Dreaming Consciousness in Phenomenology and Depth Psychology
Journal Title: Journal of Experiential Psychotherapy - Year 2019, Vol 22, Issue 3
Abstract
Introduction: Freud and Jung delve deep into the study of dreams and other phenomena occurring in altered states of consciousness. Edmund Husserl, the founding father of phenomenology, on the contrary, neglects mental activity in altered states of consciousness, and primarily describes mental functioning from the perspective of normal, waking consciousness. Objectives: The purpose of this comparative study is to show that a productive dialogue might be possible between phenomenology and Freudian and Jungian psychology, in their research in mental activities occurring in altered states of consciousness. Methods: First, the concepts of the unconscious of phenomenology and of depth psychology are compared. Then, the obstacles to the phenomenological analysis of dreams are enumerated. Afterwards, the Freudian and Jungian dream theories are contrasted. Finally, the Jungian active imagination is addressed from the vantage point of the phenomenological concept of phantasy. Results: Although mental processes form a continuum, until the last two decades, they were treated separately in phenomenology and depth psychology. Phenomenology specialized itself in normal awake state of consciousness, in which the various functional organizations of the human mind act in concert subordinated to and controlled by a virtual center. Freud, Jung and their disciples, on the other hand, focused on states in which consciousness is cut off from the outer world (hypnosis, dreaming, psychotic hallucinations), or the subject suspends – to a certain degree – its interest in the environment (day-dreaming and active imagination). Conclusions: The dialogue between phenomenology and the Freudian and Jungian depth psychology that has started over the past decades might significantly widen the horizon of the Husserl’s science reaching at dreams, active imagination, psychedelic experiences and other products of the infinite realms of altered states of consciousness.
Authors and Affiliations
Csaba Szummer, Attila Almási, Iszáj Fruzsina
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP649310
- DOI -
- Views 52
- Downloads 0
Public Understanding of Mental Illness: Results from a Romanian Sample
Introduction: Although nowadays people seem to have more knowledge about mental illness, various studies reveal a great level of ignorance and hostility towards mental patients, among the general public (Furnham, A., Cha...
Journal of Experiential Psychotherapy, vol. 15, no 4 (60), December 2012
Vol. 15, no 4 (60), December 2012: see more at http://jep.ro/en/2012
Therapeutic Labour - Special Framework of Transformation and Repairment in the Integrative-Unifying Psychotherapeutic Approach. A Case Study
Introduction: In the dynamic of the exploratory and enactment process of the life scenario accomplished within the integrative-unifying psychotherapeutic approach, the discovery of the informational contaminations, emoti...
Near Death Experiences – a Theoretical and Practical Approach
Introduction: This paper aims at establishing the main themes and subtopics that are present in the confessions of the subjects who underwent a near death experience. We think that, nowadays, NDE can no longer be scienti...
Trans Generational Transmission and its Implications on Attachment and the Functionality of Erotic Partnership
Introduction: This research aims to present, explore and analyze the dynamics and interactions between the psychological processes within the family system and within the erotic partnership. The family functioning levels...