Jung on Trauma

Jung on PTSD and disassociation 

Jung, early in his work, minimized the impact of exogenous trauma on complex formation, emphasizing more the endogenous trauma caused by conflictual fantasy. He also focused on the capacity of the psyche to split into different personalities or systems of consciousness as an aspect of normal, that is, supposedly non-trauma-related complex formation. He postulated that these complexes originated in the archetypal depths of the psyche, deep structures, patterns and ways of living that represent an inherited memory of the history of human culture. Jung proposed that this dissociative capacity of the normal psyche promotes the expansion of the personality through greater differentiation of function. He said that dissociation "allows certain parts of the psychic structure to be singled out so that, by concentration of the will, they can be trained and brought to their maximum development....This produces an unbalanced state similar to that caused by a dominant complex -a change of personality" (Jung (1960), p122).

As a follower of Carl Jung, I believe we can reach deeply into our psyches to develop greater skills after trauma if we are inclined to do the deep work of individuation. This process is developmental and can take time if the differentiation is intellectual. I incorporate several layers of growth in my practice including bodywork and EMDR to have a more holistic approach.