What is Depth Psychology?
Much of therapy and research today are focused on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Psychopharmacology, and Neuroscientific explorations. While these treatment modalities are often beneficial and have brought advances in psychological knowledge, depth psychological considerations have been largely ignored. Originating with Freud and Jung, depth psychology is concerned with the material of the deep psyche: symbols, metaphor, imagination, and dreams. Depth Psychology is not so much about making behavioral changes (although these may result…) as it is about a way of being and a way of seeing what lies below the surface. Depth Psychology is the psychology of the unconscious.
C.G. JungDepth psychology attempts to avoid forms of pathologizing or focusing on symptom control and instead looks inward, making space for images, metaphors, and fantasy. Most people experience depth psychology in the context of Jungian psychotherapy, which is primarily focused on the therapeutic encounter. Some treatment modalities establish a hierarchy with the therapist on top, in charge, and directing the session. Depth psychology sees the therapist and client in field together, with the encounter affecting the therapist as much as the patient. It is a mutual affectation where the relationship takes precedence over the insights or interpretations. Jung said, “For two personalities to meet is like mixing two chemical substances: if there is any combination at all, both are transformed”. This is not typically a short-term therapy, but more like a union that, over time, develops its own history with both ups and downs. Depth Psychotherapists enter each session with an attitude of “not knowing-ness”. Since communication is happening consciously and unconsciously, the therapist must never assume to fully know the client or plan out what to say to direct the session. The following diagram helps explain the various ways the therapist and client are communicating during session.
Jung’s diagram shows us that there are both conscious and unconscious processes occurring during the therapeutic hour. We can never be fully aware of what is happening, but typically the therapist is engaging in an active listening and the client is talking and sharing emotionally. The healing takes place in the working relationship, or the sacred space, between, around, and created by the therapist and patient.
