Carl Gustav Jung (1875 to 1961) was a renowned Swiss psychiatrist and founder of analytical psychology. Carl Jung emboldened his psychological theories with spiritual and philosophical qualities that led to him earning the title “mystic.” He intended to examine the human psyche’s rational and irrational aspects by combining his psychiatric experience with his esoteric interests.
Carl Jung was born in Kesswil, Switzerland, on July 26, 1875. His early life was a mixture of spiritual interest, personal strife, and intellectual curiosity. These formative years spurred Jung to broaden his worldview. He descended from a family of clergymen and academics but grew up during major ideological shifts in Europe. Jung’s experiences with sociopolitical change inspired him to pursue medicine to seek a deeper understanding of human behavior. This eventually put him on the path to psychiatry and later psychological theory when he was introduced to Sigmund Freud’s work.
Jung remained curious about spirituality and began pairing his academics with mystical interests. He believed that the end goal of healthy psychological development is the unification of the psyche and achieving wholeness. Consequently, his ideas tend to bridge the ethereal or universal aspects of the human experience with psychological theory.
The foundation of Carl Jung’s analytical psychology (otherwise known as Jungian psychology) took root in Freudian ideas. So much so that the two figures enjoyed a fruitful collaboration until diverging thoughts led to a bitter break. Carl Jung disagreed with some of Sigmund Freud’s fundamental notions, namely that of the impact of sexual development and libido on the human psyche. Jung primarily worked as an independent researcher while developing his cornerstone theories of personal and collective unconsciousness, individuation, synchronicity, archetypes, and more.
Jung remained grounded in science, but many of his ideas have an unmistakable spiritual quality. Comparatively, early Freudian theory was more dogmatic, while Jung took a more holistic approach. For example, he believed in inherited, shared experiences that defined universal behaviors in addition to personal understanding. He saw psychological development as a lifelong process and that the human psyche’s irrational (i.e., spiritual) aspects were integral. Jung proposed that a healthy identity integrated the conscious and unconscious elements of minds, including the repressed, irrational aspects.
It’s important to note that Carl Jung never explicitly described himself as a mystic. Moreover, his foundational ideas sought to explain the psyche and human behavior to the benefit of greater science. His interest in more intangible concepts, including archetypes, synchronicity, shadow work, and dream analysis, emphasized this.
Jung wrote extensively on his ideas, which continue to influence modern-day psychology and even spawned popular personality typologies like the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). Other noteworthy writings, such as the more esoteric Red Book, the Black Books, and Seven Sermons to the Dead, reflect the psychiatrist’s overlapping spiritualist and scientific pursuits and how he sought to understand the human psyche better.
Below, we examine the life and work of Carl Jung, the inspiration for his seminal theories, and his lasting impact on psychology.
How was the early life of Carl Jung?
Carl Jung’s early life revolved around familial strife and growing interests that fueled his psychological approach. Jung was born on July 26, 1875, in Kesswil, Switzerland to Paul Achilles Jung and Emilie Preiswerk. The future psychiatrist’s earliest years were marked with tragedy even before his birth, as Jung was the first of his parents’ children to survive infancy. His mother suffered from an undefined mental illness and melancholia that led to erratic behavior and hallucinations. This experience distressed Jung but partially shaped his interest in exploring the depths of the psyche.
Jung’s father was a pastor who struggled with finding a permanent place in the clergy. Although his father questioned his own faith, this occupation informed Jung’s early interest in spirituality and religion, which later expanded into his theory of the collective unconscious and ideas like synchronicity. Jung’s relationship with both parents was troubled, and the psychoanalyst felt they were the cornerstone of his (oftentimes negative) perception of men and women later on in life.
Jung was isolated as a child and young man and demonstrated an introverted albeit inquisitive disposition. For example, he questioned the complexity of his personality, the interpretation of his dreams, and the meaning of religion. That said, Jung was more spiritual and mystical than outright religious. He additionally developed an interest in philosophy and later defied his familial lineage in the clergy by choosing to study medicine at university (though he remained curious about the mystical aspects of life). This decision laid the groundwork for his future contributions to psychology and the development of his theories.
When was Carl Jung born?
Jung was born Carl Gustav Jung on July 26, 1875. This period was one of Europe’s significant cultural, scientific, and philosophical shifts. It was additionally marked by technological innovation and social change, supercharged by the Industrial Revolution. These shifts motivated the shift away from traditional, religious thought in the West and made up Jung’s societal environment, influencing his earliest years and later thinking.
Jung had doubts about his faith and a growing cultural interest in spirituality, mysticism, and the occult. These philosophical explorations took his theories beyond the material and left a mark on his beliefs. As he matured, he reflected on these ideas, drawing from Eastern philosophy, Gnosticism, and alchemy to define some of his theories as an adult.
Where was Carl Jung born?
Carl Gustav Jung was born in Kesswil, Thurgau, Switzerland. Kesswil, at the time of Jung’s birth, was primarily an agricultural and fishing community. His family later relocated to Laufen, where his father headed the parish. They lived there for three years. Following this, his family moved to Basel, in the district of Kleinhüningen. This was the center of his formative years, attending primary and Latin school and later university in Basel. He later briefly lived with his maternal aunt following his mother Emilie’s hospitalization, which coincided with their third relocation.
What is Carl Jung’s family background?
Carl Jung’s family background was rooted in medicine, psychiatry, and religion. His father, Paul Achilles Jung (1842–1896), was a pastor in the Swiss Reformed Church, which provided a basis for the spiritual and religious dimension of Carl’s upbringing and professional insights. Carl Jung’s paternal grandfather, Karl Gustav Jung (1794–1864), was a noted physician and academic, adding a medical tradition to the family lineage. He taught at the University of Basel, which his grandson later attended. Meanwhile, Jung’s mother, Emilie Preiswerk Jung (1848–1923), came from a family of academics and clergymen.
His maternal relatives held a passing fascination with the occult, with his cousin and the subject of one of his first publications, Hélène Preiswerk, being a medium. Carl Jung’s maternal grandfather, Samuel Preiswerk (1799–1871), was the head of the Swiss Reformed Church in Basel and a teacher and Hebraist, a specialist in Jewish studies. This multifaceted heritage inspired Jung’s early environment to consider both the scientific and the spiritual.
Jung was the family’s fourth but first surviving child. One sibling passed away in infancy, while the other two were stillbirths. He had one living younger sister named Johanna Gertrud Jung (1884–1935). There are few accounts about his sister, although it is known she lived a comparatively private life to Jung and served as his secretary in adulthood. Carl Jung married Emma Rauschenbach (1882-1955), an heiress of the IWC Schaffhausen brand and psychoanalyst, in 1903, with whom he had five children.
What was Carl Jung’s educational background?
Carl Jung’s educational background was initially rooted in conventional religious pursuits before branching out. Jung attended primary school in the city of Basel, where his family relocated to. Not much is known about his primary education, but he attended a Latin school and likely received religious teachings from his father. Jung descended from a line of clergymen and was interested in becoming one himself. Moreover, it was customary for sons to follow their father’s path.
Jung defied this tradition when he discovered philosophy and broadened his worldview. He briefly entertained studying archaeology but elected to study medicine at the University of Basel from 1895 to 1900. He formally began pursuing psychiatry in 1900. However, he retained an interest in spiritualism and mysticism, even writing a dissertation titled “On the Psychology and Pathology of So-Called Occult Phenomena” in 1903.
Jung later transferred to the University of Zürich and began a formal education in psychiatry under Eugen Bleuler. Bleuler was a Swiss psychiatrist who helped inform early research about schizophrenia, among other notable contributions. With Bleuler, Carl Jung gained practical experience in psychiatry. Bleuler supported his academic pursuits and even encouraged Jung’s exploration of psychological theories, notably through Sigmund Freud’s ideas.
While pursuing his education, Jung met with Pierre Janet in Paris in 1902. Janet’s theories of a person having multiple psychological states (which he dubs idée fixe subconscient) influenced Jung’s idea of complexes. According to Jung, complexes are emotional themes within the personal unconscious that influence how we think and act without us realizing it.
His most famous and most influential educator was Sigmund Freud. Jung was introduced to Freud’s theories by Eugen Bleuler, who corresponded with Freud. Jung supported Freud’s initial ideas, while Freud admired the younger man’s research and early publications. They began corresponding and later met in person in 1907 in Vienna. They maintained a mentor-student and father-son relationship for several years before disagreements on their respective theories led to a break in 1912 that never mended.
What was Carl Jung’s professional life?
Carl Jung’s professional life was marked by intense study, analytical interest, and publication. His career formally began in 1900 when he worked under Eugen Bleuler. Bleuler played a pivotal role in introducing him to increasingly popular Freudian ideas.
Jung later began corresponding with Sigmund Freud before meeting him formally in 1907. During this period, he published several works, including his doctoral dissertation, “On the Psychology and Pathology of So-Called Occult Phenomena”; Studies in Word Association; The Psychology of Dementia Praecox; and “On the Psychology of Dementia Praecox.” The fourth publication became a part of Jung’s Psychogenesis of Mental Disease (1907-1958). It was foundational to his initial theories, providing insight into his ideas on archetypes and collective unconscious.
His professional and personal collaboration with Sigmund Freud was one of the significant parts of Jung’s professional life. It spanned from 1907 to 1913. During this period, Jung contributed to developing and expanding psychoanalytic theory. Jung additionally helped extend the reach and applicability of Freud’s ideas, but eventually began to diverge in many ways.
Jung and Freud reached a breaking point after the publication of Psychology of the Unconscious in 1912. It was foundational to his theories, but a direct deviation from Freudian thought. The resulting break affected Jung professionally and personally. Freud banned him from their circle of colleagues, and Jung continued to work independently from Freud.
The latter half of Jung’s career was spent traveling and extending his theories further in his publications. In 1921, he published Psychological Types, where he introduced Extraversion and Introversion alongside the dichotomies of Sensation versus Intuition and Thinking versus Feeling. This work is notable for inspiring the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. Following his work on psychological typology, Jung introduced the concept of synchronicity in a lecture in 1930, explaining the significance of meaningful but unrelated events. Another pivotal idea, “Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious,” was published as part of his collected works in 1969, though he discussed it earlier in other capacities.
Meanwhile, his travels took him to England, the United States, East Africa, and India. Throughout this time, he remained interested in spiritualism, religion, philosophy, and the occult, though he never strictly labeled himself a mystic. The aging Jung eventually took a position as a professor at the University of Basel in 1943. Then, in 1946, he became the Honorary President of the Society of Analytical Psychology. Jung retired in 1944 but continued to publish work until he died in 1961.
What contribution did Carl Jung make to psychology?
Carl Jung’s most significant contribution to psychology was analytical psychology, or what’s known as Jungian analysis. This school of thought encompasses several important theories that include complexes, psychological types, archetypes, individuation, synchronicity, personas, dream analysis, consciousness, and unconsciousness.
Jung coined analytical psychology to study the human psyche and the processes that drive personal development. Some of these ideas are founded in Freudian logic but deviate significantly as they focus on a person’s psychological growth beyond childhood experiences and sexual development. However, some of Jung’s theories had a spiritual and mystical element. For example, his fascination with philosophy and culture inspired him to incorporate dreams, myths, and art as windows into the human psyche as part of a collective unconscious.
These contributions by Jung are a source of contemporary fascination and debate. They inspired psychologists of his time and current-day analysts to explore the intersection of psychology within cultural and spiritual dimensions. Modern interpretations expand on or criticize Jung’s original ideas, noting his work’s lack of empirical support. Even so, the foundations of his ideas are included in modern fields, including depth and personality psychology, as well as psychotherapy.
What are the theories of Carl Jung?
Carl Jung’s theories include consciousness and unconsciousness, the personal, cultural, collective unconscious, persona, individuation, and archetypes. An important element of Jungian theory is integrating and reconciling the conscious and unconscious mind to achieve wholeness.
The conscious mind refers to the thoughts, memories, and feelings you know and have access to. Conversely, the unconscious mind contains repressed experiences, instincts, and inner conflicts you’re unaware of. These concepts were originally derived from Sigmund Freud’s ideas but display distinct differences. For example, Freud’s unconscious concept centered on sexual and aggressive drives, whereas Jung developed a more nuanced perspective to achieve wholeness.
He proposed that the unconscious mind comprises the personal, cultural, and collective unconscious. The personal unconscious represents aspects unique to a person and exists on the topmost layer of the unconscious mind. Meanwhile, the collective unconscious (the objective psyche) is one of Jung’s most popular theories. It defines universal, spiritual symbols, patterns, and experiences shared among a species. It is the common psychological link between all humans.
According to Jung, we express this more unreachable, broader aspect of our psyche through archetypes. For example, the archetypes include the anima, animus, and the Self. The anima refers to the feminine aspect within the male unconscious, while the animus is the masculine aspect within the female unconscious. Meanwhile, the Self represents the unification of consciousness and unconsciousness, which refers to the aforementioned wholeness.
The Self is a notable archetype as it represents the ultimate goal of individuation. Individuation is confronting and reconciling the unconscious mind in a conscious capacity. Although Carl Jung didn’t coin it, cultural unconscious is another term associated with Jungian theory. It generally relates to the collective and refers to shared experiences, symbols, and values from a specific culture. Other concepts Jung conceived include the persona. It represents the social mask someone wears in public, acting as a compromise between the ego, which exists in the conscious mind, and societal expectations.
What is Carl Jung’s psyche composition?
Carl Jung’s psyche composition consists of three parts: the ego, the personal unconscious, and the collective unconscious. Firstly, the ego is the center of consciousness and the basis of personality. It houses the thoughts, memories, and emotions you know, developing continuously throughout life while confronting the unconscious mind. It is distinct from the persona, a separate element representing your social role or outward identity.
Secondly, the personal unconscious represents memories and ideas that are not currently in conscious awareness. It is unique to every person and exists at the topmost layer of the unconscious mind. Finally, the collective unconscious makes up a deeper, broader portion. It is inherited and shared among all humans. According to Jung, it contains archetypes and symbols foundational to the human experience and explains the recurrence of certain patterns or behaviors across cultures.
What are Carl Jung’s major archetypes?
Carl Jung’s major archetypes are universal patterns of thoughts, behaviors, or symbols all humanity shares that manifest in various ways. There are several archetypes, including the notable ones listed below.
- Persona: The persona archetype is the mask or façade a person presents to the outside world. It represents the behaviors you learn to accommodate for different social situations to protect the ego. Masks or costumes usually symbolize the persona.
- Shadow: The shadow is the darker, repressed side of the self. It represents a human’s weaknesses, desires, baser instincts, and aspects that otherwise violate your sense of morality. It is sometimes visually depicted by dark figures or shadows.
- Anima and animus: These are two opposing archetypes. Anima is the feminine element present in the male unconscious. Meanwhile, animus is the masculine aspect present in the female unconscious. The two represent gender roles and are determined by lived and inherited experiences of gender identity.
- The Self: The Self is the archetype of wholeness represented by a circle. It is the result of individuation as it represents the unification of unconsciousness and consciousness. Jung believed the end goal of psychological development was unification, leading to a healthy identity.
- Hero: The hero archetype represents the journey of personal transformation. It characterizes the human ability to grow and overcome challenges to emphasize the path to individuation.
What is the importance of Carl Jung’s shadow theory?
Carl Jung’s shadow theory is important because acknowledging and integrating aspects of the unconscious mind is key to personal growth and psychological health. The shadow is the part of the unconsciousness the ego cannot identify with. Jung believed that individuation and achieving wholeness (e.g., the Self archetype) requires confronting these aspects. Doing so leads to greater self-awareness and a more balanced, unified psyche. Jung called this process shadow work. It also helps prevent the shadow’s unsavory aspects from projecting into the external world to your detriment.
What is the significance of Carl Jung’s synchronicity theory?
The significance of Carl Jung’s synchronicity theory lies in its definition of causality. Synchronicity describes events interconnected by meaning rather than cause and effect. This re-definition outlines how humans find value in coincidences, even irrational ones. Jung believed this was a key part of the human experience, reflecting patterns that transcend the material, similar to religious or mystical revelations. He additionally proposed that it represented the Jungian archetypes and the collective unconscious. These other theories illustrate common themes and behaviors across cultures and religions, linked by an ancestral psyche and projected into the external world.
Furthermore, Jung suggested synchronicities align with Eastern concepts of interconnectedness. Whereas Western perceptions are grounded in cause and effect, Jung suggested that Eastern philosophy and religions like Taoism held a more holistic view of the universe. He argued that a clear view of the universe reveals deeper layers of the psyche’s proposed connection to the broader cosmos.
What is Carl Jung’s interpretation of dreams?
Carl Jung’s interpretation of dreams was that they’re a manifestation of the unconscious mind. The unconscious is not directly accessible to the conscious mind as it houses the repressed identity elements. Consequently, it is conveyed through different means, with dreams signaling communication with the conscious mind. This is done through symbols, namely archetypes. For example, the shadow archetype may appear as a cloaked figure while the mother manifests as a maternal figure.
Jung felt that dream analysis benefited individuation as it revealed aspects of the Self that were not fully integrated or acknowledged in one’s conscious life. By examining the symbols and themes within dreams, you gain insight into their inner conflicts, desires, and potentials. Jung wrote extensively, even publishing several essays as documented in Dream Analysis: Notes of the Seminar Given in 1928–1930.
Did Carl Jung work with Sigmund Freud?
Yes, Carl Jung did work with Sigmund Freud. Jung learned of Freud’s work through Eugen Bleuler while working in Zurich. Jung admired the other man’s work on psychoanalysis, and the two eventually began corresponding, with Freud similarly growing fond of Jung. The two formally started collaborating in 1907 when they met in Vienna.
This partnership was marked by mutual respect and interest in the human psyche, with Jung being a major supporter of Freud’s ideas. Jung additionally helped extend the spread of Freud’s ideas, but eventually began to diverge. For example, he took a significant interest in the unconscious mind but disagreed with Freud’s organization. He likewise disagreed with Freud’s belief that sexual development and libido were the primary drivers of human behavior and psychological development. Jung preferred a more nuanced perspective of the psyche, believing it was shaped by personal experiences and the collective human experience passed down by ancestors.
Their theoretical difference reached a head in 1912 when Jung published Psychology of the Unconscious. Freud was offended by Jung’s assertions and ostracized him from their circle of acquaintances. The two had no notable interactions after 1913, with Carl Jung going on to work independently and develop analytical psychology, which is rooted in but ultimately distinct from Freud’s psychoanalysis.
What is Carl Jung’s Red Book?
Carl Jung’s Red Book (Liber Novus) is a personal account of the psychiatrist’s experiments and reflections on his unconscious mind. It was written between 1914 and 1930 but published in 2009, several decades after his death. The Red Book was conceived during professional and personal isolation following a fallout with Freud. Jung fell into emotional and mental distress, though he continued to work and reserved his experiments for the evenings.
The Red Book contains diverse texts and illustrations, documenting Jung’s self-exploration and expanding his key concepts, such as the collective unconscious, archetypes, and individuation. Notably, the experiments were not intended for public consumption, thus its late posthumous publication. Jung himself regarded it as an arduous process, the psychiatrist attempting to confront his unconscious psyche and engage his imagination, an experience he believed to be difficult for his own patients.
What are Carl Jung’s Black Books?
Carl Jung’s Black Books refer to several personal journals that were partially the basis of the Red Book. The Black Books were compiled from 1913 to 1932 and contain his dreams and reflections. They also recorded his imagination experiments in detail and did not include illustrations like the Red Book. The Red Book includes other material the journals did not, serving as an expanded collection of thought.
The journals were most likely intended for Jung’s eyes only but provided insight into how he developed his theories and meticulously documented his inner experiences. The Black Books were published in 2020, several years after the Red Book, and are a point of interest for Jungian scholars and psychologists.
What other books did Carl Jung write?
Carl Jung wrote extensively throughout his career. The list below summarizes his most notable publications.
- Psychology of the Unconscious (1912): This work is one of Jung’s most prominent pieces that outlines his diverging ideas from Freudian theory. It explores various fields Jung was interested in and symbols of a subject’s psychological framework and the role of several archetypes and the libido.
- Psychological Types (1921): Jung’s Psychological Types is a notable publication that conceptualized introversion and extraversion as dominant attitudes governing thinking, feeling, sensation, and intuition. It inspired the Myers–Briggs Type Indicator after being translated into English in 1923.
- Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious (1969): This piece explains Jung’s archetypes and their relation to the collective unconscious and individuation. It is available to read as part of The Collected Works of C. G. Jung.
- Memories, Dreams, Reflections (1962): Published posthumously, Memories, Dreams, Reflections is an autobiographical account partially written by Jung in collaboration with Aniela Jaffé. It outlines his life, career, and development of analytical psychology, his most significant contribution.
- Seven Sermons to the Dead (Written in 1916): Seven Sermons to the Dead is one of the most distinct publications by Jung. It was written under the pseudonym Basilides, a Gnostic figure. It encapsulates Jung’s spiritual fascination, exploring deep psychological and cosmological concepts. It was published in Memories, Dreams, Reflections and as part of The Red Book.
Did Carl Jung invent the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)?
No, Carl Jung did not invent the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). The MBTI was conceived by the mother-daughter duo Katharine Cook Briggs and Isabel Briggs Myers instead. It is a self-report personality inventory inspired by Jung’s theory of personality types, which he detailed in his 1921 book Psychological Types. Katherine Cook Briggs learned of Jung’s theories after its English translation was released in 1923. She had previously researched personalities and sought to categorize them similarly to Jung.
The mother-daughter had no formal education in psychology but sought to apply Jung’s theory in real-world circumstances, namely helping women in the workforce during World War II. They created a self-report inventory that categorizes people into sixteen personality types based on four dichotomies. These reflect Jung’s concepts of Introversion and Extroversion, Sensing and Intuition, Thinking and Feeling, and another aspect Jung didn’t mention, Judging and Perceiving. While Jung laid the theoretical groundwork with his exploration of psychological types, it was Briggs and Myers who expanded his ideas into the now highly popular MBTI framework.
What are the common misconceptions about Jung’s theory?
There are two common misconceptions about Jung’s theories: the function of his psychology types and that the collective unconscious and archetypes are purely symbolic. Firstly, his theory of psychological types was not a rigid framework for personality. Katharine Cook Briggs and Isabel Briggs Myers later created this idea.
The psychiatrist instead described the types as a set of preferences on how we perceive, act, and make decisions. He included elements of consciousness and unconsciousness, with dominant features characterizing the former and inferior aspects characterizing the latter. Secondly, Jung’s collective unconscious and archetypes are often oversimplified. Although inspired by the spiritualistic side of humanity, they represent complex systems that influence the human psyche. These broad concepts seek to understand the shared heritage of humanity and the symbols that guide them.
What is the difference between Jungian personality theory and other personality theories?
The main difference between Jungian and other personality theories lies in Jung’s thoughts on the collective unconscious and archetypes. These ideas suggest that personality is partially shaped by universal habits and shared memories expressed through patterns, symbols, or behaviors.
Jung organized the psyche into the conscious, personal, and collective unconscious. These elements could be reconciled (albeit not fully) through individuation, a journey toward self-realization, and viewing the psyche more holistically. This contrasts with theories like Freudian logic, which focuses on childhood, sexual development, and the dynamics of the id, ego, and superego. Freud did not believe in a collective unconscious, whereas Jung did. Furthermore, Jung introduced psychological types. His theory was distinct because it provided dimensions to personality as dictated by dominant functions and attitudes.
What are the famous Carl Jung quotes?
Below is a summary of four famous Carl Jung quotes and how we interpret them.
“Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life, and you will call it fate.”
This quote emphasizes the unconscious mind’s control over your actions and life paths. Part of Jungian theory is centered around bringing the unconscious mind into conscious awareness as a key to individuation. This awareness fosters greater self-understanding and reconciliation of internal conflicts.
“People will do anything, no matter how absurd, in order to avoid facing their own souls. One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious.”
The above quote by Carl Jung discusses the difficult elements of the human psyche. According to Jungian ideas, a part of the human personality called the shadow encompasses your flawed and repressed qualities. Confronting your shadow is part of moving toward a more integrated, unified Self. However, the act is challenging because it requires confronting hidden aspects of yourself.
“There is no coming to consciousness without pain.”
Jung acknowledged the difficulty of reconciling the conscious with the unconscious mind in the above quote. Jung believed reconciling it isn’t fully possible due to the breadth of the personal unconscious. Moreover, its collective partner holds the archetypal patterns and universal symbols that shape your experiences and behaviors.
“I am not what happened to me, I am what I choose to become.”
This final quote reaffirms Jung’s more holistic perspective on the human psyche, noting his belief in change through the process of individuation. It encapsulates how he believed people were not solely defined by their past experiences or unconscious impulses but by the ability to shape and reconcile these aspects through conscious decisions and actions. This quote highlights Jung’s departure from Freudian thinking.