Beginner’s Guide to Carl Jung Psychology [2025]

Good day.

Here’s a brief overview of some of Jung’s essential concepts. Enjoy…

Jung’s Model of the Psyche

The Structure of the Psyche that big Carl Jung introduced, was a three-part, cool as fuck model that collectively kicked Fraud in the ball sack:

Ego: This is our conscious mind, where we keep thoughts, memories, and emotions (those things weak people have) that we’re aware of.

Personal Unconscious: This part holds forgotten or repressed memories and experiences, like the time your ma dropped you on your head when you were 1.

Collective Unconscious: A shared, universal layer of the unconscious that connects all humans.

Core Concepts

Archetypes: These are universal, inherited patterns of thought or symbolic imagery that come from the collective unconscious.

What does that mean?

Imagine your mind is a big library, and it has books with characters that everyone in the world can see and shares in this library.

These characters show up in loads of different ancient stories, even back in the day when the world was very segregated – because we had to walk or get on a horse to travel places. Despite this, similar myths and stories with similar characters emerged across the world at this, ancient/old time – we’re talking a few thousand years ago. Well a few hundred anyway.

The hero for example, still shows up in modern stories. The hero’s journey – bloke is living day to day life, gets a call to action, kills loads of baddies, discovers himself, goes home.

Jung thought that these similar stories and characters emerged across the world, because of the “collective unconscious”. Basically, we all have some kind of default programming that we are not conscious of. This is shown in the stories we tell, and they shape how we see the world and possibly, how we classify everyone.

Examples include: The Mother, The Hero, The Wise Old Man, The Child, The bellend, and The Trickster.

Individuation: This is the journey of integrating both conscious and unconscious elements.

You know that you are aware when someone else is a complete c*nt? Well individuation kinda starts with knowing yourself, your own issues, your traumas, and how you project them.

Individuation is a process of self-discovery – becoming self aware and less of a knobhead that runs on default and auto-pilot.

People need to get to know themselves better, and stop distracting themselves with social media, TV, gaming etc if they want to develop in this way.

Keeping a dream journal can help – as this can, in theory, tell you what your subconscious is processing and ‘doing’.

Understand what triggers you, why you feel the need to do certain things like judge people and get angry.

Face your mother fucking shadow. The part of you that you don’t like and try to hide. Everyone gets jealous, angry etc – this is fine, as long as you don’t act on it. It’s normal, move into and explore these feelings.

Be honest with yourself and accept your faults, so you can then work on them.

Complexes: Often caused by trauma, complexes can be good or bad.

Sometimes seen as clusters of thoughts, feelings, and memories centred around a specific idea within the personal unconscious.

Common complexes relate to parents, inferiority and power/status. Being aware of these complexes can help us grow and be ‘better’. Remember – You are enough and all that, but you can still grow and learn as along as you live.

Psychological Types

Jung identified two attitudes and four functions of consciousness:

Attitudes: Extraversion (like attention) and Introversion (likes to be alone).

Functions: Thinking, Feeling, Sensation, and Intuition.

Shadow: This represents the unconscious, often negative or repressed sides of our personality. Lots of memes about this fucker. Probably why you criticize people based on your own insecurities.

Anima/Animus: The feminine aspect found in males (Anima) and the masculine aspect found in females (Animus).

Persona: This is the “mask” or public persona we show to the world.

Self: The central archetype that symbolizes the unified psyche and the ultimate goal of individuation. Key Principles The psyche is self-regulating and always striving for balance and wholeness.

Dreams and symbols play a crucial role in helping us understand the unconscious. The collective unconscious shapes behaviours and experiences across different cultures.

The Jungian Approach to Therapy takes a fresh look at mental health by focusing on the present and future, rather than getting stuck in past experiences. It highlights how crucial dreams and active imagination are for tapping into the unconscious mind.

The goal is to guide individuals toward individuation and self-realization, helping them become their true selves. It also acknowledges the healing power of engaging with images and symbols, which can be incredibly transformative.

Diagram (above^)

Jung’s Model of the Psyche text [Collective Unconscious] | v [Personal Unconscious] | v [Ego] This simple diagram shows the layered structure of the psyche based on Jung’s theory.

At the deepest level is the collective unconscious, followed by the personal unconscious, with the ego sitting at the surface of our conscious awareness. The ego is a right wanker.

Jung’s psychology is all about integrating every part of our personality, including the shadow and spiritual aspects, to achieve a sense of psychological wholeness. His ideas have left a significant mark on the field of psychology, influencing areas like personality assessment (think Myers-Briggs Type Indicator) and dream analysis.

Carl Jung’s idea of synchronicity

Carl Jung’s idea of synchronicity refers to those coincidences that happen to us when we are more self aware.

Jungian psychologists think that these coincidences connect our inner thoughts & feelings with the ‘outside ‘real’ world, exposing how our minds and the material universe are intertwined.

What is Jungian Synchronicity?

Acausal Connection: Synchronicity connects our internal psychological experiences—like dreams and thoughts—with external events based on meaning rather than a straightforward cause-and-effect relationship.

Example: Imagine a patient dreaming about a golden scarab, only to have a real scarab beetle show up at Jung’s window during their therapy session.

Collective Unconscious: This phenomenon occurs when personal unconscious elements resonate with universal archetypes that are common to all of humanity.

Relativity of Time/Space: Jung proposed that synchronicity reveals a “psychically relative space-time continuum,” where our unconscious experiences blur the usual boundaries of time and space.

(Western Science) | Synchronicity (Jungian View)

Based on cause-effect chains | Meaningful, acausal parallels Governs physical phenomena
Connects psyche and matter Objective, measurable | Subjective, symbolic

How to Generate Synchronicity

While you can’t force synchronicity, there are practices that can help you become more open to those meaningful coincidences:

Heighten Awareness Pay attention to patterns in your dreams, symbols, numbers, or recurring themes. Example: If you keep encountering a specific animal or phrase, it might be a sign that you’re tapping into an archetypal message.

Engage the Unconscious Try using active imagination (Jung’s technique of conversing with your unconscious) or journaling to delve into your inner imagery.

Synchronicity often pops up during transitional states, like meditation or when you’re in a creative flow. Interpret Symbolism Look for personal or archetypal meanings in coincidences.

Example: A chance meeting could reflect something unresolved in your emotional landscape. Cultivate Openness Try to step back from relying solely on rational thought; allow yourself to track patterns

Keep a synchronicity journal to spot recurring themes or symbols as they emerge over time.

Clinical and Philosophical Context Therapeutic Use: About 70% of therapists see the value of synchronicity in uncovering unconscious material, although patients often feel a bit misunderstood when they share these experiences.

Individuation: Synchronicity plays a key role in Jung’s idea of self-realization by helping to blend conscious and unconscious elements.

Criticism: Focusing too much on synchronicity can sometimes veer into superstition or delusion, so it’s important to interpret it with balance.

A Modern Perspective Jung teamed up with physicist Wolfgang Pauli to connect synchronicity with the non-local aspects of quantum theory. While it hasn’t been scientifically proven, it still serves as a fascinating tool for exploring the unity of psyche and matter, as well as our search for existential meaning. By being mindful of coincidences and archetypal symbols, people can harness synchronicity’s insights for personal growth and creativity.

As Jung wisely said:

“Synchronicity is an ever-present reality for those who have eyes to see”.

As others say

“Shut up you mad cunt, it’s just coincidence”.