Jung’s Four Developmental Stages

Carl Jung, founder of analytical psychology, identified four developmental stages that outline the growth of the human psyche. These stages are critical in understanding the progression of consciousness and personality development throughout an individual's life. The Four Stages Childhood: This stage is characterized by the development of the ego, where consciousness begins to emerge from …

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The Role of Habits and Energy in Everyday Life

So much of life is reflecting on whether something is still serving you or not. For example, habits and mental shortcuts (heuristics) are necessary to navigate daily life. These habitual behaviors help to free energy or reduce the energetic cost required from interacting with one’s environment.   However, this reliance on habitual modes of operating …

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Attitudes, Experience, and the Role of the Unconscious

In the current phase of human civilization and development, rationalism and science appear to reign as the supreme authorities in matters of what is deemed real or true. As Carl Jung writes in Psychology and Religion: West and East, “a scientific theory that simplifies matters is a very good means of defense because of the …

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Tension of the Times

One of the hallmarks of Carl Jung's work is his conceptualization of the shadow. Roughly speaking, the shadow consists of instincts, aspects, qualities, and the like that are unrecognized or repressed in oneself. Jung did not believe that the shadow was only comprised of bad things but also included good parts and positive potentialities (Sharp, …

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