In addition to studying consciousness, the teachings of psychology are directed at the unconscious person. Thus, the Swiss psychologist K. Jung founded one of the main directions of neo-Freudianism, analytical psychology. In the center of her study is exactly what is hidden behind the human consciousness and, according to his teachings, explains the causes of a certain behavior and features in the psyche of each of us.
Analytical approach in psychology
This direction is akin to psychoanalysis, but, in turn, has a number of differences. The essence of the analytical approach is to study the motivation, those deep forces that stand behind the behavior of each individual, through mythology, dreams and folklore. According to Jung, the personality structure consists of:
- consciousness;
- the individual unconscious;
- collective unconscious.
The first two parts represent all the skills that a person has acquired throughout his life's journey, and the collective is a kind of "memory of every generation". In other words, this is a psychological inheritance passed on to the child at the time of his birth.
In turn, the collective unconscious consists of archetypes (forms that organize the psychological experience of each person). The Swiss psychologist called them primary images. This name is due to the fact that they have a direct connection with the fairy-tale and mythical themes. It is the archetypes, according to the teachings of Jung, constitute the basis of every religion, myth, thus determining the self-awareness of the people.
Methods of analytical psychology
- Analysis is the main method of referral. Its main feature is to create a kind of virtual reality for the client. During the whole session, with the help of the analyst, the lower is transformed into the higher, the collective into the unconscious, the material into the spiritual, etc.
- The method of free associations. This technique of analytical psychology consists in the rejection of rational thinking. It is associations that are an excellent tool, able to communicate the hidden things that are stored in the client's subconscious .
- The method of active imagination is a kind of immersion in the depths of one's own self, while concentrating on internal energy.
- Amplification is the use of a mythological material to compare those fantastic images that arise in a patient during a session.