In the category of Helping Relationships on the National Counselor Examination (NCE), the Counselor Preparation Comprehensive Examination (CPCE), or another counseling exam, you will be introduced to many theorists. Carl Jung is one you’ll especially want to be familiar with.
This video will give a brief introduction to Carl Jung’s life. Additionally, it will cover topics such as the collective unconscious, archetypes, as well as introversion and extraversion to name a few of the topics.
Born in 1875, Carl Jung was a Swiss psychiatrist. He is a prominent figure in the field of psychology, likely because he was once a protege of Sigmund Freud. However, their relationship did eventually end and seemingly not on the best of terms. Jung attended the University of Basel where he earned a degree in psychiatry in 1900. Then, in 1902, he then earned a PhD from the University of Zurich. Jung’s personal life has been described as turbulent, as he had many affairs throughout his marriage to his wife, Emma Jung. Jung passed away of unspecified causes in 1961 at 85 years old.
What is the collective unconscious? Jung believed that we all have a conscious and a personal unconscious that is unique to each of us based on our own personal experiences. But, he also believed that there is a collective unconscious that we all have and share. The collective unconscious, in his view, is a part of all humans that is hard wired in to hold the archetypes he believed we all shared.
What are archetypes? Archetypes, are “images and thoughts that have universal meanings across cultures that show up in dreams, literature, art, or religion” (Jones-Smith, 2021, p. 52). Jung believed we all have the same archetypes.
What is the persona archetype? From the Greek word for “mask”, our persona is what we show the world. It consists of the parts of us that we feel we can show to make a good impression and that we want to be public facing. Therefore, our persona is the public image that we show that hides the parts of ourselves we feel others will see as less acceptable.
What is the shadow archetype? The shadow archetype is said to be from our animal past and is considered the darker side of our ego. The shadow represents the parts of our personality that might be considered negative or inferior. It also includes the things we all have that we dislike about ourselves, but also want to deny. As much as we may try to high it thought, the shadow may make an appearance as Jung felt we can project it onto others.
What are the anima and animus archetypes? By nature, Jung believed that we are all bisexual and that hormones then influence whether we are born male or female. He also recognized different expectations for men and women. The anima, he believed, represented the female parts that are in the collective unconscious of men. The animus, then, is made up of the male parts of the collective unconscious that women have. He believed that this is responsible for our love lives. Jung also felt that both men and women have an anima and animus.
What is the self archetype? Jung believed the self archetype was the most important of the archetypes. He believed that we are all born whole, but that living and socializing cause fragments. Specifically, what we hear from others and observe about ourselves can help us come to a conscious understanding of ourselves. If what we observe and what others say match, we’ll consider ourselves “normal”. However, if they are at odds, we’ll believe we are “abnormal”. Jung believed the goal was to allow every part of our personality to be expressed equally.
What is individuation? Jung introduced the idea of individuation, or the process we go through to become more of ourselves. His belief was that we need to grow as people, which includes experimentation and working toward higher levels of purpose.
What are Jung’s personalty types? There are various influences that we see from Jung’s work that are still around today. His personality types influence the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator which categorizes personality based on some of Jung’s work and beliefs. He had four personality functions, which were sensing, intuiting, thinking, and feeling. Jung also coined introversion and extraversion as types of personality. He stated that introverts prefer their own thoughts, and enjoy being in their inner experience of feelings and dreams. Extraverts, on the flip side, prefer being out in the world. For them, being with other people, and finding activities to support this is a fulfilling experience.
