Applying Jungian psychoanalysis to creative life writing

What is it about?

Carl Jung developed the concept of The Shadow as a metaphor to describe uncomfortable aspects of the self that we unconsciously disown. Viewing the self as a larger entity composed of multiple sub-personalities, he claims that psychological wholeness can only be achieved by integrating the opposite poles of the unconscious with the conscious through a self-reflexive approach of working with the imagination as a means to dialogue with The Shadow. What Jung terms individuation is commonly understood in contemporary psychoanalytic circles as shadow work. Following a first-hand encounter with shadow work in therapy, I became interested in how Jung’s theory of The Shadow can provide fertile grounds for exploring ideas about the self in creative life-writing. How can we represent conscious and unconscious aspects of ourselves on the page? What are the creative and therapeutic benefits of doing so? Can the shortness of short fiction mirror the shortness of the one-hour therapy session as a container for exploring the dark side of our personalities? ‘Walking With Shadows’ shows I synthesised similarities between the characteristics of the short story and storytelling in Jungian psychoanalysis to be-friend my shadows on the page.

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Photo by Spencer Goggin on Unsplash

Photo by Spencer Goggin on Unsplash

Why is it important?

According to Jung, whatever stories we tell, whether consciously or unconsciously, real or symbolic, the psyche takes to be true. He explained that if we avoid our shadows, we become unconsciously controlled by them. However, if we face our shadows, they lose their power over us. This means that we do not have to be tied to our past or defined by it. Instead, we can tell new stories about ourselves that integrate darkness with light.

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