Integrative Jungian Psychotherapy for Anxiety and OCD

Cognitive-behavioral interventions for anxiety and obsessive–compulsive disorder have received a great deal of attention for their growing evidence base. These therapies focus on symptom elimination by way of cognitive and behavioral change and, though undoubtedly helpful, miss important symbolic aspects of the client’s experience of these disorders that have the potential for meaning and the resolution of traumatic history. Jungian psychotherapy, like other depth-oriented and humanistically oriented approaches, is concerned both with meaning in the client’s life and the process by which the client becomes more themselves by integrating fragmented, wounded, and hidden aspects of the psyche—a process known as individuation. This article integrates Jungian concepts with trauma theory to generate an integrative framework for psychotherapy with individuals with anxiety and obsessive–compulsive disorder. The case of “Stefan,” which provides a description of trauma-informed psychotherapy incorporating eye movement desensitization and reprocessing within a Jungian framework, is then presented to illustrate key elements of this theoretical integration.

3. Post-Freudians: moving towards the interpersonal

Many of Freud’s followers began to develop their own ideas, the most influential being Carl Gustav Jung. ‘Post-Freudians: moving towards the interpersonal’ describes Jung as a romantic individual who believed that analysis had the potential to bring patients to an emotionally richer, more spiritual state. He introduced the concepts of introvert and extrovert, but is best known for his ideas on symbolism. Jungian psychotherapy is called analytical psychology to distinguish it from psychoanalysis. Analytical psychology aims for integration of the personality, aspiring to a harmony that accepts inherent contradictions rather than striving to reduce or eradicate them. The work of other neo-Freudians—Alfred Aldler, Erik Erikson, and John Bowlby’s attachment theory—are also described.