Counseling vs Jungian Analysis

While the distinction between Counseling and Jungian Analysis (or Depth Psychotherapy) is not a sharp one, it can be helpful to have some understanding of the difference.

Many people seek help because of psychological symptoms and painful life circumstances. Others are motivated not because their life is problematic, but because they feel like something is missing and they seek more meaning or sense of purpose. My approach will depend on what brings you to seek help.

Counseling is effective for addressing specific symptoms, such as anxiety or excessive worry, and for dealing with difficult life circumstances. It might be sought when coping with changes in marital status, career, parenthood, loss of a loved one or when making an important life decision. You and I set goals at the beginning of therapy to help guide the process.

Jungian Analysis, or Depth Psychotherapy, is a process of inner exploration and psycho-spiritual development. The late Swiss Psychiatrist Carl Jung found that it was common for people to achieve a respectable level of success in their lives, only then to discover a longing for a deeper sense of purpose. This can be experienced as an unsettling time of uncertainty about one’s identity, accomplishments, values and beliefs. Through an exploration of inner images, thoughts, feelings and dreams, this soulful inquiry looks toward unexplored and forgotten facets of one’s deeper self and beyond. By effecting toward these hidden aspects, an inner aliveness might quicken. Shadow qualities can be examined and integrated into one’s identity, leading to a fuller and more mature consciousness. This process is supported within the therapeutic relationship through talking, dream work, and/or other creative arts. As you might imagine, such a journey can be challenging at times, but it also offers the potential of living a more full and authentic life.