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The Undiscovered Self

"Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves."   Carl G. Jung

"Today we will discuss The Undiscovered Self by Carl G. Jung," Dr. Soren said as the clock struck 9:30.  "This work was originally published under a different name in 1957 and evolved into the Undiscovered Self when it was edited for English-speaking audiences in 1958. Some of you may have read about or studied Doctor Jung before." Several of us bobbed our heads as Dr. Soren continued.

"I want to provide some historical context before we discuss this work, especially for those of you who have not previously studied Jung. He was born in Kesswil, Switzerland in 1875. His father, Johannes was a pastor as were several of Carl's uncles. Religion would influence much of Jung's life, philosophy, and future work. Jung remained a single child for a long time before the birth of his sister, nine years later. His mother suffered from depression, often withdrawn in the home or hospitalized, so he lived a fairly isolated life. In later memoirs, he would recall his childhood as lonely, which provided him ample time to live an imaginative life unfettered by the demands and constraints of a large family."

"Is that what led him to become a psychiatrist?" asked Margaret.

"Perhaps. He developed a scientific interest early in life. His father, who was conflicted about his faith, encouraged Carl to choose medicine over ministry. Jung attended the University of Basel in 1895, completed his medical studies in 1900, and earned a Medical Doctor degree in 1902. During medical school, he also developed an interest in spiritualism. Seances and occult studies were popular during that time, and he wrote his doctoral thesis about a young medium whose seances he'd attended. His intense attraction for the unseen dimension of human experiences led him to eventually discover an emerging sub-field of medicine and neurology, which later became psychology. Much to the disappointment of his medical professors, he chose psychiatry rather than practice conventional medicine. In 1900, he found work in a psychiatric clinic in Zurich, where he studied under Eugene Bleuler. There, he searched for meaningful ways to understand the unusual fantasies of schizophrenic patients. In 1903, Jung married Emma Rauschenbach and together, they had five children.

"Wasn't Jung an apprentice of Freud's?" Erika asked.

"For a time. Jung's work under Bleuler at the Burgholzi Mental Hospital led him to become intensely interested in schizophrenia. He published a book, The Psychology of Dementia Praecox, which got the attention of Doctor Sigmund Freud, the famed Austrian psychoanalyst. Their famed first meeting happened shortly after Jung's first book was published, in 1907."

"Why was it considered famed?" Erika asked.

"It is said that Freud was so impressed with the young Carl Jung, a man about twenty years his junior, that he cancelled all of his other appointments that day to continue their conversation. Freud would later write that Jung seemed to him extremely intelligent, shrewd, and rather remarkable. In 1909, Jung traveled with Freud to the United States, where they lectured and met the American philosopher and psychologist William James."

"Didn't they have a parting of ways?" Erika pressed on.

"Right again," Dr. Soren answered. "Jung disagreed with Freud's emphasis on sexuality as the dominant factor in unconscious motivation. Freud attacked Jung's interest in and study of spirituality, occultism and belief in a religious instinct in humans. Their feuding came to a head in 1912, and in 1914, Jung resigned from the International Psychoanalytic Society. This was a significant event since had been elected as the association's president in 1911. Jung was deeply hurt when the relationship with Freud ended. Jung looked up to Freud not only as a mentor but also as a father figure. After resigning, he withdrew from the psychoanalytic movement and suffered a six-year breakdown during which he had fantasies of mighty floods sweeping over northern Europe, in which thousands of people were drowned as villages crumbled. He would continue having dreams for several weeks in which waters would turn into blood and people suffered eternal winters. Some considered his dreams to have been prophetic visions of World War I."