What is an Analytic Psychotherapist?

Analytic Psychotherapists help people to engage with the unconscious forces of the mind that to some degree affect everyone's life and relationships. A primary aim of Analytic Psychotherapy is to establish an ongoing relationship between what is happening in the unconscious and what is taking place in day-to-day life.

My work is based on insights and theories developed by the famous Swiss psychiatrist and founder of analytical psychology, Carl Gustav Jung (see below), and post-Jungian practitioners.

Jungian theory understands the psyche as containing a drive toward balance and wholeness. Jung called this the process of individuation. In Analytic Psychotherapy, this unconscious material the ‘unbalancing’ content of the unconscious gradually manifests symbolically in dreams, in products of active imagination, and in the relationship between the psychotherapist and the client.

As an Analytic Psychotherapist I rely on close attention to and interpretation of dreams and/or symbolic imagery, and the way this and other thoughts and feelings are expressed by the client. Attention is focused on the unconscious psychological links between individuals and society, including the cultures of groups and institutions.

Analytic Psychotherapy has for its goal the analysand's movement toward psychological wellbeing and transformation of the personality to the realisation of the individual’s potential, which requires coming to terms with the unconscious, its specific structures and their dynamic relations to consciousness.

Who can benefit from analytic psychotherapy?

Some people come with a sense of dissatisfaction and lack of fulfilment and are seeking an exploration of meaning in their lives. Others come with depression, anxiety, suicidal feelings or with relationship difficulties.

Analytic psychotherapy is sometimes requested by people whose professional life demands increased self-awareness and understanding.

Analytic psychotherapy, through working in depth, can bring about deep-seated change.

What happens in analytic psychotherapy? 

At the core of the process is the relationship with the psychotherapist. It is very likely that any difficulties that the person experiences in life will manifest in the relationship with the psychotherapist (this is known as the transference).

This process can be helpful as the psychotherapist and client can then address these isues first-hand and work through them. 

Carl Gustav Jung

Carl Gustav Jung is the most well known member of the group that formed the core of the early psychoanalytic movement, all of whom were followers and students of Sigmund Freud. After completing his medical studies, Jung obtained a position at the Burgholzli Hospital in Zurich, Switzerland. In 1904 he corresponded with Freud and also began to use Freud's psychoanalytic treatment with his patients. In 1906 Freud invited Jung to Vienna, and they began a professional relationship. Freud soon began to favour Jung as his successor in the new and growing psychoanalytic movement. Through Freud's efforts, Jung was appointed Permanent President of the Association of Psycho-Analysis at its Second Congress in 1910. Jung and Freud held in common an understanding of the profound role of the unconscious. However, their understanding of the nature of the unconscious began to diverge. This led to a break between the two men in 1913 after Jung's publication of a major article on the psychology of the unconscious, which emphasised the role of symbolism. Jung went on to develop his own school of Analytical Psychology that is now known and respected internationally. Post-Jungians have continued to develop Jung’s ideas and theories, maintaining a way of practising that is relevant for today’s society and culture. 
CG Jung history from <http://www.mageist.net/jungintro.html> 13/08/2008