Although Jung’s theory of typology is the foundation of various personality assessments, it is important to appreciate its profundity as Jung’s theory of consciousness. The four functions of consciousness - sensation, intuition, thinking, and feeling--are governed by two attitudes, extraversion, and introversion. Jung defines extraversion as “an attitude type characterized by concentration of interest on the external object.”
Since the movement of psychic energy is outward, extroverts find gratification in social and collegial interactions. Extraverts, therefore, need to distinguish individual goals from relational expectations and cultural norms lest they sacrifice inner reality to outer influences. A vital sense of life direction and the unconstrained pursuit of goals requires differentiating outer from inner and is central to Jungian theory. Knowledge of one’s typology can enlist consciousness in psyche’s quest for balance and wholeness.
Here’s the dream we analyze:
“I am perhaps 4 or 5 months pregnant, and I am at my grandad’s house. I am miscarrying. There is blood and tissue everywhere, and I can feel it happening very viscerally. My grandad and a woman I don’t know are helping to clean it up. There is going to be a party, and I don’t want anyone to know what has happened. Family has arrived now, and I am distracted and worried about people finding out. My grandad can see this and says to me, “why don’t you go up to my room?” This is so I can hide the bucket full of blood. When I get upstairs, the bucket is almost completely clean, just some remnants, but anyone finding it wouldn’t know what had happened. Suddenly my aunt enters the room, and I kick the bucket under the bed to hide it. She talks to me urgently and intensely, I’m not sure what about, but I am distracted. Later, a miscarriage happens again, but even more intensely. This time I see a noticeable baby, small, long, pale blueish. I think I should call the hospital, but I don’t want to. I worry that it might be a medical emergency, but I am still resistant.”
LOOK & GROW
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