Carl Jung: Wounded Healer of the Soul - Essay Example

It is distinctly different than Freudian psychoanalysis, in that the aim is to reconcile disparate parts of the self that are found in the individual subconscious as well as deeper drives that are found in something Carl Jung termed the collective subconscious. It is distinctly different than Freudian psychoanalysis, in that the aim is to reconcile disparate parts of the self that are found in the individual subconscious as well as deeper drives that are found in something Carl Jung termed the collective subconscious.

The collective subconscious is something shared by all humanity.  Carl Jung believed that this collective subconscious is found at a deeper level of the subconscious that the individual subconscious.  The collective subconscious comes from the common experiences all of humanity has experienced as a result of our common evolution.  Present in this collective subconscious is certain archetypes that we all recognize and share.  Two of the most commonly discussed archetypes are anima and animus.

  The anima is a masculine, aggressive archetype and the animus is a passive, feminine archetype.  Shadow is another archetype that is considered amoral or evil.  Self has an archetype that is often expressed through art.  Carl Jung wrote that we all have a combination of these archetypes deep within our collective subconscious.  The process of sorting them out is known as individuation. The process of individuation happens as an individual discovers all about his or her “true” self.

  It is the process that forms our personality and where we develop healthy, well-adjusted images of ourselves.  This process is a holistic process according to Jung.