Jungian Model of the Psyche†

Core Components I. Jungian Language: Core Terms A. Psyche: the totality of all psychic processes, conscious and unconscious. Summarized as a triad of consciousness, the unconscious, and the body. Jung did not divide the psyche into mind‐body. B. The Unconscious: all of our memories or material not available to consciousness, and all repressed material. All that is not conscious.

*100 words needed to speak about Jungian psychology. II. Topographical Model of the Psyche A. The topographical model is a simple way of representing the psyche as an image.

B. A triangular figure divided into three parts with two lines drawn through the center, resulting in a small triangle on top and two four sided figures in the center and bottom of the original triangle. Three strata. Top layer is consciousness Middle layer is the personal unconscious.

Bottom layer is the collective unconscious. C. To account for the body, draw a large circle around the triangle. III. Structures of the Psyche: Components or Units of the Psyche (Not anatomical structures, but mental structure).

A. The Ego or Consciousness: occurrent thoughts, perceptions, feelings. Ego has five functions: (i) stability of personality, (ii) stability of identity, cognition, (iv) executive functioning (operating functionally in everyday activities), and reality testing (knowing the difference between reality and non‐reality). Reality testing is required for executive functioning.

B. Complexes: “A complex is clusters of feeling toned associations around a common theme.” They are units within the personal unconscious, which is the domain of the unconscious that is unique to each person (built up from their own experiences) and epistemically accessible in varying degrees.

† Based on Podcast Lecture by John Betts, 7/2/07.

Complexes are formed through experiences where there are strong feelings attached to the experiences. There is a theme and emotional baggage associated with the theme.

Example: Child is given some coins. He knows they are important because of how the adults speak about them. He is urged to save the money, not waste it, etc. A person grows up hearing his parents speak of money all the time, specifically the lack of it. Later the child learns that he can buy things with the money. The child goes to the store and buys things with the money. He knows it is power associated with it, the power to acquire things. He hears parents arguing about money. Parents don’t buy some things because it costs too much. Money thus becomes central to the young person’s world. “Money complex” is born. The common theme here is money and the “feeling toned associations” are the strong emotional reactions to money.

Complexes, once formed, may be activated by experiences later in life with similar themes, which then evoke the cluster of feelings associated with the theme. The ego contributes to stability, but complexes negatively impacts the ego’s functioning by shaking this stability. The ego takes a beating when we “complex out” and we suffer a reduced capacity to operate appropriately. It is debilitating. “The complex rules the show for a few minutes.” Others may notice this and say we have acted out of character or in some strange way. Normal personality behavior dropped off the radar screen and another personality behavior came up in its place, and people tend not to like that other personality. “Everyone knows now a days that people have complexes. What is not so well known, though far more important theoretically, is that complexes can have us.” – Carl Jung (CW, vol. 8, para. 200) C. Archetypes:

The unconscious has a “symbol producing capacity” that is distributed universally over the species. So the realm of the collective unconscious is the realm of archetypes: “an inherited part of the psyche, structuring patterns of psychological performance linked to instinct, a hypothetical entity irrepresentable in itself and evident only through its manifestations.” (Jung). More succinctly stated, archetypes are “symbol‐producing structures.” Archetypal images are the products of these structures.

The symbol producing capacity is inherited, like having five fingers on one’s left hand. It structures psychological performance, that is, it creates patterns or ways of seeing and experiencing that are linked to our instincts. It is hypothetical since it does not exist at an anatomical level in the psyche. Archetypes can only be experienced second hand: we experience the archetypal image, not the actual archetype. Example: A person who has an x‐ray doesn’t perceive the x‐ray itself, but only its effect: the x‐ray image. There are many archetypes in the collective unconscious and we experience them in the symbols in our world. When we dream each night, we recall these archetypal images in our dreams. Whenever there is a phenomenon that is universal, it is the product of an archetype.

Collective unconscious is common to all humankind. Whereas complexes are found in the personal unconscious, archetypes are found in the collective unconscious. Hence, we cannot experience archetypes like we experience complexes. They are not directly accessible to us.