Notes relating to Carl Jung
by Eric Miller
Three steps Carl Jung recommended for working with clients are --
1) “Explicate”: Think about and discuss with the client the client’s Life Story. Identify outstanding story elements in the Life Story (archetypes).
2) "Amplifly”: Compare and contrast elements of the client’s Life Story with other stories that come to mind. Working with fairytales, epics, and other traditional stories could help one to
“recognise the power of archetypal elements outside and inside oneself, and then put one’s personal experiences into a larger perspective. Understanding the functioning of archetypal characters and situations within oneself is a way of synchronising the beating of one’s own heart with the rhythm of the cosmos" (June Singer, Boundaries of the Soul: The Practice of Jung's Psychology, Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1972, pp. 127-8).
3) "Actively Imagine”: Speak to and as characters in the above mentioned stories. Steps 1) and 2) are analytical. This step is imaginative.
Source: "What is Jungian Analysis?," by Michael Vannoy Adams.
These three steps provide the foundation for the eight steps of a Storytelling Therapy process.
Carl Jung’s approach includes consideration of:
1) Archetypes (story elements that re-occur widely and seem to be symbolic of states of mind, ideas, etc).
2) Anima (the feminine "voice" within a man), and Animus (the masculine "voice" within a woman).
3) The Shadow (repressed -- possibly-negative -- aspects of a personality).
4) The Collective Unconscious.
5) Individuation (becoming increasingly aware of, and integrating, the various aspects of one's personality).