Jungian Psychotherapy: A Study in Analytical Psychology

194 Pages·1990·27.02 MB·English

by  Michael Fordham

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Jungian

Psychotherapy

A Study in Analytical Psychology
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Jungian Psychotherapy
A Study in Analytical Psychology
MICHAEL FORDHAM
MARESFIELL} LIBRARY

London
First published in 1978 by
John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Reprinted 1986 with the Author's permission by
H. Karnac (Books) Ltd,
118 Finchley Road, London NW3 5HT
Reprinted 1990
© 1978
ISBN 978 0 946439 19 5
Printed in Great Britain by BPC Wheatons Ltd., Exeter
Contents

Preface v
PAR T I
1. The model 3
2. The development of Jung's thesis 11
3. Dreams 21
4. Amplification and active imagination . . . . . 35
5. Jung's conception of psychotherapy 43
PAR T II
6. Analysis . . . . . . . . 57
7. The setting of analysis 65
8. Starting a.n a lysis . . . . . . . . 73
9. Transference and counter-transference . . . . . 80
10. Resistance and counter-resis. ta nce . . . . . 97
11. Some less-organized behaviour of therapists . . . . 105
12. Interpretation . . . . . . . . . 113
13. The analysis of childhood and its limits 124
14. The origins of active imagin.a tion . . . . . 138
15. Terminating analysis . . 150
iii
iv
16. Training 158

17. Some applications of therapeutic method 168

References and bibliography 172

Index 177

X
Preface

This book contains an exposition of therapeutic methods used by analytical
psychologists. It is based on Jung's own investigations and includes develop­
ments in his ideas and practices that others have initiated.
Jung held that his work was scientific in that he had discovered an objective
field of enquiry. When applying this assertion to analytical psychotherapy one
must make it clear that, unlike what happens in other sciences, the personality
of the therapist enters into the procedures adopted in a way uncharacteristic
of experimental method. In the natural sciences study is different in kind and
the investigator's personality is significant only in his capacity to be a scientist.
By contrast, in analytical therapy the personal influence of the analyst pervades
his work and furthermore extends to generations of psychotherapists; the way
I conduct psychotherapy is inevitably influenced by my having known Jung,
having developed a personal loyalty to him and by being treated by three
therapists who came under his influence. This maintains however differently
from Jung and my own therapists I conduct myself when treating patients, or
whatever conceptions, models or theories of my own I have developed.
It is with these reflections in mind that I have called this volume Jungian
Psychotherapy with the subtitle: A Study in Analytical Psychology. Thus my
debt to Jung is acknowledged but it is also indicated that analytical psychology
is a discipline in its own right. It is claimed that its ideas and practices can be
assessed without regard to the persons who initiated them and in spite of
personal influence, that it is possible to construct models and theories that can
be tested against experiences recorded during analytical psychotherapy. It was,
for instance, the theory of the archetypes and the collective unconscious that
inspired my own investigations of infancy and childhood (Fordham 1969a
and 1974). This field for study had been indicated by Jung but—in spite of the
work of Wickes (1938)—had not been developed far by him, nor by any of
those interested in his work, till my own studies. Alongside my investigations,
and stimulated by them, for reasons that will later become apparent, analytical
method came under scrutiny, especially in London. This book is the outcome
of that study.
v
vi
Jung's orientation was mainly social, historical and synthetic so it came to be
thought that his method was somehow completely original; without its being
clearly stated how this occurred, the idea of him as an analyst sank into the
background. It will be maintained here that many of his psychotherapeutic
practices, and his discoveries as well, were based more on analytical method
than is usually believed. This thesis will be studied and it will lead to the defini­
tion of analysis as a starting point for investigations that will lay more emphasis
than is usual on personal development in its social and cultural setting. It is
an attempt to develop a neglected dimension of analytical psychotherapy
which has been extensively studied by psychoanalysts. It is a matter of much
satisfaction that it has been possible to make use of and evaluate parts of their
work in the light of Jung's massive and masterly researches.
These reflections suggest two aspects to this book, which will consequently
be divided into two parts: the first estimates Jung's contribution to the field
of psychotherapy, psychiatry, psychoanalysis, the history of religion, anthropo­
logy and other related disciplines that were considered significant by him; the
second will start with a definition of analysis and its relation to psychotherapy
and will work out the consequences of applying the attitude required of an
analyst.
Though the exposition aims at being a complete review so far as is possible,
it requires a basic knowledge of analytical psychology which, if necessary,
can be acquired from the books and references in the bibliography at the end of
the book.
My wife has, throughout, listened, made suggestions and criticized. Without
her this volume could not have achieved whatever clarity and coherence it may
possess. In addition Diana Riviere's professional skill has done much to
render it more readable.
Acknowledgement is made to Routledge and Kegan Paul for permission
to publish numerous quotations from The Collected Works of C. G. Jung and
for modifications in the diagram on page 221 of Volume 16. Acknowledge­
ments are also made to the editors of The Journal of Analytical Psychology and
the Zeitschrift fur Analytische Psychologie for allowing revisions of papers
previously published in their journals to be included in the text. Detailed
information will be found in the Notes at the end of the relevant chapters.
PART I

CHAPTER 1

The Model

In the history of analytical psychology, observations came first and then
theoretical constructions. Thus Jung started by making association experiments
on normal and pathological persons, went on to practise psychoanalysis and
later gained knowledge from his own self-analysis. On the basis of experiences
derived from these sources he developed generalizations about the structures
and processes within the psyche.
In this book I shall give priority to the practice of analytical psychology
as an experience. To begin with I started off with the idea of leaving out general­
izations and abstractions, but this proved difficult and misleading. Though,
in the discourse between patient and analytical therapist, theoretical ideas are
for much of the time eschewed so that the patient may have full scope to develop
his own feelings, thoughts, fantasies, dreams, memories and so forth that come
to his mind without intervention on the part of the analyst, it cannot be said
that an analyst has no model at the back of his mind comprising the sum of past
experience and reflections upon it. So I found it inevitable, in developing my
thesis, to make reference to theoretical concepts whether or not I liked the idea.
This chapter is thus a concession that I have made in the hope that it will assist
the reader to orientate himself with greater ease. It is not intended as a compre­
hensive statement but rather as notes by way of introduction to what follows,
and so that terms used in the text may be defined and placed in the context of an
abstract model.1
Originally a model became necessary for organizing and explaining data
resulting from the application of a method, for example that used in abreaction
therapy or psychoanalysis. In the course of time, however, there developed
a reciprocal relationship between the two; not only did the model grow out of
experience but reflection on and development of it enlightened the analyst and
led to new experiences.
Jung developed a framework in which his findings could be ordered as follows.
The psyche was divided so that there are conscious parts of it that are well
organized. He called the organizer of these the ego, which is thus the centre of
3