Art Therapy Related to Carl Jung

Art Therapy Pioneer (Carl Jung) Paper

Carl Jung is known as one of the founders of psychology. Jung’s young life was one filled with chosen isolation and religion. But as he grew older he began to have a keen interest in the sciences, which posed a predicament for him in the terms of religion versus science. When Jung went to college he decided to focus on medicine and upon graduation went to further focus his interest on psychology. When first graduating from college Jung started working with psychiatric patients. While working with these patients Jung and a group of his colleges started researching what may have affects on the psyche. They believed that they had found a “group of ideas” or complex’s that control the unconscious of the person (Encyclopedia of World Biography). These findings are a major part of what lead Jung into using art as a way for patients to uncover their unconscious.

Many of Jung’s ideas are still widely used today. Jung along with Sigmund Freud both started the psychoanalysis type of theoretical orientation. Even though their theories differ the main ideas are very similar. The basic similarities of their theoretical orientations are; they both had basic methods of treatment for psychological disorders, theories about human behavior and both investigated the way the conscious and subconscious relate and work within the person. Apart from the many similarities that Jung and Freud’s theoretical orientations had Jung also developed his own ideas and practices. His main idea about psychoanalysis was based around dreams, art, therapy and mythology (Sabini). His ideas about psychoanalysis are based mainly on deciphering the unconscious. Jung believed that people would be able to get in touch with their unconscious through the use of art and other forms of expressions or experiences. One of the theories that Carl Jung developed was the Art Therapy theory; which encouraged patients to express themselves and understand their unconscious...