| Brief Psychotherapy: A Jungian Approach
Dennis
L. Merritt, Ph.D.
In this
article I will discuss how I, as a Jungian psychoanalyst, conceptualize
and use a Jungian analytic approach in brief therapy. Ten to twenty sessions is often the limit covered by insurance,
with many managed care organizations reducing the number to six
to ten sessions. To
understand brief therapy from a Jungian perspective it is necessary
to have an overview of Jungian concepts.
Most important in Jung’s system is the idea of the collective
unconscious. This postulates that all humans are basically
alike; have the same basic intra-psychic structure and activity,
the same basic needs, go through the same stages of life, and
have basic ways of perceiving and responding to the world—emotionally
and behaviorally. Charles Darwin was the first to recognize
universal emotional expressions in human faces throughout the
world. The particular
aspects of the collective unconscious are the archetypes, like
inherited psychic organs. Archetypes are discovered by looking at
basic themes and imagery in religions, fairytales, classic stories
and art across time and from around the world and by looking at
the basic aspects of human development and behavior.
Each person has a full complement of archetypes with genetic
differences and life experiences determining the potential strength
of the various archetypes and their combinations.
More testosterone for example will mean that more aggressive,
Ares-type behavior is likely. (See “The He Hormone” by Andrew
Sullivan in The New York Times Magazine,
April 2, 2000, Section 6, pp.46-89)
Some factors causing the constellation and identity with
archetypes associated with masculine or feminine energy are (1)what
is feels like to be in a male or female body in terms of shoulder
versus hip development, etc., (2) the different hormones flowing
through one’s system and (3) the feel and experience of the genitalia.
The interaction of the constellated archetypes is succinctly portrayed
by the psychological dimensions of astrology irrespective of a
link to the stars.
It is particularly important that the archetype of the
good mother gets constellated in a child.
This is necessary for a basic sense of well-being for a
child as well as an adult. A child comes into the world with a psychic
structure, the archetype of the good mother, which anticipates,
perceives and is ready to respond behaviorally and emotionally
to what D. W. Winnicott called “good enough” mothering from the
environment. “Good enough” mothering is necessary to
constellate the archetype of the good mother which gets projected
onto the mother. What
gets projected is literally of mythic proportions, appearing as
the Virgin Mary in a religious context, a fairy godmother in fairy
tales or as a tree with a gift-giving white bird as in the Grimm’s
version of “Cinderella”.
The image and particular aspects of the personal mother,
such as red hair or a certain height or body build, becomes imprinted
as the personal image of the archetype of the good
mother. This relationship of the personal to the timeless collective
is often confused or unrecognized by many psychologies.
An easily recognizable archetype in cultures throughout
the world and across time is the archetype of the hero.
Luke Skywalker and Batman are recent incarnations in American
movie culture. The archetype of the divine child was
seen in semi-mythic form as Fiona in the movie The Secret of
Roan Inish and more commonly as the younger daughter Penny in
Ulee’s Gold. The archetype of the trickster as expressed by the Greek god Hermes and
the archetype of the puer aeternis (eternal youth)
was well represented as Ferris Buhler in Ferris Buhler’s Day
Off. Other
archetypes in the movies are the witch (Glen Close’s character in
Fatal Attraction),the
Wise Old Man (Ben Obi Wan Kenobie in Star Wars)
and the Wise Old Woman ( the mother in A Passage to
India).
Four archetypes particularly important for an understanding
of personality structure are the persona, shadow, soul image (anima
and animus) and the Self.
The persona is the archetype of adaptation, the mask the
individual wears which is molded by social mores, values and expectations
for individual and professional behavior.
It is the archetype of the interface between the ego and
the outer world. It helps tune one into the expectations
of the world which, if not met, will generate considerable friction
between oneself and the world.
A classic presentation of defiance of cultural expectations
and the consequences was Paul Newman’s Luke in Cool
Hand Luke. The
personas of doctors, teachers, bankers and rock stars are distinct. Total identity with the persona leads
to a one-dimensional person.
Difficulties in the transition out of the personas common
in the 1950’s was portrayed in the movie Pleasantville.
The shadow is an archetype of the same sex as the individual
that has positive or negative traits that are suppressed and unlived
for individual, family or cultural reasons.
The shadow is often seen as the darker side of two brothers,
as illustrated by Richie Valens’ brother in La Bomba and
Brad Pitt’s character in A River Runs Through
It. The deadly consequences of not recognizing and bringing
a homosexual shadow into consciousness was represented by the
retired Marine general in American Beauty.
The anima is the archetype of the feminine traits and
qualities in a male, personified as his inner woman in ideal or
problematic form. These
traits are more deeply unconscious than the shadow and therefore
more likely to get projected onto a woman.
Leonard Cohen’s song Suzanne is a perfect illustration of the anima in popular
music. The animus
is the inner masculine side of a woman.
The anima and animus in dreams is a personification of
the deeper unconscious levels, like the face of the unconscious,
a counterpoint to the persona as the face between ego and outer
world. How one relates
to the anima and animus therefore is an important indicator of
the quality of the relationship with the unconscious. Movies present a full range of anima and
animus figures in the male and female characters, since most characters
in the movies are idealized in some way.
The inner nucleus of the psyche is the Self, archetype
of wholeness and a centering force.
It has a numinous (inner light), sacred sense, the experience
of which is of utmost importance to the individual. Jung made
an important contribution to psychology with his recognition of
the many forms the Self can manifest in dreams: a circle; particular animals like an elephant, horse or bear;
the number four or groups of four; a tree (as the Tree of Life
in many cultures); a crystal (symbolic of order and spirit in
nature); a diamond; etc. At the cultural level the Self is expressed
as God, Yahweh, Jesus, the Tao, Buddha, Mohammed, Wakantanka,
etc. Of great significance is that the contra-sexual archetype,
the anima and animus, at their deeper levels are a function
of the Self. Union with the opposite sex, including
sexual union, is one of the most common images of the union of
opposites, symbolic of wholeness and therefore of the Self. Its archetypal dimensions are recognized by marriage endings
in many fairytales. The longing for union and wholeness is the
archetypal core of many teen age love songs.
Recognition
of the god image in the form of numinous animals in dreams can
be used by the therapist to help connect a person in a sacred
way to the animal world and all of nature. The analyst can also work with numinous
landscapes in dreams to help the analysand develop a sacred sense
about the environment. See
the “meadow dream” in the introduction to the “Spirit in the Land”
section and other ecopsychology articles on my website.
Therapists can and should play a vital role in helping
clients develop a deep, even sacred, connection to the land and
in developing a sense of place.
How the four archetypes operate in an individual’s psyche
tells the analyst and analysand a great deal about the person.
They can show where a person is stuck, trapped, projects
their psychological stuff onto others, and why one has difficulties
with particular people and situations.
Incorporated into these four archetypes is Jung’s psychological
type system—introvert, extravert, thinking, feeling, sensation
and intuition. There is an innate tendency towards becoming
one of the sixteen combinations of psychological types, for example,
an introverted intuitive type with thinking as an auxiliary function. Knowing one’s type helps to understand
how one perceives and responds to the world, what things come
easily and what one has to struggle with, and which people, typologically
speaking, one has difficulty with.
Three Jungian typological tests help evaluate these functions.
The psychological type test has become popular in the business
community to help place psychological types in jobs most suited
to them. An intuitive
type, for example, would suffer in an accounting job which requires
great attention to details.
A sensation type would be more “natural” for such a job.
Cognitive psychology research has determined that 90 to
95% of our responses to the world are unconsciously determined.
The Jungian approach is to work with unconscious material,
realizing that dreams provide the best, unvarnished access to
the unconscious. Dreams succinctly reveal one’s complexes
(“hang-ups”) and show how the unconscious is wrestling with the
difficulties to move the individual beyond the problem. The complexes are the dark spots in a
person’s psyche, areas loaded with affect, and indicative of maladaptation.
Dreams provide images for these otherwise nebulous feelings
and affects, making it easier to recognize the complexes and keep
them in conscious view. It's when they are unseen and unrecognized
that they attack us from behind and trip us up. The people and situations in our dreams
literally personify the energies, problems and anxieties we live
with. Working with dreams allows us to consciously
enter the play created by the more complete psyche, the Self.
Every
person has a master playwright and visual artist within that molds
experiences and impressions of the individual’s personal life
into an archetypal framework of compelling intensity.
Dreams provide a focus for the analytic work, with life
history, especially early family life, giving one a sense of how
the complex developed and why a particular archetype was constellated.
The power of dream images can reveal how one feels at a
deep level and often shocks the individual with their stark presentations. A very intelligent, educated woman functioning as a subservient
housewife and mother dreamt she was going around the house picking
up feces from her husband and children.
I reminded her of this dream many times during our work
to lead her to full consciousness of how her own deeper Self viewed
her subservient position.
At the core of every complex is an archetype, so complexes
are one access to the mythopoetic realm of the psyche.
The modus operandi
of the mythopoetic level appears strange and irrational to the
Western scientifically conditioned mind.
A feel for myths and fairy tales is essential for working
in a Jungian manner with this realm.
Archetypes are the most basic level of the neurosis, psychosis
or complex, far below the symptom level.
Work at this level has the farthest reaching consequences
in the individual’s life, ramifying outwardly like ripples from
a stone dropped in the water. To discover one’s myth or fairy tale and take a courageous
attitude in dealing with the demons and dragons therein is what
the Jungian process is all about.
As an analyst one has to understand the basic stages and
process of transformation that occurs deep within the psyche.
Jung realized that the alchemists provided westerners with
the best imaginal approach to this level of work.
The more enlightened alchemists realized they were symbolically
working on turning their psychological lead into gold. Understanding
the symbolic aspect of alchemy is a sort of roadmap of the soul
for a Jungian.
The stages
and processes of alchemy can be seen in fairy tales. “Cinderella”
is the most universal fairytale theme, with over 700 versions
world-wide. The story
of abandonment, loss of love and recognition is therefore the
most basic human issue.
This theme has been recognized by the now dominant psychological
theories of object relations and self psychology and studies on
mother-child bonding. It has moved psychoanalysis past the classical
Freudian hang-up with the oedipal complex.
It is absolutely necessary for the analyst to have undergone
a thorough personal analysis.
Only by doing this can the analyst be aware of his or her
own complexes, and therefore be less likely to project them onto
the analysand (counter transference) which interferes with the
analytic process. The
analyst’s analysis gives the analyst a feel for the unconscious
and an appreciation for the symbolic realm.
Sex is recognized by Jungians as only one aspect of being
human. It is especially important to recognize
the symbolic dimension of sex as mentioned before in discussing
the anima, animus and the Self.
Jungians don’t shrink dreams to a sexual interpretation. Sexual and father-mother-sibling issues are explored psychodynamically
while attempting to see these issues as aspects of basic, archetypal
human experiences. Images
are amplified, “fattened out,” by referencing whatever myth, fairy
tale, legend, poem, great literature, painting, etc. they may
relate to. The analysand is encouraged to work with
the dream images to further connect with and understand them. This process of active imagination may
include an imaginary dialogue with images, journaling, painting,
writing a poem, dancing, creating a sandtray (see Menu), etc. The analysand may have to research an animal in a dream to learn its natural history as well as
its occurrence in myths and fairy tales.
Everyone has their totem animal symbolic of an aspect of
the Self or representing the totality of the Self.
This kind of work extends the dream and furthers a relationship
with the unconscious. The
Chinese ideogram for the sage, “the ear listening to the inner
King”, represents the goal and process of the Jungian approach.
A dialogue between the ego and the Self, with the Self
and not the ego at center stage, is what one seeks to establish
in therapy and in one’s life.
Another experience Jungians pay attention to is synchronicity. This concept, foreign to most Westerners,
is that the environment can mirror a psychic state, that there
are meaningful coincidences.
For example, one can formulate a question about a life
difficulty, toss coins to generate the number of a hexagram (combination
of six solid [yang] or broken [yin] lines), and get a meaningful
answer from the I Ching, a Chinese book of wisdom. The experience of this process gives one
a sense deep interrelatedness to others and to the environment.(See
"Use of the I Ching
in the Analytic Setting" in the Menu).
Timely
use of the I Ching in conjunction with dream work can have a profound
effect on the analysand and bring about major shifts in their
life. A man in his early 30’s was getting very
stoned on marijuana every two or three weeks. He brought a dream into his fourth or fifth analytical session
that a doctor and nurse his age had just delivered a baby on the
top floor of a many-storied hospital building. The baby was born dead. The doctor tells the nurse that he suspects the reason for
the still birth is that he was stoned during the delivery of the
baby.
Babies
can symbolize a new birth, a new beginning in the psyche.
A birth dream is often seen at the beginning of the analytic
process or when the therapy begins to move or takes a significant
new direction. Smoking marijuana is often described as
getting high, represented in the dream by the top floor of the
multi-storied hospital building.
The meaning was clear to the analysand but it was difficult
to think of giving up something he enjoyed so much.
This is an example of a point in therapy where I suggest
using the I Ching. He asked
about smoking marijuana and got hexagram 12. Standstill / Stagnation
with no moving lines, meaning the situation was not changing. The hexagram consists of three yang (solid)
lines atop three yin (broken) lines. Yang lines are associated with light and spirit and move upward,
with three yang lines together being associated with heaven. Yin lines are heavy and move downward,
with three yin lines together being associated with the earth. Commentary on the hexagram says heaven
and earth are out of relation to each other, which leads to standstill
and stagnation.
The connection
between the hexagram and dream imagery was obvious to the analysand. The combined impact was great enough for him to give up smoking
for four months, after which the habit was broken. Connections between dream imagery and
hexagram answers can almost always be seen. People often get stoned to escape, fly above, depressive feelings.
This is contrary to the alchemical process of facing the
lead in one’s life as the first step of a transmutation to gold.
The analyst
functions as a psychic mid-wife, helping the analysand to understand
what their unconscious is saying and where it is trying to lead
them. To do this
analysts work imaginally and symbolically with dreams to help
the individual see their life as a story and personal myth. The sense the analysand gets from the
unconscious is of being led by some force much deeper and wiser
than the conscious ego.
We are of the Self which extends beyond the boundaries
of time and space. Following its lead can give one a sense
of fate and destiny, a sense of meaning in one’s life—a process
Jung called individuation.
Generally
people don’t undertake the journey into the unconscious and wholeness
unless compelled to do so. Loss of a job, a divorce, death of a friend
or family member, a life threatening illness or just plain emptiness
and boredom may compel a person to seek new approaches to life. Jung said we don’t become enlightened
by imagining figures of light, but by bringing the light of consciousness
into the unconscious.
The Jungian
approaches described here cannot be used with every analysand
in brief therapy. There may be tremendous resistance to
looking at unconscious material:
it may seem too overwhelming and frightening to be approached
in this manner or in a limited number of sessions.
But for many people this approach can be the most direct,
powerful and transformative experience possible within ten to
twenty sessions. Dream work, active imagination, the I
Ching and the psychological
type test can quickly give analyst and analysand an image and
feeling for the motivating forces and complexes that affect the
analysand, plus an understanding of their personal psychic structure.
The neurosis, one’s cross to bear, becomes a stepping stone
to a greater sense of wholeness and depth in one’s life.
Within twenty sessions, one may be fortunate enough to
get one’s personal image of the Self, an experience so profound
that it can establish a foundation in the individual that gives
them courage to face whatever challenges, inner and outer, their
destiny presents to them.
c
Copyright January 1, 2004
e-mail: DLMerritt@cal.berkeley.edu
Telephone:
(608) 255-9330 ext. 5
Fax: (608) 255-7810
Website: www.DennisMerrittJungianAnalyst.com
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