– Knowing Ourselves Through Individual Therapy in Nashville, TN

Last Updated on May 4, 2023 by Chris Roberts

JUNG’S MODEL OF ARCHETYPE AND HOW IT CAN SERVE US

Reference: “Gender and Desire: Uncursing Pandora.” Polly Young-Eisendrath. 1997. Texas A&M University Press College Station

Carl G Jung was a psychoanalyst who worked extensively during the middle of the 20^th Century. He has many lasting works and created a deep impact on the world of psychology and psychotherapy. He is most famously known for his concept of archetypes where he believed that all humans were connected in one way or another. We all have themes that run under the current of our lives and can be seen in most other’s lives as well.

In a fantastic book about understanding ourselves and our situations, Polly Young-Eisendrath defines what Jung was really saying about archetypes, “In his later definition of archetypes, he described it as the predisposition to form a coherent image in an emotionally aroused state, something he called a “situational pattern.”(p. 17) This is really a remarkable statement about how we, as humans, organize our interior worlds. Basically, she is claiming that what Jung meant by archetypal is that when we are in an emotionally charged state we use language or images to make mental maps of those situations. Because we are human, Jung says, we all do this. And because these images are used to store memories in an accessible manner, there is a fairly limited amount of images that people use in their lives and these images can be seen in other people’s lives as well.

WHY DOES THIS MATTER TO INDIVIDUAL THERAPY IN NASHVILLE?

If we take Jung’s description of how humans create images in emotionally charged states as true, then we have a grounding for how and why we get stuck in old patterns of doing life. Memory in general has been proven over and over again to be incredibly faulty. This means that trying or wanting to “remember details of events” is basically useless. However, we do keep “memories” of life and events and situations. This is what Jung is getting at. What we think we remember about events is less like the actual facts, but rather an image that we create during an emotional state. This happens in both good and bad times.

Therefore, when we go to tell the story of what happened back then to our friends and to ourselves, we are actually telling the image that we created during that energized time. It’s a phenomenal shift in the understanding of how we create and store memories, and then how we go about organizing our lives around these past intense situations.

NASHVILLE INDIVIDUAL THERAPY HELPS US MOVE AGAIN

The goal of Nashville individual therapy is to help people find new ways to get out of old patterns and start moving in the direction of their desires. If we can begin to understand that these old stories we have been telling ourselves were part of an organizing principle in our lives, we may be able to loosen ourselves from the “reality” of those past encounters. This is by no means meant to diminish or dismiss the power and pain of those past events. It is meant to help us gain a greater clarity on the reality of the situation and help us see new paths for moving ahead. We often get stuck because we believe that our story is the only story and all of our options for moving forward feel old and useless.

If you have pain or heartbreak from the past that continues to haunt you and keep you stuck, Nashville individual therapy may be helpful to you. Chris Roberts is a licensed counselor in Nashville, TN with many years helping people gain greater control of their lives and move forward in productive ways. Chris would love to speak with you more and can be reached at chris@nashvillecounselor.net or (615) 800-9260.