return it to a healthy course of development and to this the assistance or promotion of the natural individuation process is the main goal of Jungian psychotherapy A good way to understand the natural individuation process, which just happens, and the more conscious way of individuation, which Jungian psychotherapy promotes, is to consider the analogy of the human body; Our physical bodies grow and develop on their own, without requiring our conscious awareness.

We can, however, take a more proactive, conscious stance towards our physical development by exercising and eating properly. In the same manner, we can be more proactive in the terms of the development of our psyche by taking certain measures to accelerate the natural process of individuation The best method to accelerate individuation is to record and analyze our dreams over an extended period of time. Jung was greatly influenced by Sigmund Freud's work on dreams but his views evolved and eventually came to differ in fundamental ways from those of Freud Both Jung and Freud agreed that dreams were a product of the unconscious where they were to differ however was in their conception of what the unconscious was expressing through our dreams It was Freud's claim that dreams are disguised expressions of the unconscious which Jung found untenable Drams according to Jung, are not hiding anything, rather they are undisguised and spontaneous representations of the unconscious The reason many people have trouble making sense of their dreams, is because they do not understand the language of the unconscious mind, which is purely symbolic In his attempt to decipher the symbolic language Jung noticed a remarkable similarity between the symbols expressed in the dreams of many of his patients and those found in the mythologies of cultures past and present.

To account for such similarities, Jung proposed that the unconscious mind contains transpersonal or universal elements which are heritable and the product of one's biology, not their personal experience The commonality in symbols found in dreams of different people and myths of cultures past and present, can be attributed to the fact that they are manifestations of these, "-" which Jung would call, "Archetypes" The word "archetype" in Greek means, prime and printer This knowledge is of great value, for it provides us with an awareness that many of our problems are not unique to us, but common to all humanity. Simply knowing that we are not alone in our suffering can often have a therapeutic effect as it provides us with a new perspective. For those who wish to begin the conscious path of individuation, the first step is always the same We must, as Jung put it.

. . The "Persona" is the social mask we wear to fit into society Its formation begins early in life as the pull of conformity causes us to identify most strongly with elements of our personality which are in harmony with the social values of our day, while rejecting those that clash with social norms The problem, however, is that many people reach a point that they believe they are the social mask they wear And in so doing, they cut themselves off from the deeper realms of the psyche.