The Love Problem of a Student-Revisited: A Psycho-Ethical Map for Cases of Anima Projection

In its typical form, an "anima projection" is a psychic experience in which a heterosexual man is caught up by an intense, almost magical attraction for a woman. What sets these numinous experiences apart from a common "crush" is a pattern of specific phenomenological characteristics. Anima projections are particularly common in late adolescence and early adulthood, when they can cause a deep sense of disorientation. Little education exists for young men on how to deal with these experiences and to actualize the developmental opportunity that underlies them. In this paper, I frame anima projections as an ethical problem and outline a psycho-ethical "map" that is intended for use by disoriented young men, or by any practitioner who may be tasked with helping them navigate this challenge along the path of individuation. The map considers four solutions to the love problem: the "concretistic-literal", the "fearful-avoidant", the "rational-depressive", and the "transitional-developmental" solution, and indicates the latter as the one that is conducive to optimal psychic development. Although developed with a focus on young men, the map may apply to other relations based on projection, regardless of age, sex, gender, or sexual orientation.

On Theoretical Edges and Exclusionary Borders: Towards a Genealogy of "Analyzability" in Jungian Psychoanalysis1

An oft-repeated and largely unexamined assumption in Jungian psychoanalysis is the notion of "analyzability", that is, of an individual's ability or present capacity to think symbolically. It is often taught that if someone is unable to think symbolically, a depth analysis is not possible. Such an individual may be more aptly suited for supportive psychotherapy, the argument goes, an experience that may very well lead to the development of the ego's capacity for symbolic thought but is not, in and of itself, a Jungian analysis. While this sort of categorical thinking has, at times, crossed over into ontological claims about individuals and groups, the notion of analyzability encountered in psychoanalytic theory and praxis is often cloaked in facially neutral language. The impact, however, has been anything but neutral in effect. In this paper, I propose a softening of our theoretical edges through a genealogy of the category of analyzability within the broader history of psychoanalysis. Through this excavation, I explore the contingent nature of the category of analyzability, how it has constricted knowledge, perpetuated inequality, and, more broadly, obscured ways of knowing. In so doing, I recover the radically democratic potential that lies at the heart of Jungian psychoanalysis.

Ethical issues, family systems and analytical training

This paper proposes a relationship between family problems and the issues of an analytical training group from the point of view of systems theory and analytical psychology. It also explores some ethical problems that are common to families and to training groups.

Psychotherapy as a skilled practice

While psychotherapy is related to both science and art, it is primarily a craft activity requiring the development of skilful practice, epitomized by the discipline of the analytic attitude. In terms of the forms of knowledge outlined by Aristotle, this places psychotherapy in the realm of 'technê' (arts and craft) rather than epistêmê (science). In particular, the technê of psychotherapy is concerned with the development of phronesis (practical wisdom) in both patient and analyst and its ultimate aim is concerned with the promotion of eudaimonia, a state of well-being considered by Aristotle to be definitive of 'the good life'. It is therefore fundamentally an ethical endeavour. The nature of psychotherapeutic skill is illustrated by analogy with three other forms of technê - music, meditation and pottery. Clinical examples illustrate the crafting of interpretations and the art of patient holding.

The ethical dimension of analytical psychology

The centrality of the ethical dimension in Carl Gustav Jung's analytical psychology is demonstrated through careful reference to fundamental moments in the Jungian text. Tracking Jung's statements about the primacy of the 'moral function' (or 'moral factor') in the cure of neurosis as well as in the process of individuation, the ethical nature of the psychotherapeutic praxis proposed by Jung is highlighted. This allows us to see the ethical aspect of psychological conflicts, and thus to understand better why individuation can be seen as a 'moral achievement'. Finally, the intelligible ethical structure of Jungian psychotherapeutic praxis is exposed.