Examining the psyche on the shores of lake Zurich

The Jung Institute in Zurich. Jung Institute Zurich

Psychologists from around the world have gathered near Zurich for a course at one of the world's most important centres for analytical psychology, the institute founded by the Swiss psychiatrist, Carl Gustav Jung.

About 60 students are currently taking part in the annual two-week “Intensive Study Programme” at the C.G. Jung Institute in Küsnacht, learning more about the human psyche from renowned figures in the field of analytical psychology.

The programme, run by director of studies, John Gramrose, includes lectures and workshops with such tantalising titles as “Depression and the Dark Night of the Soul”, “The Harmony Complex — Or Why Some Men Are Afraid of Women” and “The Clinical Use of Fairy Tales”.

Gramrose says the event attracts not only serious students of Jungian psychology, but also those seeking a short-term study at the institute.

The institute was established in 1948 as a foundation to train analysts and as a centre for research. Jung himself designed the concept and the first set of regulations for the institute. He also supervised its professional and academic activities until his death in 1961.

For a number of years Jung collaborated with Sigmund Freud, and in 1911 became the founder of his own school of psychology now called “Analytical Psychology”. It is an approach to psychology that aims at integration and maturation of one’s personality.

Jung is best known as the originator of key ideas in modern psychology such as the collective unconscious, archetypes, animus/anima, individuation, shadow and synchronicity. Throughout his life, Jung developed and broadened his theoretical framework, drawing both on his clinical practice and his study of such wide-ranging subjects as alchemy, Eastern religions, astrology, mythology, and fairy tales.

Jung’s ideas and writings have become increasingly popular. Various Jungian study programmes, institutes and societies have sprung up around the world, but for many the institute in Küsnacht is still considered the spiritual home of Jungian psychology.

swissinfo with agencies