marlier.proIndividual progression through the four stages
of analytic therapy
September 13, 2003
Individual progression through the four stages
of analytic therapy
Therapy is essentially the effort to build an adequate harmony between both conscious and unconscious parts of the mind, thus bringing cohesiveness, wholeness–symbolized by the mandala–to the individual. The psyche being a self-regulating system, it has the ability and the strength to heal itself. The role of the various forms of therapy, from individual and group therapy to art-therapy and sand-tray therapy is to facilitate self-awareness and healing. Analytical therapy is a progression through the four stages defined by Jung as Confession, Elucidation, Education and Transformation.
Confession
The confession stage is the first of the four stages of analytic therapy. The patient may be given a personality test, to determine her psychological typ'. During this stage the patient “tells” herself, the story of her life, how she sees herself and the relationships with her environment. This is a stage of discovery of the shadow, composed of the elements of personal experiences she has forgotten or denied and everything which should be part of the eg but that the ego denies or refuses to develop. The confrontation with the shadow material which brings important parts of the personality to consciousness can be a difficult recall process and can induce a period of regression in the patient. Regression is a normal mode of protection in an attempt of the psyche to survive the onslaught of complexes. But it can also be destructive if the person remains stuck in it. It should be a transitory period of consolidation and integration of the personality. The empathetic listening of the therapist when the patient expresses this unordered excess of emotionally charged associations of ideas and feelings tends to bind the patient to the therapist through transference.
Elucidation
During the second phase, of elucidation, of the therapy, the patients continues to explore her unconscious, trying to understand the connection between transference and her infantile and preoedipal development. The therapist draws her attention to personal meaning of somatic symptoms and to dreams and fantasies which are the expression of the personal unconscious. Dream and symbols analysis is a major part of Jungian therapy. These images help the comprehension of the unconscious and the development of the conscious layer of the personality, formed of the ego and the persona.
Education
The subject of the third phase, education, is the conscious part of the personality, the ego and the persona. The ego is the result of the first part of life. It is formed of desires, emotions, intellect and senses. The persona is the public image of the individual. The persona is also a protective envelope for the privacy of the ego, and acts as a variable screen which hides thoughts, feelings, ideas, perceptions to various degrees and adapts to the variations of the individual's environment. People can identify with their egos as well as with their personas. If we accept this idea of a dichotomy of the conscious layer of personality, it would be difficult to identify with both at the same time. From my own experience, I have a feeling that the unconscious, the ego and the persona are not different things but one, with various degrees of consciousness and accessibility, from the center (unconscious, surrounded by the ego) to the outer shell or skin (the persona) and that the outer world is allowed to penetrate more (osmosis) or less (blocking, rejection) deep into it. The self becomes stronger with age through experience and the persona learns how to be more efficient and adapt better to the person's environment, allowing more or less energy to flow in both directions–and choosing the quality of the external energy allowed to flow in.
This maturing process may be what Jung calls the individuation. Although personality growth takes place at many states over the life span, individuation is the task of the second part of life. It includes the assimilation of personal shadow material and the integration of the contra-sexual elements, animus, anima, in the psyche. Together with self-knowledge, it is one of the goals of therapy. At the end of the education phase, the translation of the intellectual reflection into conscious action is encouraged by the therapist.
Transformation
This final phase is not always needed, but some patients cannot satisfy themselves with their discoveries of the first three phases. They want to go deeper into their exploration. This is the phase when the transference, unresolved during phase three, becomes stronger. This is the phase which Jung describes with analogies to medieval alchemy. This is also the stage during which the transference and dream symbols go from the personal to the archetypal level. The archetypal image convey elements of the collective unconscious. This is the sign that the patient has found her place in the world and marks the end of the therapy.
Conclusion
Analytic therapy is the application of transpersonal psychology of which Jung was a precursor. Through the four stages of therapy, the therapist guides the individual towards wholeness, completion and individuation, and helps her patient self-heal and find her true place in the world. Jung's approach to the psyche, with spirituality as an essential function, attracts a growing number of followers.
Bibliography
During the research process for this paper, I have used the following sources of information:
BuddhaLine. (n.d.). Psychologie et développement personnel. Retrieved September 12, 2003, from http://www.buddhaline.net/rubrique.php3?id_rubrique=28 (in French)
Douglas, C. (2000). Analytical Psychotherapy. In Raymond J. Corsini & Danny Wedding (Ed.), Current Psychotherapies (pp. 99-132). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning.
Whitmont, E. C. (1978). The Symbolic Quest. Basic Concepts of Analytical Psychology. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
For an exhaustive study of symbols, myths, dreams, customs, gestures, forms, figures, colors, numbers:
Chevalier, Jean, & Gheerbrant, Alain (1982). Dictionnaire des Symboles (Rev. ed.). Paris: Robert Laffont / Jupiter. (In French)
For an extraordinary collection of symbols in a half oneiric setting in one literary work (published in French in 1874) :
Flaubert, G. (1904). The Temptation of Saint Antony. In Flaubert, G. (1904). In Best Known Works of Gustave Flaubert (pp. 355-438). New York: Blue Ribbon Books, Inc.
of analytic therapy
September 13, 2003
Individual progression through the four stages
of analytic therapy
Therapy is essentially the effort to build an adequate harmony between both conscious and unconscious parts of the mind, thus bringing cohesiveness, wholeness–symbolized by the mandala–to the individual. The psyche being a self-regulating system, it has the ability and the strength to heal itself. The role of the various forms of therapy, from individual and group therapy to art-therapy and sand-tray therapy is to facilitate self-awareness and healing. Analytical therapy is a progression through the four stages defined by Jung as Confession, Elucidation, Education and Transformation.
Confession
The confession stage is the first of the four stages of analytic therapy. The patient may be given a personality test, to determine her psychological typ'. During this stage the patient “tells” herself, the story of her life, how she sees herself and the relationships with her environment. This is a stage of discovery of the shadow, composed of the elements of personal experiences she has forgotten or denied and everything which should be part of the eg but that the ego denies or refuses to develop. The confrontation with the shadow material which brings important parts of the personality to consciousness can be a difficult recall process and can induce a period of regression in the patient. Regression is a normal mode of protection in an attempt of the psyche to survive the onslaught of complexes. But it can also be destructive if the person remains stuck in it. It should be a transitory period of consolidation and integration of the personality. The empathetic listening of the therapist when the patient expresses this unordered excess of emotionally charged associations of ideas and feelings tends to bind the patient to the therapist through transference.
Elucidation
During the second phase, of elucidation, of the therapy, the patients continues to explore her unconscious, trying to understand the connection between transference and her infantile and preoedipal development. The therapist draws her attention to personal meaning of somatic symptoms and to dreams and fantasies which are the expression of the personal unconscious. Dream and symbols analysis is a major part of Jungian therapy. These images help the comprehension of the unconscious and the development of the conscious layer of the personality, formed of the ego and the persona.
Education
The subject of the third phase, education, is the conscious part of the personality, the ego and the persona. The ego is the result of the first part of life. It is formed of desires, emotions, intellect and senses. The persona is the public image of the individual. The persona is also a protective envelope for the privacy of the ego, and acts as a variable screen which hides thoughts, feelings, ideas, perceptions to various degrees and adapts to the variations of the individual's environment. People can identify with their egos as well as with their personas. If we accept this idea of a dichotomy of the conscious layer of personality, it would be difficult to identify with both at the same time. From my own experience, I have a feeling that the unconscious, the ego and the persona are not different things but one, with various degrees of consciousness and accessibility, from the center (unconscious, surrounded by the ego) to the outer shell or skin (the persona) and that the outer world is allowed to penetrate more (osmosis) or less (blocking, rejection) deep into it. The self becomes stronger with age through experience and the persona learns how to be more efficient and adapt better to the person's environment, allowing more or less energy to flow in both directions–and choosing the quality of the external energy allowed to flow in.
This maturing process may be what Jung calls the individuation. Although personality growth takes place at many states over the life span, individuation is the task of the second part of life. It includes the assimilation of personal shadow material and the integration of the contra-sexual elements, animus, anima, in the psyche. Together with self-knowledge, it is one of the goals of therapy. At the end of the education phase, the translation of the intellectual reflection into conscious action is encouraged by the therapist.
Transformation
This final phase is not always needed, but some patients cannot satisfy themselves with their discoveries of the first three phases. They want to go deeper into their exploration. This is the phase when the transference, unresolved during phase three, becomes stronger. This is the phase which Jung describes with analogies to medieval alchemy. This is also the stage during which the transference and dream symbols go from the personal to the archetypal level. The archetypal image convey elements of the collective unconscious. This is the sign that the patient has found her place in the world and marks the end of the therapy.
Conclusion
Analytic therapy is the application of transpersonal psychology of which Jung was a precursor. Through the four stages of therapy, the therapist guides the individual towards wholeness, completion and individuation, and helps her patient self-heal and find her true place in the world. Jung's approach to the psyche, with spirituality as an essential function, attracts a growing number of followers.
Bibliography
During the research process for this paper, I have used the following sources of information:
BuddhaLine. (n.d.). Psychologie et développement personnel. Retrieved September 12, 2003, from http://www.buddhaline.net/rubrique.php3?id_rubrique=28 (in French)
Douglas, C. (2000). Analytical Psychotherapy. In Raymond J. Corsini & Danny Wedding (Ed.), Current Psychotherapies (pp. 99-132). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning.
Whitmont, E. C. (1978). The Symbolic Quest. Basic Concepts of Analytical Psychology. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
For an exhaustive study of symbols, myths, dreams, customs, gestures, forms, figures, colors, numbers:
Chevalier, Jean, & Gheerbrant, Alain (1982). Dictionnaire des Symboles (Rev. ed.). Paris: Robert Laffont / Jupiter. (In French)
For an extraordinary collection of symbols in a half oneiric setting in one literary work (published in French in 1874) :
Flaubert, G. (1904). The Temptation of Saint Antony. In Flaubert, G. (1904). In Best Known Works of Gustave Flaubert (pp. 355-438). New York: Blue Ribbon Books, Inc.
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