The treatment plan for June using the Jungian Theory based on dream interpretation and assessing two of the important relationships in June’s life: June and her daughter and June and her mother. Using the Jungian Theory can help bring June’s unconscious thoughts into consciousness and can help her achieve individuation and come to terms with the underlying cause of her dreams.Basic Concepts Being more concerned about understanding the unconscious than the development of personality, Carl Jung divided life into four basic stages: childhood, youth and young adulthood, middle age, and old age (Sharf 2008, p.
94). Although Jung studied all of the stages thoroughly, his most interest was in that of the middle age stage (p. 94). Jung believed that the Archetypes were the inherited predisposition for certain thoughts and ideas (p. 88).Jung also divided the psyche into three different levels of consciousness: the conscious level, the personal unconscious, and the collective unconscious (p.
87-88). The conscious level is the process of individuation and the ego. It is also the level we are aware of. The personal unconscious level involves the memories that have been suppressed for some reason, but can be easily brought to conscious.
The collective unconscious is the knowledge that everyone is born with this, but are not directly aware of it. AssessmentI think that June probably has two different reasoning’s that could come from this dream. June has stated that she is depressed and stressed/overworked from the responsibilities from work and raising her daughter. She worries that she is not going to be a good enough mother for her daughter. During her childhood, her mother seemed to be a pretty strict parent. She went to church, was a choir member and only sang church hems.
She believed that her children should do the same and had strict guidelines to this effect.In using Jungian’s Theory it would be helpful to bring in her daughter to have a session with her so that maybe it will help eliminate some of the worries that she is failing as a mother and maybe what they can work on as a family to help establish a loving relationship. I also feel that June would benefit from having her mother come in with her as well. Maybe if we understood what kind of relationship June had with her mother, it would make it easier for us to analyze what the dreams mean and help June figure out why she has these feelings of inadequacy in raising her own child.A good assessment for June’s case would possibly be the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). This test helps the person understand how they make decisions, perceive data, and relate to the inner or outer world (p98).
One of the reasons to use this assessment is so that the person may better understand their personality type. If June can do this, then she maybe is able to determine why she does things the way she does and in turn will help her to feel like she is not so overwhelmed in work and home.At the end of therapy, June should be able to target her behaviors in order to find more enjoyment in her work environment and be able to have a better, more open relationship with her daughter. June’s goals of therapy are to help her determine the things in her life that are making her feel so overwhelmed. In her dream of being in the rock band Kiss could be coming from her unconscious rebellion of her mother only allowing her to listen to a certain type of music.
Her conscious did not allow her to defy her mother, so in her unconscious she felt that she was doing something that her mother did not allow. Although June is surprised by her dream, she is unsure as to why she would ever behave in such a manner. June needs to try and find the similarities in her dream and her real life to help her understand what the dream may mean. InterventionsRole of the Therapist As June’s therapist, if I was to use Jungian’s Theory to treat her, I would have to have good quality listening skills and have knowledge of interpreting dreams. A therapist’s relationship with their client has to be one that has enough trust between the client and the therapist in order for the client to feel comfortable enough opening up feelings that are suppressed in the unconscious level. This therapist would need to be able to understand the relationship that June has had and has with her mother in order to help June come to terms with her feelings and to overcome those feelings in order to be a more productive person in society.
Role of the ClientJune is a mother who has feelings of being overworked, stressed about being a good mother, and has feelings of depression. As the client, June will need to feel comfortable enough with the therapist in order to be able to discuss feelings that she may have taken into her unconscious level. Maybe by bringing in both her daughter and her mother, June maybe is able to discuss with them in a comfortable environment the things that are bothering her. June will need to continue to work on her relationships with both her daughter and her mother in order for her therapy to be successful.
Therapeutic OutcomesSuccessful therapy in June’s case will be accomplished when June is able to bring her unconscious memories to her conscious level. By doing so she will be able to understand her dream and possibly overcome her depression and feelings of inadequacies of a mother. Jung believed “the goal of life is individuation” (p96). June will be successful in this therapy if she is able to accomplish the goals and is no longer having these feelings. If June is able to accomplish these things, she may be able to come to terms with the memories that are behind her dream of a rock band. Although her dream is subjective due to the fact the band or audience is unknown or important to June, her memories have cause her to suppress these feelings.
Personal reaction/evaluation to this theoryI think that Jungian’s Theory is a complex theory, yet a lot can be learned from dream analysis. The study of the unconscious and conscious memories is something that a lot of clients could benefit from. Especially children who tend to suppress memories in order to feel safe. I think that we can learn a lot from Carl Yung and feel that it could be a theory that I may use in counseling.
