‘Oh Rose, thou art sick!’ Anti‐individuation forces in the film American Beauty

This paper looks at some of the processes that are at work in finding oneself in analysis. It explores Jung's unique contribution to our thinking about the self and its dynamic of individuation. The author attempts to show how the Self, in its quest for consciousness, requires the surrendering of ego inflation--the narcissistic delusion that the ego is the self. A case is made for seeing analysis as an individuation process which offers the opportunity for experiences of a more authentic sense of oneself. Jung stated that individuation requires the ego to enter into service of the Self. For this to happen, the author argues that both patient and analyst must be prepared to make sacrifices and take risks. Using clinical examples, he illustrates that, although purposive, the Self can be experienced as violent and destructive if the ego is unable to facilitate its expression. This may result in an individuation crisis for both analyst and patient. The paper demonstrates how impasse in analysis can evoke the transcendent function, which also requires sacrifices to be made and risks to be taken for analysis to proceed.

Section: Anti‐individuationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Individuation: finding oneself in analysis – taking risks and making sacrifices

Schmidt¹

2005

“…When a couple works together in the sand it has a ‘ vas ’ to contain and explore the emerging images, and this therapeutic process offers the possibility of each partner obtaining a better understanding of their contribution in the construction of their unique conjugal relationship. As Hewison () points out, the couple relationship is a product of two people's emotional lives, and can be viewed as an entity in itself. The conjugal conflicts and all of their repercussions affect the ‘couple psyche’ at an unconscious level.…”

Section: Sandplay Therapy With Couplesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Hewison () understands the individuation process to be both an intrapsychic and an inter‐psychic experience that depends on relations with external objects for its development. He considers marriage to be one of the key areas of emotional life in the individuation process, and also the area that best illustrates progressions and regressions in the psychological development of the partners.…”

Section: Marriage In Analytical Psychologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Sandplay therapy with couples within the framework of analytical psychology

Albert¹

2015

Sandplay therapy with couples is discussed within an analytical framework. Guidelines are proposed as a means of developing this relatively new area within sandplay therapy, and as a platform to open a wider discussion to bring together sandplay therapy and couple therapy. Examples of sand trays created during couple therapy are also presented to illustrate the transformations during the therapeutic process.

“…David Hewison writes about the archetypes, which are ‘not “mediated” or worked through, but are experienced in their strong impact on the individual who can then become tangled up in them, without being able to muster sufficient resistance to the emotional maelstrom that then ensues’ (Hewison , p. 688).…”

Section: The Shadowmentioning

confidence: 99%

The King of Norway: negative individuation, the hero myth and psychopathic narcissism in extreme violence and the life of Anders Behring Breivik

Virtanen¹

2013

The paper discusses negative individuation and the hero myth as developmental concepts. It is suggested that in negative individuation healthy psychological development is hindered and goes astray. Aggression then becomes the central psychic system. Repressed anger is the core element in psychopathic narcissism (Diamond) and malignant narcissism (Kernberg). Both Diamond and Kernberg extend narcissistic personality structure to antisocial, psychopathic personality in an effort to better understand extreme violence. According to Freud, love (libido) and hate (the death drive) are the major motivational systems in the human psyche. In contrast to Freud, Jung sees libido as a life force in general, not simply as a sexual drive. Jung writes about evil and the shadow but does not present a comprehensive theory of the negative development of an individual's life. The concept of negative individuation connects the shadow and the death drive with psychopathology, psychiatry and psychotherapy. In this paper, I explore these concepts in the light of contemporary affect theory according to Kernberg. I also ask how ideology is tied to extreme violence and how it is possible that narcissistic personality structures can lead to such radically different outcomes as were manifested in the lives of Anders Behring Breivik and Steve Jobs.