Stephen Farah, Author at Applied Jung

The “Collective Unconscious” and its value for psychotherapy

This article locates, defines, and evaluates Jung’s contribution to psychoanalysis of the Collective Unconscious or “Objective Psyche” and its use a tool in psychotherapy. This is a copy of a lecture given by Stephen Anthony Farah at the University of Pretoria on the 9th of September 2015. Introduction Carl Gustav Jung, (1875 – 1961), the Swiss psychiatrist and academic, was an early and key collaborator of Freud’s; and at one time the heir apparent to the psychoanalytic legacy. He made a big...

October 25, 2015

By Stephen FarahCollective Unconscious, Jungian Themesarchetypes, collective unconscious, Jung4 Comments

Memories, Dreams, (and) Reflections of Stephen Anthony Farah

With apologies to C. G. Jung Some general context What follows is an attempt to synthesise and make meaning from my very own Jungian journey of the last fifteen years. Besides borrowing the title from Jung’s biography Memories, Dreams, Reflections, I follow in the footsteps of two of my students, Tasha Tollman and Linda Hawkins, who have previously written pieces along these lines for publication on this site. I am not into the white washing or spin doctor style of...

July 20, 2015

By Stephen FarahIndividuation, Jungian Themes, Narrative Analysis, PersonallyJung, jungian perspective, Living meaningfully, myth, narrative27 Comments

The fragile beauty of narcissism

I know arrogance and narcissism can be most annoying, particularly when it’s the other guy that’s the guilty party. Nevertheless take solace in the simple fact that all arrogance is, in the final analysis, nothing more than naiveté. The OED defines arrogant as “having or revealing an exaggerated sense of one’s own importance or abilities” Arrogance derives from the verb “arrogate” which is “to take or claim something without justification”. The sin of arrogance is assuredly one of ignorance,...

May 12, 2015

By Stephen FarahJungian Themes, narcissismmeaning, narcissism3 Comments

The Archetypes of the Anima and Animus

One of the most interesting and provocative archetypes we encounter in Jungian Psychology is that of the Anima and Animus. The Anima/Animus relates to our inner or soul life. Not soul as understood in metaphysical terms as something which lives on beyond our physical existence but rather soul as in the inner force that animates us. These soul definitions stem from a time, when Jung was doing this work, where the gender roles were more traditionally and clearly differentiated. So some...

February 4, 2015

By Stephen FarahAnima and Animus, Jungian Themesanima, Anima and Animus, animus, archetypes, Jung anima development, Jung Animus dreams, Jungian Theory52 Comments

Did mommy & daddy neglect to mention that you are a freak?

Yes I am afraid it is quite true, you are a freak. This short communication should remove any lingering doubts you may have and dash any hope that you are not a freak. Let me spell it out for you, to avoid any unintended ambiguity. You are not a normal, well adjusted, respectable member of society. You are not a pillar of the community, someone to whom others should look as an example to model themselves on. You are...

December 2, 2014

By Stephen FarahIndividuation, Jungian Themes, Shadowchoice, freak, individuation, meaning, narrative3 Comments

Living Courageously: a guide for the coward

When I was a kid goddamn I was scared of a lot of shit. I remember one of my best friends in primary school, Ronald[1], and I developed this fantasy that one day we would run away from home together. We were around 11 or 12 years old at the time. Being of a pragmatic nature and knowing that we would need to “live off the land” I advised Ronald that we should pack a lot of spices...

November 6, 2014

By Stephen FarahIndividuation, Jungian Themescourage, individuation, Jungian, narrative16 Comments

Anima mundi in transition: dystopian reflections and a slow boat to China

The theme for the IAAP (International Association of Analytical Psychology) to be held in Kyoto in 2016 is ‘Anima Mundi in Transition’, the movement of the world soul, or the world soul in transition. The central premise is that Jung highlighted a disconnection between man in modernity and his relationship to nature. The development of Western philosophy during the last two centuries has succeeded in isolating the mind in its own sphere and in severing it from its primordial oneness...

October 6, 2014

By Stephen FarahAnima mundi, Jungian Themesanima mundi, dystopian, imagination, Jung, self-archetype6 Comments

Jung’s dream house and discovering your own archetypal home

In Memories, Dreams, Reflections Jung reports a seminal dream in his discovery of the collective unconscious. I was in a house I did not know, which had two storeys. It was "my house". I found myself in the upper storey, where there was a kind of salon furnished with fine old pieces in Rococo style. On the walls hung a number of precious, old paintings. I wondered that this should be my house and thought, "Not bad". But then...

June 19, 2014

By Stephen FarahArchetypes, Jungian Themesarchetypes, Jung, personal narratives, symbols8 Comments

A tool to identify your transference: understanding your unconscious communication in relationships

Transference- countertransference, Lacan, Jung Transference as a technical term in depth psychology describes the process whereby unconscious content is shared between patient (analysand) and analyst in the context of their therapeutic relationship (analysis). Although used to refer to this specific relationship dynamic in analysis, transference is a very real dimension of all social interaction, it is by no means limited to the analytical couple (analyst and analysand). This is the third in a series of three short articles I have written on...

May 1, 2014

By Stephen FarahJungian Themes, TransferenceLacan, psychoanalysis, transference11 Comments

Reeva and Oscar: A Mythological Perspective from Jung

This post is an application of Jungian theory to offer an alternative way of understanding the tragic event of Reeva Steenkamp’s death at the hands of Oscar Pistorius. It is a continuation of the post A bullet in the chamber: a Jungian perspective on a murderous gun complex Reeva painted these pictures when she was 14, they've been in the house for a long time now, but we never really realized what they were about. here is a man standing...

April 5, 2014

By Stephen FarahJungian Themes, MythJung, myth, shadow, synchronicity, transference22 Comments

Author - Stephen Farah