The 21 best books by Carl Gustav Jung

A selection of the most outstanding works of this fundamental author of psychoanalysis.

Throughout the history of psychology numerous authors have developed a large number of explanatory theories of the human mind and the disorders and problems that afflict it.

From different schools and currents of thought, the various scholars of the psyche have focused their attention on specific aspects of the mind, creating a large number of concepts and ways of understanding our being.

The postulates of psychoanalysis

One of the most popularly known is psychoanalysis, which focuses on the psyche.which focuses on the drives and unconscious forces to explain the ways of facing the reality of each one, including those of subjects with mental disorders.

Although the most popular and one of the most prolific authors of the psychoanalytic current is its founder, Sigmund Freud, he is not the only author of great importance in the history of psychodynamic psychology. In fact, from him other conceptualizations of the psyche have emerged that question some aspects of the original theory, forming other schools.

One of them, which separates itself from the more orthodox psychoanalytic tradition, is that of Carl Gustav Jung, from whose work we will now make a selection of his twenty best books.

Jung and analytical psychology

Considered one of the neo-Freudians, a group whose thought partially diverged from the Freudian conception of the psyche, Carl Gustav Jung is the founder of analytical psychology.. In this way of understanding the human mind it was the psychic energy and not only the libidinal drive that moved behavior, leaving the sexual in a relatively secondary role.

He also differs from Freudian theory in considering that there is not only an individual unconscious, but proposes the existence of a partially inherited collective one. In other words, he focuses not only on the psychology of the individual but also on that of the collective. The analysis of both types of unconscious and of the structure of the personality from basic processes are a fundamental part of analytical psychology.

Jung is also known for a more spiritual conception of the human being, Jung studied extensively the symbolism of both expressed and inhibited acts and feelings.. Jung is indebted to concepts such as complexes and archetypes, elements that contribute to the creation of one's own identity and individuation and make us who we are.

Also of great interest is the analysis of dreams and spontaneous creations, which for this author arise as a method of compensation and clarification of consciousness.

Twenty books by Carl Gustav Jung

Although not as prolific as other authors, Jung's work is extensive and one of the most influential within the psychodynamic current throughout the twentieth century..

Let's see below some of the main works of this author.

1. The Red Book

Originally called Liber Novus, this book is a work that Jung took about 15 years to complete.. In it can be seen the bases of most of his work, being considered by the author himself as the apex of his later elaborations.

Some of the themes that can begin to be observed are the existence of the most relevant archetypes or the connection between the structure of the mind and culture. Jung elaborated the Red Book through self-exploration and confrontation with his own unconscious, through the technique of active imagination. As a curiosity, it should be noted that despite being a work of great importance, it would not be known until many years after his death, well into 2009, due to the initial opposition of his heirs to its publication.

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2. Archetypes and the collective unconscious

This book deals with one of the most relevant themes in Jung's work: the idea of a collective unconscious.. In it we also observe one of the main concepts created by Jung, the archetype as a psychic expression of the inherited structures of our peers, this being the basis on which this important work is based.

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3. Psychological types

In this work Jung explores the different types of personality according to three basic processes according to three basic processes: the libidinal (that marks if we are introverted or extroverted), the rational (that indicates us if we are reflexive or sensitive) and the irrational (that lets see if we are intuitive perceptive). These processes mark us both conscious and unconscious attitudes, provoking a certain way of being.

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4. Man and his symbols

Dreams and symbolic elements such as culture and art are elements of great importance for the creator. are elements of great importance for the creator of analytical psychology. Inside this volume we can visualize how the author, based on the analysis of dreams, proposes an explanation of the deep meaning of our dream projections, art, myths and even our actions in everyday life.

This is the last work written by the author before his death, and was intended as a way to bring Jung's theoretical conceptions of symbolism to the general public.

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5. Complexes and the unconscious

Another of the great concepts introduced by Jung was that of the complex.The complexes, trapped emotional experiences that fail to be consciously recognized and remain trapped in the personal unconscious, generally coming from repressed experiences that involve emotional shocks.

This work explores the unconscious or shadow of the person, and its representation in diverse facets such as dreams.

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6. Aion, contributions to the symbolisms of the self

A work centered on the conception of the self, or selbstthe psychic totality whose attainment is the goal of the individuation process. This book employs the symbolism of the Christian religion, making Christ an equivalent of the self.and alchemy to explain what it is and how we structure our selfhood, integrating the various concepts and archetypes that lead us to the attainment of individuality.

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7. Conflicts of the infantile soul

Childhood and youth are fundamental periods of development in the configuration of the human being.. The existence of conflicts and serious damage in these stages can cause serious damage that can affect the individual throughout the rest of his life.

Throughout this volume Jung makes reference to this fact, still manifesting some Freudian influence and analyzing the effects of child psychosexual development and the importance of parents and environment.

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8. Psychology and education

Thematically linked to the previous work, in this volume Jung continues to be concerned with childhood and human development.. In this case the author links culture and symbology to the construction of the psyche, dealing with issues of pedagogy and educational psychology.

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9. The psychology of transference

The concept of transference is a constant in the psychoanalytic or psychodynamic current.. Understood as the process by which the patient projects onto the therapist his or her feelings, emotions and lived experiences, the transferential relationship is a complicated and essential part of the therapeutic relationship between patient and practitioner (although therapy for this author should be based on the collaboration between patient and therapist and not on transferential processes).

In this book, Jung reflects on the complexity of transferential processes and his observations about them, making an obvious parallel with the practice of alchemy.

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10. Psychogenesis of mental illnesses

Much of Carl Gustav Jung's early work deals with mental disorders.. In this case, throughout the book in question we will observe the author's conclusions and the therapeutic practices employed during the treatment of subjects with mental disorders.

Topics such as the curability of the disorders, the way to understand the processes that produce the pathology or the effect of the unconscious in these cases are some of the themes that are reflected throughout the essays present in this compilation.

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11. Psychic energy and essence of the dream

Analytical or depth psychology is largely based on the idea of psychic energy as the basis of the psyche and human action. and human action. Understanding this energy as the soul and emotional force that governs us, this book proceeds to visualize in a theoretical way the bases of behavior and the transformations that take place of this drive energy (such as dreams or complexes). Also in this work he relates the unconscious with the instinctive and spirituality.

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12. Formations of the unconscious

In this work Jung delves into those formations through which the unconscious is expressed and channeled, such as literature, poetry or artistic representation.such as literature, poetry or artistic representation. It deals with the symbolic elements of each element, such as the identification and transformation of the work itself.

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13. Two writings on analytical psychology

This volume gathers two of the first essays of the creator of analytical psychologyIn them, reference is made to the relationship between the two types of unconscious, individual and collective, as well as between these and the structured set of the ego.

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14. Writings on spirituality and transcendence

A strongly spiritual man, religion is an important element for Jung and relatively frequent throughout his work. and relatively frequent throughout his work. Regardless of the specific religious denomination in question, religious belief and spirituality are part of the culture and the way of seeing the world and acting in it. In this book the author makes a dissertation on spirituality and transcendence trying to understand how the mind is in search of a meaning for reality and being.

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15. The practice of psychotherapy

For Jung, the individual who suffers a disorder suffers it because of the inhibition of his unconscious.. The main objective of psychotherapy, then, is to facilitate the redirection of the individuation process from the dialogue between the conscious and the unconscious. In this compilation work, the writings included focus especially on Jung's conception of psychotherapy, its context, the collaboration with the patient (who must actively collaborate in the therapy) and the way it is carried out.

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16. Synchronicity as a principle of acausal relations

Synchronicity is the coincidence of two phenomena linked to each other in a way that, although their linkage makes sense, it cannot be causal. In other words, one situation is not a consequence of the other, but their linkage is not limited to coincidence in time. This fact, which the author relates to intuition, is explored in the work that concerns us.

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17. Response to Job

Using the biblical account of the Book of Job, Jung establishes an interesting controversy between the emotional and the rational, the person and the shadow.the person and the shadow. In this work we can observe the suffering caused by the passions and emotions, which are unleashed by the attempt to make them rational. It is an interesting reflection of the psychology of the unconscious.

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18. Civilization in transition

This work gathers several texts by the authorIn them we can contemplate the process of social transformation of the time, with varied sociological themes such as the role of psychology at the time, the role of women, love and catastrophe, the conceptions of different peoples or the concepts of good and evil according to analytical psychology.

It is worth taking into account the historical context in which the work was published, from the end of the First World War to shortly before the construction of the Berlin Wall (passing through the Roaring Twenties, the Great Depression and the Second World War, among others).

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19. Memories, dreams, thoughts

A work realized in collaboration with Aniela JafféIn this volume Jung reveals part of his autobiography, exploring the author's childhood and personal life. It is not only limited to a biography of these aspects, but also includes his work as a researcher of the human mind, his theories and hypotheses on the unconscious, the role of symbolism and phylogenetic history, the therapeutic relationship and psychotherapy.

It is therefore a book that helps to understand the figure of the author, his history and his deepest thoughts about the human psyche and the role of the psychologist.

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20. Metamorphoses and symbols of the libido

Although other volumes better reflect Jung's ideas and theories, this work has been considered in this list because it is the work that initiated the first divergences that culminated in the separation of Jung from Freud, due to the secondary conception of the sexual aspects and the rejection of the Oedipus complex (in the second part) for the creator of depth psychology.

21. Freud and psychoanalysis

This collection of writings by Carl Jung contains texts that belong to the period in which psychoanalysis was finally consolidated in Europe, especially during the first two decades of the twentieth century. Here the principles of Freudian theory are presented, as well as concrete aspects of how it used to be applied.The book is a collection of essays on Freudian theory, specific aspects of how it was applied, and Jung's criticism of what he considered to be an asphyxiating discipline that considered the religious and spiritual dimension of the human being in too rigid a manner.

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