A Critical Dictionary of Jungian Analysis

Andrew Samuels, Bani Shorter, Fred Plaut

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2012
• ISBN:
  9781135856151
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Psychology
• Subtopic: History & Theory in Psychology
• Index: Psychology

The language of Jung's writings, and of analytical psychology generally, is sometimes difficult to understand. This guide, in dictionary format, combines scholarship and historical accuracy with a stimulating, critical attitude.

A Critical Dictionary of Jungian Analysis

A

DOI: 10.4324/9780203713822-3

abaissement du niveau mental A relaxation and an uninhibited letting go of psychic restraints; reduced intensity of CONSCIOUSNESS characterised by absence of concentration and attention; a state in which unexpected contents may emerge from the UNCONSCIOUS. The term was first used by Jung’s teacher, the French Professor Pierre Janet, to explain the symptomatology of hysteria and other psychogenic neuroses (see NEUROSIS). In his early work on the WORD ASSOCIATION TEST, Jung found the same phenomenon observable in the spontaneous interventions into consciousness of contents connected with personal complexes (see COMPLEX). He subsequently used the term to describe a border condition in which consciousness of certain unconscious contents was imminent. He recognised it as an important state of pre-condition for the occurrence of spontaneous psychic phenomena. Hence, although it is usually a state that occurs involuntarily (as in cases of MENTAL ILLNESS), it may also be consciously fostered preparatory to ACTIVE IMAGINATION.

In such a condition the play of OPPOSITES, usually kept in check by the restraining EGO, is released; therefore every abaissement du niveau mental brings about a relative reversal of values. Such a lowering of the threshold of consciousness is also characteristic of the effects of certain drugs. Jung felt the state corresponded ‘pretty exactly to the primitive state of consciousness in which myths were originally formed’ (CW 9ii, para. 264) (see PRIMITIVES; MYTH). Negative possibilities at a time of abaissement du niveau mental have to do with the emergence of latent psychotic tendencies. Therefore, it is not necessarily a benign condition nor one to be encouraged, unless there is sufficient strength on the part of the ego, not only to withstand the encounter with the unconscious but also to do what is necessary for INTEGRATION of the archetypal symbolism which may erupt (see ARCHETYPE; INFLATION; POSSESSION; SYMBOL).

The imagery produced by such a condition shows discontinuity, is of a fragmentary character, reveals analogy formations, involves superficial ASSOCIATIONS of the verbal, clang, or visual type, may include condensations, irrational expressions, confusions. Like DREAMS, such fantasies are not necessarily sequential; neither do they appear to reveal purposeful symbolic content initially. By making perceptible psychic contents which are usually repressed, APPERCEPTION can be enriched, but there is no guarantee that these contents will become part of the general orientation of consciousness. This requires REFLECTION and ANALYSIS. In such a condition a person may become dissociated and unable consciously to re-orient himself.

Jung writes that a slackening of the tension of consciousness is felt subjectively as listlessness, moroseness, and depression, due to the fact that one can no longer command ENERGY to be used for ego purposes. Such a state was felt to correspond to that referred to as ‘LOSS OF SOUL’ by primitive peoples. Abaissement du niveau mental is descriptive of a psychic condition irrespective of what may produce that condition.

abreaction A dramatic replay of a traumatising moment, its emotional recapitulation in the waking or hypnotic state, an unbosoming, a retelling that ‘depotentiates the affectivity of the traumatic experience until it no longer has a disturbing influence’ (CW 16, para. 262).

The use of abreaction was linked to Freud’s TRAUMA theory and early psychoanalytic experiments. Jung differed with Freud about the efficacy of using abreaction. Consideration of its inadequacy led to further definition of Jung’s own method and clarification of the role that transference plays in treatment (see ANALYST AND PATIENT).

Used by itself (by suggestion or in the so-called cathartic method), Jung found abreaction to be insufficient, useless or harmful (just as Freud did later). He identified the aim of treatment as the INTEGRATION of the DISSOCIATION connected with trauma rather than its abreaction. This re-experiencing, in his view, should reveal the bipolar aspect of the NEUROSIS so that a person could once again relate to the positive or prospective content of the COMPLEX; hence, bringing AFFECT under control. The manner in which this could be effected, he thought, was by way of relationship to the therapist, a relationship which reinforced the conscious personality of the patient sufficiently so that the autonomous complex became subject to the authority of the EGO.

Abreaction is one form of ENACTMENT available in ANALYSIS. It is of central importance in some other therapies (e.g. Primal Therapy).

acting out Jung’s concept of INFLATION to some extent parallels Freud’s use of the term ‘acting out’ whereby ‘the subject in the grip of his unconscious wishes and fantasies, relives these in the present with a sensation of immediacy which is heightened by his refusal to recognise their source and their repetitive character’ (Laplanche and Pontalis, 1980). Here we note, as in cases of IDENTIFICATION with an ARCHETYPE, the compulsive, driven and repetitive character of action which is undifferentiated and not yet subject to EGO control. Such an absence of ego authority would appear to spring from a basic refusal or inability to acknowledge the existence of the motivating force and, thereby, conscious awareness is bypassed. The symbolic nature of the invasion of psychic contents is ignored (see ENACTMENT; INCEST).

active imagination Jung used the term in 1935 to describe a process of dreaming with open eyes (CW, 6, para. 723 n). At the outset one concentrates on a specific point, mood, picture or event, then allows a chain of associated FANTASIES to develop and gradually take on a dramatic character. Thereafter the images have a life of their own and develop according to their own logic. Conscious doubt must be overcome and allowance made for whatever falls into consciousness as a consequence.

Psychologically, this creates a new situation. Previously unrelated contents become more or less clear and articulate. Since feeling is roused, the conscious EGO is stimulated to react more immediately and directly than is the case with DREAMS. Thereby, Jung felt maturation was quickened because the images that present themselves in active imagination anticipate dreams.

Active imagination is to be contrasted with day-dreaming which is more or less of one’s own invention and remains on the surface of personal and daily experience. Active imagination is the opposite of conscious invention. The drama that is enacted appears to ‘want to compel the viewer’s participation. A new situation is created in which UNCONSCIOUS contents are exposed in the waking state’ (CW 14, para. 706). Jung found in this evidence of the TRANSCENDENT FUNCTION at work; i.e. a collaboration between conscious and unconscious factors.

What becomes manifest can be dealt with in one of several ways. The process of active imagination itself may have a positive and vitalising effect but the content (as of a dream) may also be painted as well (see PAINTING). Patients can be encouraged to write down their fantasies in order to fix the sequence at the time of its occurrence and such records may be subsequently brought to ANALYSIS for INTERPRETATION.

Jung maintained, however, that the fantasy IMAGE has everything it needs for its subsequent development and transmutation in psychic life. While actively imagining he warned against having outside contact, comparing this to the alchemical process with its need for an ‘hermetically sealed vessel’ (see ALCHEMY). He did not recommend that active imagination be used indiscriminately or by everyone, finding it most useful in the latter stages of analysis when the objectivisation of images may replace dreams.

Such fantasies ask for the co-operation of conscious life. Active imagination may stimulate cure of a NEUROSIS but it achieves success only if it is integrated and does not become either a substitute for or an escape from the labour of conscious living. In contrast to dreams, which are experienced passively, this process of imagination demands the active and creative participation of the EGO (see Weaver, 1964; Watkins, 1976; Jaffé, 1979).

This method of raising to consciousness those contents which lie immediately below the threshold of the unconscious is not without its psychological hazards (see ABAISSEMENT DU NIVEAU MENTAL).Among these, Jung focused primarily upon three: (1) that the process may prove sterile if the patient remains caught in the circle of his own complexes; (2) that the patient becomes beguiled by the appearance of the fantasies and ignores their demand for confrontation; and (3) that the unconscious contents possess such a high level of ENERGY that, when afforded an outlet, they take possession of the personality (see INFLATION; POSSESSION).

adaptation Relating to, coming to terms with, and balancing internal and external factors. To be distinguished from conformism; a vital aspect of INDIVIDUATION.

According to Jung, failure to adapt is one definition of NEUROSIS. Sometimes this expresses itself in terms of external reality; sometimes in terms of internal reality. In ANALYSIS external problems may have to be dealt with first, thus freeing the person to face profound and pressing inner issues. Jung pointed out that adaptation per se also suggested a balancing of the needs of both internal and external worlds, which may make quite different demands upon a person. Initially, analysis may appear to destroy the adaptation a patient has achieved for himself; but later he may see that this was necessary, the previous adaptation having been spurious and gained at too great a cost.

There are many modes of adaptation, varying from person to person and according to TYPOLOGY. However, excessive dependence on one particular mode of adaptation, or excessive concentration on satisfying the requirements of either the internal or the external worlds may also be seen as neurotic.

The term ‘adaptation’ also relates to the tension between personal and COLLECTIVE demands. Here, Jung’s opinion was that this depended on the individual; some individuals need to be more ‘personal’, others more ‘collective’ (CW 7, para. 462). See UNCONSCIOUS. A good illustration of the interpenetration of internal and external, personal and collective, may be found in relationships. Adaptation to one’s partner in a marriage, say, may be looked at on all those levels.

Does adaptation equal ‘normality’? With regard to the ‘normal’ person, Jung wrote that such a ‘happy blend of character’ is ‘ideal’ and a ‘rare occurrence’ (CW 7, para. 80). Such a point of view is similar to Freud’s which described ‘normality’ as an ‘ideal fiction’ (1937).

aetiology (of neurosis) During the period of their psychoanalytic companionship, the search for the causes of psychological disturbance led both Freud and Jung to the conclusion that the aetiology of NEUROSIS was not traceable to the impact of specific traumatic experiences alone. For instance, Jung maintained that the personal attitude of the patient could be seen as a contributing factor. More importantly, he saw that aetiology lay not only in the traumatic effects produced by real figures (e.g. parents) but also in archetypal fantasy projections as well. The relative importance of these two could be assessed analytically, he realised, and the fascination of such compelling god-like images had to be taken into account (see IMAGE; IMAGO).

Jung suggested that, viewed psychotherapeutically, there are some cases in which the real aetiology of neurotic suffering becomes apparent only at the end of treatment and that there are others where aetiology is relatively insignificant. He contested the notion that all neurosis arises in childhood and that a patient must necessarily become conscious of the aetiological factor in order to be healed.

After 1912 Jung spoke of the need for a ‘final’ viewpoint in contrast to Freud’s ‘causal’ standpoint (see REDUCTIVE AND SYNTHETIC METHODS). Later research and writing, especially on the subject of INDIVIDUATION, suggests that aetiology may be of other than pathological origin and play a more positive role in the development of the individual (see TELEOLOGICAL POINT OF VIEW). He stated that in the majority of cases the root cause of neurosis is connected with a loss of MEANING and worth.

Sandner and Beebe (1982) see neurosis as springing from ‘the tendency of PSYCHE to dissociate or split in face of intolerable suffering’. Wheelwright (1982) speaks of both neurosis and psychosis as ‘nature’s attempt to initiate growth and development’, a view pursued in psychiatric research and experiment by Perry (1974, 1976).

affect Synonymous with emotion; feeling of sufficient intensity to cause nervous agitation or other obvious psychomotor disturbances. One has command over feeling, whereas affect intrudes against one’s WILL and can only be repressed with difficulty. An explosion of affect is an invasion of the individual and a temporary takeover of the EGO.

Our emotions happen to us; affect occurs at the point at which our ADAPTATION is weakest and at the same time exposes the reason for its weakness. This hypothesis was central to Jung’s initial experiments with the WORD ASSOCIATION TEST. A key to the discovery of a COMPLEX is an affect-laden response. Affect reveals the locus and force of psychological values. The measure of a psychic wound is the affect aroused when it is touched (see ASSOCIATION).

alchemy Jung thought that alchemy, looked at from a symbolic and not a scientific eye, could be regarded as one of the precursors of modern study of the UNCONSCIOUS and, in particular, of analytical interest in the TRANSFORMATION of personality. The alchemists projected their internal processes into what they were doing, and, as they carried out their various operations, enjoyed deep, passionate emotional experiences along with spiritual ones. Crucially, they did not attempt to split off experience from activity and in this way, too, they link with a contemporary psychological attitude, at least as interpreted retrospectively. Like ANALYTICAL PSYCHOLOGY and PSYCHOANALYSIS in their time, alchemy can be seen as a subversive and underground force: its vivid and earthy imagery contrasting with the stylised and sexless expression of mediaeval Christianity, just as psychoanalysis startled Victorian prudishness and complacency.

As far as can be reconstructed, the alchemists of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries had two interrelated aims: (a) to alter or transform base materials into something more valuable – variously referred to as gold, or a univers...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• A critical dictionary of Jungian analysis
• References
• List of entries