An Open Discussion about Carl Jung
and Analytical Psychology

October 2011:

Why Should you Join the Friends of Jung?

Occasionally the question arises in the FOJ board meetings – What are the benefits of joining the Friends of Jung? Here is an attempt to explain why a group that encourages self exploration has value.

For Jung, one of the major goals of analysis and self awareness is individuation. As the word implies, individuation means being one’s true self – unique and different[iated] from everyone else. Individuation, however, can be a lonely process without relationships that encourage our efforts at self awareness..

Most of our familial, work and social groups, however, exert powerful pressure to conform. For example, the roles of Mother, Father, Son, or Daughter are laden with expectations and responsibilities; and we all know people who suffer terribly from having been labeled the “black sheep” of their families.

In addition, most of us have had to embody professional identities -- the personas of teachers, doctors, attorneys, business people, hard workers or creative artisans, for example – and have had to play the role whether we felt like it or not. And many people in our culture have been brought up in or have joined a religious tradition in which questioning its dogma and ethical code seems dangerously heretical.

Most of these affiliations are essential for successful and happy lives, and joining compatible social groups seems like a way of connecting with like minded people and of alleviating our sense of separation. Nevertheless, most groups expect consensus of opinion and may hinder individual development. Few groups have as their goal your continued individuation.

Psychanalysis accelerates the process of individuation and provides invaluable moral support. Analysis, however, may leave the analysand feeling stranded in an incompatible world because groups that support individual growth are rare and may be hard to find.

Jungian analysis and individuation may not be right for everyone. For someone who finds any divergence of thought and feeling unacceptable, psychoanalysis may be very unsettling. Likewise, for someone who has little curiosity or interest in anything outside of the family and social groups he/she was born into, a group that offers empathetic companionship and encouragement for people who might be questioning their lives may seem strange.

I am reminded of a story in American Jazz lore. An over-dressed woman is supposed to have said to Louis Armstrong that she just couldn't understand Jazz. She then asked him to explain its meaning to her. In this probably apocryphal story, Armstrong answered, "If you have to ask, you will never know." It may be that those who have to ask why self awareness has value will never understand.

For the rest of us, however, getting a glimpse of one's personal unconscious, beginning to free ourselves from the compulsions of disruptive complexes, discovering elements of the collective unconscious, and finding spiritual value and meaning in one's life is extremely desirable. Paradoxically, becoming more individuated usually leads to finding one's kinship with all of humanity, and not just our small part of it, so our sense of isolation is also transcended by increased individuation.

Friends of Jung groups all over the world provide companionship for people attempting to become more self aware, along with encouragement to lead fuller, more authentic lives.