Archetypal psychology

From ArticleWorld

Archetypal psychology was developed by James Hillman who trained at the Jungian Institute and was greatly influenced by Jungian theory as well as Classical Greek, Renaissance and Romantic ideas. While agreeing with Jung on many points, he differed in his approach by emphasizing the psyche at the expense of the ego. He considered the ego to be one of the fantasies that affects and is affected by the psyche along with other myths such as gods and goddesses, demigods and animals.

Central to the theory is the idea of these ‘archai’, which are the deepest influences affecting the psyche.

The psyche, or soul

Archetypal psychology considers the soul to be evident in the workings of the imagination and fantasy. In cases of psychological disorders, the symptoms are a reflection of the soul at work. The soul is not an entity nor does it exist in our head, but rather a perspective that is reflective and has the ability to make a difference.

In what is quite a radical philosophy, the proponents of this theory are not of the opinion that the role of the parents is so crucial in the determination of what a person becomes; they hold that the potential each person has and the unique possibilities is inside the individual and it remains for that person to try and find what it is that they are meant to do.

Dream analysis

In another break with Jungian thinking, archetypal psychologists do not consider dreams to be particularly significant or full of secret meanings hidden in the unconscious. Rather the analysis of dreams is important in the discovery of where we are in our lives and the dream is looked at phenomenologically.