SESSION – V, AUGUST 6, 2019

FACILITATOR- Mr. VEERA PANDIAN

INTRODUCTION:

Carl Jung was a Swiss psychiatrist who also founded analytical psychology. He
worked extensively with Freud. Jung talked about archetypes which are
universally recurring mental images or themes. He also talked about the
existence of collective consciousness which is an aspect of unconsciousness
experienced by everyone across cultures.
His theory of individuation is one of the most famous ones. It talks about the
process of fulfillment of each individual taking the consciousness and the
unconsciousness in totality. This unification of the consciousness and the
unconsciousness represents the psyche as a whole. This unification happens due
to the assimilation of the concepts of the unconsciousness through dream
interpreted through Jungian manner. The circle represents the self in this theory.
Jung talks about a circle in the middle representing ego. This ego is the part of
the unconsciousness and is inside the circle of the self. According to Jung, the
self appears in dreams, myths, and fantasies as a “superior personality”. Jung
saw the process of individuation as a quest for wholeness the human psyche
undertakes. It starts with the development of ego-consciousness which takes the
first half of one’s life course. Once the ego is established the new talk for the
second half of the life is the conscious rediscovery of self.
Jung is discussed widely for his unique views but the lack of scientific evidence
is one of the major criticisms of his work.
Carl Rogers was an American psychologist and the founder of the humanistic
approach. The person-centered approach has wide applications like in
psychotherapy, counseling, education, and organizations. According to him, an
individual had two self, one was the ideal self and the other the real self. The
ideal self consisted of the attributes the individual aspired for himself and the
real self, included the attributes which the individual possessed. The similarity
between the ideal self and the real self gave rise to congruence. The more
similarity between the ideal self and the real self resulted in incongruence and
the less or no similarity between the ideal and the real self gave rise to
incongruence. Self-actualisation occurs when there is congruence between the
ideal and the real self. According to Rogers, the real self needs positive regard
and self- regard but society only provides conditional positive regard. This leads
to the individual developing an ideal self. The self has three main components
including self-image, self-worth and ideal self. Self-image is the way we see
ourselves. It affects our body image on inner personality. Self-worth is our
thoughts about us. This self-worth is formed in early childhood. The interaction
one has with their parents during childhood influence self-worth. Carl Rogers
also coined the term ‘empathy’ which is a building block of a counseling
process. He was awarded by the American psychology association for his
works.
PERSONAL LEARNING:
I learned a new perspective on the self. It is a good way to understand the self.
Self-awareness leads an individual to a better life. The idea of self, provided by
Jung is quite unique it's way. It is difficult to understand. I believe that my
conscious and unconscious are interconnected. Sometimes during my sessions
with my therapist, a lot of things are brought to my consciousness. I discuss
things which I had no awareness about; this awareness gives me a new
perspective on my daily life. The idea of the self is a resourceful topic. The
theory given by Jung helps us in understanding the mechanism behind it. This
makes me self- aware and also helps me understand others. The awareness
about my notion of self helps me in identifying and rectifying the unhealthy
notions and replacing them with a more positive one. This also enables me to
understand others and their ideas of themselves. This understanding helps in
cultivating empathy in me for myself and others. The ego is the center also
plays an important role according to the theory. I somehow feel that Jung didn’t
describe the other parts of the unconsciousness well as in compared to Freud.
He talks about conscious, unconscious and ego. He didn’t explain ego and
didn’t talk about superego or id. This theory also places importance on the
dreams as they are described as a medium of self. I don’t believe in dream
analysis, also there isn’t enough research on it. Dreams analysis lack scientific
evidence and thus makes me skeptical about the idea of self, being constructed
from dreams. This makes the theory looks mystical to me. Thus I am still
confused about its applications and scope.
PROFESSIONAL LEARNING:
In the context of my profession, I feel stuck in a dilemma, as to whether I
should use this theory in my practice. I understand and acknowledge the
importance of the awareness it provides, but I am not sure about its results. As a
therapist, I would want to use the technique which I know is useful. I don’t
know the use of dream analysis in the context of self. I feel the person-centered
theory is more applicable and helpful for me as I feel unconditional positive
regard helps in rapport building with the client and allows us to empathize with
them. Congruency, as explained by Rogers, can become a reason behind distress
in clients. We can then identify the notion of their real and ideal self and work
our way with their expectations.