Institutional conflicts in Jungian analysis

Abstract

This paper explores how the institutional life of analytical psychology has been beset by its historical and continuing conflictual relationship with psychoanalysis. Stemming from a division in Jung's identity, that of the spiritual seeker and that of a mental health practitioner, the organizations of analytical psychology have repeatedly enacted that division, resulting in an unclear mission and considerable conflict. In England those conflicts have led to schisms; in America they have played out in internal conflicts within training institutes. Examples of areas of conflict are provided, along with suggestions for addressing these conflicts by recognizing them more openly.