A Meeting of Minds: Freud and Jung Discuss Psychoanalytical Methods

At the beginning of the 20^th century, the very practice of psychoanalysis is near doomed before it has even begun. Psychoanalysis is still a new-fangled, uncharted concept with many scientific limitations and little support from the scientific community. Its two founders, Sigmund Freud and Carl Yung, have experienced a falling-out due to differences of opinion.

But a series of odd circumstances, and a particularly difficult case, have brought the two scholars together again. The leader of a European nation, who will henceforth be known as "Charles" for the sake of confidentiality, has been experiencing much anxiety and depression as a result of increased conflicts with other nations. Being an educated scholar himself, Charles discovered the works of Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung through extensive reading of scientific journals. He is now calling upon both men to assist him in his personal struggles so that he may better run his country during this time of enmity.

At the first meeting between Freud, Jung, and their new patient, Charles tells them about a recurring dream he has had. In it, he falls from the sky and passes through clouds until he finally lands in an enormous pile of leaves. At this point, a beautiful angelic figure lifts his tiny child-like body out of the leaves.

The following dialogue occurs between Freud and Jung after their first meeting with Charles:

Freud: "You recall that the patient explained his fear of fatherhood, how he never viewed himself as a father, and feels he is now one to an entire nation. I believe he is suffering guilt for his feelings toward his own parents, and further projecting them onto himself. Being estranged from his father and very close to his mother, his Oedipal feelings, however repressed, are certainly inherent in his subconscious. It is the fate of us all, perhaps, to direct our first sexual impulse towards our mother and our first hatred and our first murderous wish against our father. It is the repression of such an impulse, and any impulse, that defines our personality."

Jung: "I agree that his subconscious feelings toward his parents are a driving force in his anxiety, but to say that one's personality is based solely on repression is to say that through the removal of repressions, a man can acquire a phenomenal memory which would thenceforth forget nothing. I emphatically say that in addition to repressed material the unconscious contains all those psychic components that have fallen below the threshold.

Freud: "So you believe that in addition to repressed Oedipal feelings, there are other unconscious machinations that exist in his mind that cause him to behave and react a certain way?"

Jung: "Absolutely. In the mind of every person, for that matter. We both agree that Charles holds a highly favorable view of motherhood and a highly unfavorable view of fatherhood, which no doubt results from the magnified Oedipal tendencies he has. However, I believe this involves more that just your Oedipus theory and includes allusions that go far beyond the personal sphere. I believe that archetypes, which exist in all cultures and are similar in nature, are embedded in all of us. The nurturing mother and the nomadic hunter male are examples."

Freud: "As we both know, this is where my opinion differs from yours. I believe the personal conflict one faces in censoring one's desires is the main drive behind one's beliefs and actions. Think about the dream Charles had. He is falling from the sky and completely out of control, perhaps because of his own guilt and hatred, and once he lands safely, is pulled out by an 'angelic figure' who is undoubtedly his mother. In the end, every aspect of this dream can be attributed to certain personal repressed feelings he has developed over his lifetime. Charles' anxiety-dreams will only occur when the censorship of the repressed desires has been wholly or partly overpowered. In this case, the anxiety caused by the situation with his country has overpowered that censorship. Therefore, in addition to his political struggles, Charles now must deal with these personal issues on top of it, which is certainly what has led him to seek our help."

Jung: "The best and perhaps only way to help Charles is to urge him to hold fast to repressed contents that have been re-associated into his consciousness, and to assimilate them into his plan of life. Basically, this would involve a considerable self-evaluation, and most definitely a time of transference between him and I, where I become the father figure he hates. At that point he may express his hatred from further depths of the subconscious and therefore alleviate himself of much of the guilt and stress he has suffered."

Freud: "I agree with this method. Though your opinion regarding the origin of Charles' neuroses is different from mine, I do believe it is in his best interest to purge his subconscious, which would take away the extremeness of his feelings toward his parents, which we both agree, is the primary factor in his suffering. "

Jung: "In our next meeting we will do just that. Thank you for your time and consideration of these issues, Sigmund."

Freud: "Thank you as well, Carl."