Latest Articles
The Rhetoric of Paranoia in an ESTJ Culture
Erika Raney
March 6, 2024
In this patriarchal and heavily capitalistic culture that privileges the thinking functions, feeling seems to dominate the unconscious collective psyche. In the rise of cults of personality in their contemporary manifestation, the inflated extraverted thinking function establishes a goal; then anything that does not adhere to that universal aim is excised. In this crusade-like paradigm, connection to the genuine feelings and needs of a diverse community is lost as unhealthy extraverted thinking tightens its grip on power.
Healing the Ancestral Hauntings of the Archetypal Mother
Ellen Robinson
October 18, 2023
My mother is a ghost now. She died the last day of 2016. She was the person nearest and dearest to me for much of my life, yet it seemed we never quite understood and accepted each other unconditionally. She haunts me as an unfulfilled spirit when I have anxious thoughts, or fearful premonitions, or self-admonition, but also in old sayings, endearing quirks, and the names of flowers and trees. And she inhabits my dreams, mostly as an unhappy child.
Trumpism
Aviva Brown
June 9, 2023
A typological analysis of the psychological forces constellated in Trumpism helps explain the situation in the United States today. The co-occurrence of the savior and trickster archetypes represents an awareness that a catastrophe has already happened that must be consciously integrated. A psychological—as opposed to a political—understanding of the forces at work in the collective psyche is necessary.
From the Archives
Getting Beyond ‘Inner’ and ‘Outer’
Adam Frey
December 11, 2012
Introverted thinking is more concerned with satisfying a subtle, personally perceived standard of truth—like Barack Obama in his first debate with Mitt Romney. People saw Obama hesitating and looking away from his opponent. I read that as him double-checking to make sure that what he was about to say would meet a benchmark of critical thinking.
Type for Non-Normal Populations
Ann Holm
April 6, 2016
When does “normal” end and “not normal” begin? Sometimes it isn’t obvious, especially when individuals are just outside of the boundaries of normal. Consider mild Asperger’s Syndrome or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Can these individuals benefit from the Jungian principles that underpin the MBTI® or other type tools and instruments?
Exploring Function Coupling Interactions
Robert McAlpine
July 6, 2017
Giannini’s model differs importantly from Myers’ in that it does not restrict us to just one predominant function pair associated with one’s preferred perceiving and judging processes. His model provides a greater degree of flexibility in the developmental expression of type-related behaviors as well as enhanced adaptive power for engaging and responding to our various environments.
The Integrity of Carl Jung
Jennifer Soper
October 1, 2014
First comes the development of the Hero; next is the “fall,” which brings awareness that something is missing, leading to the rejection of the heroic inflation and the longing for more. Then comes the real “journey,” holding the tension between our highly conscious dominant/superior function and our much less conscious inferior function.
Becoming Captain Kirk
Susan Viglione
April 1, 2015
Kirk develops depth and integrity as he learns to harness the power of his dominant function and come to terms with the shadow parts of his personality. Ultimately, he is also able to cultivate his ego-dystonic functions and realize a more integrated and mature self capable of fulfilling his potential for charismatic and visionary leadership.
Question of the Day IV
October 4, 2011
Is it INTJ or INTP? Sometimes the MBTI code’s judging/perceiving (J/P) dichotomy is extremely difficult to nail down—showing a low preference clarity on the report and proving elusive to verify. INTJ vs. INTP seems especially problematic. Why is J/P so difficult? Do you have any tips for verification?
Dream Tending
Teresa Nowak
January 10, 2018
“Interpretations” of dreams must be filtered through a layer of consciousness. One contribution of dream tending as an effective tool for Jungian dream work is the value it places on the sensing function as an imaginal way of knowing. Thus, it de-emphasizes the intuitive and thinking functions many Jungians use in traditional dream analysis and brings sensing and feeling to the fore.
Sex, Madness, and Spirituality
Suzanne Cremen
December 16, 2020
Many women, and not least women with dominant Ni, intuitively know that their spirituality, their creativity, and their sexuality arise from the same source. The priestess may be found in all walks of life; she is the woman who mediates between matter and spirit, between the human and divine realms, who “will always honor sexual energy as a link to the source of life itself.”