CARL JUNG
“Your visions will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.”
Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961) was a Swiss psychiatrist and the founder of Analytical (Jungian) Psychology. Jung was among the most influential and prolific thinkers of the 20th century. He created and developed several significant psychological concepts, such as the archetypes, the complex, the principle of synchronicity, the shadow, the notion of the persona, the collective unconscious, the anima-animus aspect of the psyche.
Jung believed that beyond the personal unconscious we are part of, and have access to, the collective unconscious, the reservoir of all experiences and knowledge of the human species. Through the process of individuation, which is facilitated and encouraged through Jungian Psychoanalysis, the individual self differentiates from the collective and personal unconscious; wholeness and integration of various parts of the personality can be attained. His typology, which introduced the notion of introversion and extraversion, served as the foundation for the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and his advice on alcoholism led to the formation of Alcoholics Anonymous.
Even though Jung and Freud were initially collaborators and friends – Jung served as the first president of the International Psychoanalytical Association which was founded by Freud; Freud called Jung his “crown prince and successor”– Jung’s theory departed from Freud’s: He rejected the emphasis on sexual drive as the only source of motivation and influence on the personality.
Presently, Analytical Psychology is represented through member organizations in 28 countries including Malta. There are several references to Malta in Jung’s Collected works including his opus the Red Book. Jung is reported to have visited Malta at least twice in his lifetime.