What Is Jungian Dream Psychology?
The Royal Road to the Unconscious
Back to Front Page    Why Interpret Your Dreams   Dream Basics   Amplification of Images   Interpret A Dream

---

Carl Jung was a psychiatrist/psychoanalyst and the founder of analytical psychology. Jung spent many years studying and practicing with Sigmund Freud, but their differing concepts of the unconscious led them to part ways. Jung was equipped with a background in Freudian theory but developed a much different style of analysis which today is more prominent with internet search as opposed to Freud. Freud concluded that our dreams are able to access repressed or anxiety provoking thoughts mainly sexual desires that are otherwise not acted upon because of the fear of embarrassment. Jung believed that dreams are a representation of the unconscious mind and did not agree that everything presented in a dream related to a repressed sexual desire. Jung focused for on symbolism and imagery. He believed that dreams can have many different meanings depending on the dreamers associations.

Jungian dream psychology, sometimes known as Jungian analysis, is an in-depth, analytical form of therapy designed to bring together the conscious and unconscious parts of the mind to help a person feel balanced and whole. Jungian psyche requires an examination of the deeper and often darker elements of the mind and look at the "real" self rather than the self presented to the outside world. Getting to the 'true self' and reconciling what is out of balance psychologically. The best way to do is is by interpreting our dreams.

Jung developed his own distinctive approach to the study of the human mind. In his early years when working in a Swiss hospital with schizophrenic patients and working with Sigmund Freud and the burgeoning psychoanalytic community, he took a closer look at the mysterious depths of the human unconscious. Fascinated by what he saw (and spurred on with even more passion by the experiences and questions of his personal life) he devoted his life to the exploration of the unconscious. Unlike many before him, Jung did not feel that experimenting using natural science was the best means to understand the soul. For him, an empirical investigation of the world of dream, myth, and soul represented the most promising road to deeper understanding. Self Realization is the final stage of Jung's stages of development and that within this stage there is still some room for growth and development. This process is also called individuation, which is the process of becoming an individual. For Jung this was the focus and intent of dreams, to help resolve emotional conflicts so to restore balance and wholeness to the dreamer's life.

Jung surmised that the collective unconscious was one shared by all people. The foundation for this theory was based on archetypes and patterns that dictate how people process psychic images. Throughout history and across all cultures, mythology and dream study have maintained a common thread. Jung believed that each person strives to achieve wholeness by attaining a harmony within consciousness and unconsciousness and that this can be accomplished through dream study. To better understand the meaning of the archetypal images in dreams it is important to study mythology since the themes and patterns in myth are the often same as in individual dreams.

Jung's Archetypes ....inherit instinctive patterns of behavior What is the archetype? Archetypes are innate tendency which molds and transform the individual consciousness. A fact defined more through a drive {from emotional energies} than through specific inherited contents, images etc.; a matrix which influences the human behavior as well as his ideas and concepts on the ethical, moral religious and cultural levels. As first postulated by Carl Jung, an Archetype is representative of humanity's symbols which are universal. Perhaps the most common within humanity's psyche are the Mother and the Father, as everyone on the planet has parental beginnings. Also common is the Child, a good balance of playfulness and innocence for the seriousness of most adults. Archetypes can be loosely compared to the instincts of animals. For example, birds instinctively know how to build nests and all the birds of a species build the exact same kind of nest. The bird is unaware that it has a special instinct for a particular form of nest building. Nevertheless, it does. Or we could say that dogs, as a species, are psychologically patterned to be loyal and obedient to the archetype of Master. Master is an archetype that is strongly developed in dogs; however, it does not appear to be an archetype that exists in the psyches of giraffes, snails, or buffaloes. ....read more about Jung's Archetypes

Jung is known for his theories on personality types. The Myers & Briggs Type Indicator is primarily based on Jung's personality theories. See The Personality Theory of Carl Jung

Dreams are a direct link to the unconscious and by interpreting your dreams you can access these emotional energies. It is not unusal to forget, ignore or even repress experiences that possess strong emotional energies because they were/are painful. But these experiences are often part of the buiding blocks for personality and attitudes and when you do not know they exist you go through life being influenced if not governed by them. When you do become aware of them you can take steps to resolve the issues and in the process remove their influence. Dreams attempt to reveal these issues so they can be addressed, and resolved.Dreams are intentional tools provided by nature to restore balance to the psyche. The body has the immune system, the psych{ology} has the dream.

Back to Main Bage
Additional Reading: The importance of early bonding on the long-term mental health and resilience of children
Additional Reading: Here's How Psychologists Actually Analyze Your Dreams