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Jung and Individuation

Author: Regina Nohra, educator, clinical psychologist, hypnotherapist and CEO of the Milton Erickson Institute in Petrópolis, affiliated to the Milton H. Erickson Foundation in Phoenix, Arizona.


The basic concept of analytical psychology, according to Jung, is the process of INDIVIDUATION. In this text I intend to approach the central concept of analytical psychology, one of the great pillars supporting the theory developed by Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961).

For Jung, the process of individuation takes place when an individual's consciousness becomes individualized and manifests itself through the realization of the self, the SELF.

We can consider that the process of individuation takes place, perhaps, from the moment we are born, because it is a process of self-realization, becoming an indivisible being, an individual being, a being who realizes himself in essence, in other words, he becomes an autonomous and indivisible unit, becoming a totality. The main focus of individuation is self-knowledge. I believe that this movement of transducing information is a continuous process that accompanies you throughout your life.

Individuation expands into the spiritual field of art and religion, delving into the depths of the Soul, dragging out the most sacred, the purest, the most loving, consecrating as the great mystery of existence, the inner god that manifests itself within each one of us.

The process of individuation seeks to take the individual out of isolation, bringing him closer, projecting him into a loving collective coexistence through the path of self-knowledge that teaches us to learn to deal with the negative and the positive.

Just as the body needs nourishment to develop, the personality also needs experiences and learning to individuate. And for this, the Ego, which has a basic and fundamental function according to Jung, consists of the organization of Consciousness, made up of perceptions, memories, recollections and thoughts. The human being can only individuate to the extent that the Ego allows the experiences received to become part of Consciousness.

Consciousness and Individuation go hand in hand, step by step, in the development of a personality, because the beginning of the Conscious Mind also marks the beginning of the Individuation process.

Psychotherapy plays a significant role in this context: the analyst is an expert in the techniques, but the person being analyzed is an expert in himself. And, united in an amplified state of consciousness, they lovingly promote the process of individuation, in their own time, in their own way!


BIBLIOGRAPHY

Jung, C. G. (2011) The mana personality. Jung, C. G., The self and the unconscious, O.C., 7/2, part II, chapter IV.

Jung, C.G. (2011) Consciousness, unconscious, individuation. In Jung, C.G., The archetypes of the collective unconscious, O.C., vol. 9/1

Von Franz, M-L. (2000) The process of individuation. In Jung, C. G. (org.), Man and his symbols. Rio de Janeiro: Nova Fronteira, ch. 3.

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