What Is Jungian Dream Psyche?

The Royal Road to the Unconscious

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. As to dreams 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 more on symbolism and imagery. He believed that dreams can have many different meanings depending on the dreamer's associations.

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.

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.

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.