GLOSSARY

 

By Stephen Palmquist (stevepq@hkbu.edu.hk)

 

 

NOTE: Quotation marks (i.e., "...") indicate that the word so designated (or a similar form) is defined in a separate entry in this Glossary. Jung gives more complete definitions of his key terms in Chapter XI of his book, Psychological Types (CW 6.518-617). See also CPT 550-555.

 

anima: The Latin word for "soul", used by Jung to represent a layer of the "unconscious" that is deeper than the "shadow". It is the "archetype" in the "psyche" of all men that represents the female aspect of their "personality". When "projected" onto another person, the anima usually gives rise to an intense "feeling" of emotional attraction.

 

animus: Jung's term for the "archetype" in the "psyche" of all women that represents the male aspect of their "personality". (See "anima".)

 

archetype: Jung's term for a collective "symbol" that operates spon­ta­neously in each person's "unconscious". Archetypes appear in "dreams" as various kinds of sub-personalities, such as the "anima", "animus", child, father, maiden, mother, "Self", "shadow" and wise old man.

 

behaviorism: The science founded by John B. Watson and popularized by B.F. Skinner, wherein "psychology" is defined as the study of observ­able activities (i.e., behavior). (Contrasts with "depth psychology".)

 

cathexis: Freud's term for a healthy attachment or bonding of a patient and therapist. (Compare "transference". Contrasts with "resistance".)

 

chthonic: Jung's term for anything dark, earthy and close to nature.

 

compensation: Jung's key principle of "dream interpretation". Treats "dreams" as the "psyche's" tool for establishing balance by emphasizing something "unconsciously" that is opposite to (but complements) some­thing the dreamer has been overemphasizing in waking life.

 

complex: Jung's term for a group of interrelated memories and "repressed" desires that have a negative effect on a person's behavior and "personality", often causing abnormal­ly extreme reactions in certain types of situations.

 

conscious: The internal awareness a person has of specific events such as perceptions, mental images, memories, thoughts (including any "dreams", once they are remem­bered). This internal reality can be known by another person only by believing the person's "introspections" and/or by inferring it from his or her behavior. (Contrasts with "unconscious".)

 

counter-transference: The intense emotional response a therapist sometimes feels towards a patient, usually corresponding to the patient's "transference". Most therapists agree that such emotions are natural, but ought to be "suppressed" by the therapist.

 

defense mechanism: Any "unconscious" method of avoiding the need to recognize and confront one's own personal qualities or motives, through a decision either to act or not to act in a certain way. This allows a person to avoid a lowering of self-esteem or a heightening of anxiety, and thus inhibits personal growth.

delusion: A false belief a person will not give up even when presented with evidence of its falsehood.

 

depth psychology: The type of "psychology" founded by Freud, Adler and Jung. Constructs a theory of the "unconscious" aspect of the human "psyche" based on the practical attempts of therapists to help their patients overcome "personality" disorders, especially by analyzing their "dreams".

 

displacement: The substitution of one object or person for another in order to satisfy some instinctual demand. For example, a fear of spiders might be a displaced response to one's fear of a possessive mother.

 

dream: In "depth psychology", the most important window into a per­son's "unconscious". For Freud, it is a temporary "psychosis" that always functions as a "wish-fulfillment". For Jung, it is the "psyche's" primary tool for self-regulation, always aiming to lead a person further along the path of "individuation" by "compensating" for lack of balance.

 

dream interpretation: The process of discovering how the mystery and confusion of one's "dreams" can have a meaning for waking life. The therapist's role is to help a person along in this process, especially by explaining how "symbols" operate in dreams.

 

ego: Freud's term for the aspect of the "psyche" that processes a person's "conscious" perception of reality. In a healthy person, it also controls the "id", so that satisfaction occurs only in socially acceptable and/or personally meaning­ful forms, and decides when to obey or disobey the "superego".

 

evil: The most serious form of blockage to personal growth, caused by a refusal to face one's own "shadow". Peck (PL 177) de­fines evil as: "The exercise of political power-that is, the imposition of one's will upon others by overt or covert coercion-in order to avoid ... spiritual growth." Always aims at confusing the opponent.

 

extravert: Jung's word for the "type" of person who normally adapts to new situations by focusing "psychic" energy on the external object (e.g., by being immersed in a social life). (Contrasts with "introvert". Also spelled "extrovert".)

 

feeling: One of the four basic "personality" functions in Jung's theory of "types". A rational process whereby judgment is based on a thing's value. (Contrasts with "thinking".)

 

fixation: Freud's term for a person's failure to pass beyond a certain stage in one's natural development (especially in childhood) by refusing to make appropriate changes in the type of objects one is specially attached to. The main examples are oral, anal and "Oedipal" fixation. Fixation often produces a "neurosis" later in life.

 

free-association: The method of "psychoanalysis" whereby a person openly reports to the therapist everything that passes through his or her "conscious" mind as it comes. The process often begins by the therapist suggesting a random word or set of words. The goal is for the therapist to detect the "unconscious" influences that control the associations.

 

hypnotism: The process of inducing a "dream"-like trance in a person who is awake. Suggestions made by the hypnotist during this time can sometimes "unconsciously" control the person's behavior even after he or she comes out of the trance.

 

id: Freud's term for the "unconscious" part of a person's "psyche", containing a reservoir of "libido" created by the instinctual drives (or demands) "repressed" in childhood. Freud claims all such drives aim at maximizing pleasure, and are forms of either the sex or death instincts. The id also contains memory traces of a person's ancestral past.

 

individuation: Jung's term for the process of approaching personal whole­ness by integrating the "conscious" and "unconscious" aspects of one's own "personality". Normally characterized by diversification in the first half of life and integration in the second half.

 

instinctual renunciation: The function of the "superego" in Freud's theory, whereby it convinces the "ego" not to follow the desires of the "id", even though this may cause pain. Freud regards this as the source of a person's awareness of what is morally right and wrong, and so also as the origin of religious tendencies.

 

introspection: Observing and reporting on the subjective events that occur in one's own "conscious" mind. This was the primary tool for "psychological" research prior to the new approaches developed in the 20th Century, such as "psychoanalysis" and "behaviorism".

 

introvert: Jung's word for the "type" of person who normally adapts to new situations by focusing "psychic" energy inwardly (e.g., through self-reflection and inner experience). (Contrasts with "extravert".)

 

intuition: One of the four basic "personality" functions in Jung's theory of psychological "types". An arational process whereby perception is based on a thing's unseen potential. (Contrasts with "sensation".)

 

latency: Freud's term for the period in a person's childhood, usually between the ages of 5 and 12, when no significant sexual developments occur. (No other animal has such a period of non-development before reaching full maturity.) Much of the "repression" that will influence a person's adult "personality" occurs during this period.

 

libido: The energy arising out instinctual drives, especially sex.

 

narcissism: Freud's term for one of the normal behavior patterns of early child­hood, characterized by excessive self-admiration and a sense of omnipotence. The name comes from a Greek myth wherein Narcissus falls in love with his own reflection in a pond.

 

neurosis: The "psychological" condition whereby abnormal behavior patterns arise as a result of a person's inability to cope with anxiety in socially acceptable ways. Other aspects of the neurotic person's behavior may be quite normal, so that the abnormal tendencies can often be hidden quite successfully. Sometimes used more broadly to refer to all disorders of the "psyche".

 

Oedipus complex: Freud's term for the final stage of normal infantile development, in which a child (usually aged 3-7) becomes emotionally attached to the parent of the opposite sex and views the same-sex parent as a competitor. A "fixation" at this stage, often caused by a lack of ade­quate parental love and affection, is a common cause of "personality" disorders; hence it tends to manifest itself during a "transference". The name comes from a Greek myth wherein Oedipus unknowingly kills his father and marries his mother.

 

personality: An individual person's unique "conscious" and "uncon­scious" ways of adjusting to the environment and organizing his or her life. For Jung, personality is the expression of a "Self".

 

pre-conscious: Freud's term for the material in the "ego" that can be readily made "conscious", but is not now conscious. Mediates between a person's ego and conscious perceptions. Similar to what is usually called subconscious. (See also "conscious" and "unconscious".)

 

projection: The "defense mechanism" whereby a person attributes characteristics or motives to another person in order to avoid having to face the fact that such attributes actually have their source in the "repressed" material within one's own "unconscious". (See "anima" and "shadow".)

 

psyche: The Greek word for "soul", from which the term "psychology" is derived. "Depth psychology" assumes it consists of "conscious" and "unconscious" aspects, each containing numerous other components.

 

psychoanalysis: Freud's method of treating "neuroses" through "free-association", "dream interpretation", and the discovery of "repressed" material in the "unconscious"; also the systematic "psychology" arising out of this method, stressing the importance of sex and aggression.

 

psychology: In its broadest sense, the study (logos) of the "soul" ("psyche"). Often used in a narrower sense to refer to only one aspect of human nature, such as a person's "conscious" or "unconscious" mental processes, a person's behavior, or a person's opinions and beliefs.

 

psychosis: A severe disorganization of the "personality", often accom­panied by "delusions", depression or hallucinations, and resulting in a person being unable to function normally in society.

 

regression: The experience of going back to an earlier set of beliefs or behavior patterns. Can be caused by an extremely stressful situation, but is often encouraged by a therapist, because reliving the "repressed" pain of childhood can be an important step to transformation and healing.

 

repression: A "defense mechanism" enabling a person to keep from "consciousness" certain unacceptable ideas, emotions, desires, etc. (e.g., those that would produce a sense of guilt). During childhood, according to Freud, this process gives rise to the distinction between the "id" and the "ego". (Contrasts with "suppression".)

 

resistance: Freud's term for a force that opposes the healing process, such as when a patient is unable to continue the process of "free-associa­tion" because some "repressed" material is preventing further progress. (Contrasts with "cathexis".)

 

self: The inner core of a person's "personality". For Jung, "Self" refers to a person's whole "personality" and represents the ultimate goal of the "individuation" process.

 

sensation: One of the four basic "personality" functions in Jung's theory of "types". An arational process whereby perception is based on a thing's actual existence. (Contrasts with "intuition".)

 

shadow: Jung's term for the "archetype" that contains "personality" traits opposed to those in the person's "conscious" personality. Typically has control over a person's "anima" or "animus". When "projected" onto a real person, one's shadow usually gives rise to an intense, irrational dislike for that person.

 

solar plexus: The largest bundle of nerves in the abdomen, located behind the stomach, near the pancreas. It is sometimes called the abdominal brain, because it is connected to all the abdominal organs. Some psychologists have speculated that this may play a key role in stimulating "dreams".

 

soul: The non-physical aspect of human nature, believed by Plato and many others to be immortal. Philosophers often identify it with the mind, treating it as a "thinking" substance. Theologians often associate the soul with the "spirit". (See "anima" and "psyche".)

 

spirit: One of the three fundamental aspects of human nature, according to many religious traditions. The spirit is the breath or wind of life (ruah in Hebrew; pneuma in Greek) that paradoxically makes "individua­tion" possible (negatively) while at the same time making relationship with God possible (positively).

 

sublimation: Freud's term for the "defense mechanism" whereby the "ego" partially gratifies the "id" (e.g., by changing an object of sexual desire into an internal object). As a result, socially unacceptable urges or motives can be expressed in socially acceptable forms.

 

superego: Freud's term for the (largely "unconscious") self-criticizing aspect of the human "psyche", out of which the conscience develops. The superego perpetuates the prohibitions (e.g., the "taboos") originally enforced by a person's parents and/or early educators.

 

suppression: A "conscious" process of self-control whereby a person is aware of having certain desires or wishes but does not reveal them be­cause he or she believes they are in some way inappropriate. (Contrasts with "repression".)

 

symbol: Anything that represents something other than itself by point­ing beyond itself to some deeper meaning. For Freud, a symbol is a kind of "defense mechanism", disguising a "wish" that a person's "id" de­mands to have fulfilled. For Jung, a symbol always hides something that would otherwise be unknown, but can be used to channel instinctual drives into cultural or spiritual values.

 

synchronicity: Jung's term for the acausal determining principle that governs "sym­bolic" coincidences in a person's life (e.g., an old man's clock stopping at the moment he dies).

 

taboo: Freud's term for anything that is strongly prohibited or banned within a culture because of its sacred or special nature. Freud is especially interested in the "psycho­logical" implications of the incest taboo.

 

thinking: One of the four basic "personality" functions in Jung's theory of "types". A rational process whereby judgment is based on what a thing is. (Contrasts with "feeling".)

 

totem: An object (usually an animal) that a primitive tribe feels closely related to, perhaps even descended from, and is regarded as enforcing certain "taboos". Freud relates the cultural function of the totem to the function of a parent for a young child.

 

transference: The "psychoanalytic" term for the phenomenon whereby a patient "unconsciously" makes the therapist the object of some emo­tional response, even though such responses would be more appropri­ately directed to some other person(s) in the patient's life history.

 

type: Jung's term for the natural tendency of a person's "psychological" disposition, as determined by the way he or she deals with "psychic" en­ergy (as either an "extravert" or an "introvert") and by the person's dominant function (i.e., either "thinking", "feeling", "sensation" or "intuition"). A person's type is especially noticeable by observing how he or she copes with new or stressful situations. Subsequent theorists have shown how Jung's theory defines 16 distinct types.

 

wish-fulfillment: Freud's key principle of "dream interpretation". Regards "dreams" as the "psyche's" tool for satisfying the "repressed" desires of the "id", especially those the dreamer cannot fulfill in socially acceptable ways in waking life.

 

unconscious: The aspect of a person's "psyche" consisting of every­thing that is not easily accessible to the immediate field of awareness. Freud relates the unconscious primarily to the "id", though the "ego" and "superego" are also partially unconscious. Jung gives the unconscious both a personal aspect (unique to each individual) and a collective aspect (shared by all humans). (Contrasts with "conscious".)


autism: Absorption in fantasy to the exclusion of any interest in reality. This is the most extreme form of "narcissism", and is often a symptom of schizophrenia.

 

etiology: The study of the origin, cause or reasons behind something, especially a disease. (Also spelled aetiology.)

 

exorcism: A procedure whereby one or more experienced persons call upon God's power and authority to cast out Satan or a demon from a person who is thought to be possessed by this "evil" spirit. It often requires several lengthy sessions (e.g., 6-12 hours each) and can be dangerous. Some regard it as a form of brainwashing.

 

phobia: An intense, persistent fear of a specific thing or situation in the absence of any real danger. (From phobos, the Greek word for fear.)

 

trauma: A severe mental or physical injury. "Psychological" problems can often be traced back to some childhood trauma that has been "repressed".

 


 

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