There is purpose to neurosis. 

This is probably my most controversial stance. As a spiritualist who views the mind as part of a giant collective that evolves to higher states of consciousness, I believe that what we term neurosis has a function. When faced with a mental health challenge, it is essentially a call to adapt one’s self.

Carl Jung viewed mental health issues as an opportunity for the soul to unpack and put itself together for renewal and growth.

Traditional mental health models criticize this principle because it is believed that mental health issues are abnormal and a sign of defect that needs correction and elimination. The traditional model thus succumbs itself into what Jung would describe as a societal archetype of the perfectly functional person (when no such thing is possible nor is it desirable).

In my practice, clients are led to find meaning in every experience by exploring what cultural and social norms affect their feelings about the situation. Carl Jung called these socio-cultural norms archetypes and human beings regularly draw from them unconsciously.

Treatment is About Helping a Client Find Meaning in Experience.

This is the core idea of my practice in professional listening. Carl Jung believed that what most people need is a compassionate, empathic listener whose motivation is to contribute to the fabric of what he called Unus Mundus. A unifying force behind one world.

There is no separate you and me. We are representations of differing vantage points and each experience occurs to teach and build awareness. A therapist or listener engages with a client in a way that accepts every experience as valid truth, not a problem to be discarded.

Jung focused on unmasking what he called the persona, a public image of the self that is portrayed to conform to societal expectations thereby leaving behind the authentic self (think about how social media images and profiles are presented). He thought that mental angst can result from over-identifying with one or many personas at the cost of the path to realizing one’s full potential.

When clients come to the realization that they are not just a parent, spouse, employee or any other role they might play, they often will uncover a deeper purpose and not be affected by circumstances that occur day in and day out. In my practice, when it is warranted I ask them (with their permission) over a few weeks to contemplate who they are if a certain title were to be taken away. 

Coming to terms with this truth is a healing experience and empowers the client to separate from ego. Their issue is then viewed from who they are and how it is pushing them to become who they want to be, a concept Jung called Individuation. Thus, the act of becoming is a central tenet in helping clients address their mental health. 

In effect, the listener-client relationship here at Listen Truly is defined by one goal. To forge identity and to discover self-worth through the act of existing and the process of becoming.

The Role of a Jungian Therapist is to Share in the Client’s Truth.

As a Jungian psychologist, I believe that the only way forward with a client is to create a space to work out what it all means. They come up with their own answers from past experiences, desires for the future and a shift in perspective about their situation.

Carl Jung offered his psychology for the whole of life, not for pinpointing disorders or illnesses. This is another departure from the traditional model, which for decades has focused on targeting problems that may show up chronically even after treatment.

The treatment, for lack of a better word, meted out by a professional listener like myself is to work with the client to formulate an archetypical framework they can refer to throughout life and assign meaning to each experience.

Even though this approach might not apply to mood or thought disorders, Jung would insist that medicating people with psychotropics dims the ability of people to question and ponder their human experience.

Jung famously said “a mystic swims in the same waters the psychotic person drowns in.”

This article obviously touches the surface of Carl Jung’s work that has gained resurgence of late and has seeped into my professional listening practice.

Mainstream psychology has considered the work of Carl Jung delusionary, but the question I ask is how are we really doing? We are on the path to a mental illness epidemic more than ever and conventional models are failing in the midst of this crisis of our species.

The time is overdue for the need to bridge mysticism, esoteric studies, mythical stories that form our collective human experience to what we experience individually. My humble mission is to be of service towards this endeavor.