Psychotherapy is known to help people to overcome their distressed
psyche and regain
emotional balance leading to a healthy and emotionally sound life. It’s practitioners differ greatly in their approach depending upon their experience and exposure to past masters of this methodology. Carl Jung was one such great master whose approach known as Analytical Psychology – a form of deeper
Psychotherapy - influenced greatly the writer of this article, Khenu Singh, who is Assistant Clinical Professor with the Department of Psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco, and a Jungian Analyst himself.
Writing in February, 2008 issue of India Currents, Singh describes Carl Jung as a psychiatrist contemporary of Sigmund Freud, who brought attention to the unconscious as well as our dream life. He looked favorably to the
spiritual aspects of life, one finds mention of Hindu gods and goddesses in his writings. His orientation appears to resonate with Indian philosophy in that a principal concept of Jungian thought is self, the core aspect of our being that communicates with us, an idea parallel to Vedantic concept of ‘
atman’. One goal of the Jungian therapy is to cultivate an ongoing relationship with the self as this can provide us with guidance toward becoming more whole individuals leading us to an authentic and meaningful life. The relationship with the self is developed through dialogues with the self and includes personal analysis. In the process one deals with one’s own negative and positive aspects, about which one otherwise remains unaware or goes on suppressing. This can lead to intense emotional experiences. However, the development of consciousness leads us to more balanced emotional adjustments in life making it a richer experience.
Working with
dreams forms an important part of Jungian psychotherapy. It is through dreams that our deeper conscious self communicates with us – presenting images and symbolical sequences. They improve our awareness of self and result in bettering relationships and liberating our creative and talented side leading us to a meaningful and fuller life. They have the potential to provide us creative solutions to problems or help with crucial decisions or moments in our lives. The Jungian psychotherapy offers a
holistic approach to all our problems and can benefit every human being. DNBhatnagar