Aging Careerist Research indicates that most baby boomers will work at least part time well into their 70s. An aging careerist understands that a successful career path takes into account career transitions; the aging factor; and phased retirement. An aging careerist understands that (s)he is the CEO of Me, My Soul and I - a metaphor based loosely on Tom Peter’s personal branding concepts.
Anima (Latin, “soul”). The unconscious, feminine side of a man’s personality. She is personified in dreams by images of women ranging from prostitute and seductress to spiritual guide (Wisdom). She is the Eros principle; hence a man’s anima development is reflected in how he relates to women. Identification with the anima can appear as moodiness, effeminacy, and over sensitivity. Jung calls the anima the archetype of life itself.
Animus (Latin, “spirit”). The unconscious, masculine side of a woman’s personality. He personifies the logos principle. Identification with the animus can cause a woman to become rigid, opinionated, and argumentative. More positively, he is the inner man who acts as a bridge between the woman’s ego and her own creative resources in the unconscious.
Archetypes Irrepresentable in themselves, but their effects appear in consciousness as the archetypal images and ideas. These are universal patterns or motifs, which come from the collective unconscious and are the basic content of religions, mythologies, legends, and fairytales. They emerge in individuals through dreams and visions.
Association A spontaneous flow of interconnected thoughts and images around a specific idea, determined by unconscious connections.
Authentic Self A metaphor or image holder used to describe the inner space where the conscious and unconscious contents blend to produce a wholly new attitude, situation or perspective. Individual development of the Authentic Self allows one to ‘have eyes that see and ears that hear.’ It is called many things. Some examples are: higher self, true self, wisdom self, soul, God, inner man, true human being, atman, transcendent function, the other, the third something or inner master.
Collective unconscious A structural layer of the human psyche containing inherited elements, including the whole spiritual heritage of humankind’s evolution. It is distinct from the personal unconscious. (See also archetype.)
Complex An emotionally charged group of ideas or images. At the “center” of a complex is an archetype or archetypal image.
Constellate Whenever there is a strong emotional reaction to a person or a situation, a complex has been constellated (activated).
Depth Coaching As with regular coaching, the depth coaching process is framed as a relationship that is symetric and not paternalistic. A depth coach has first hand knowledge of dream analysis, archetypes, as well as techniques such as meditation to facilitate the process. They are life-long learners engaged in on-going training and/or personal analysis. Credentialing in psychology and/or counseling is preferrable since this type of coaching entails transformation of the personality.
Ego The central complex (‘I’) in the field of consciousness. A strong ego can relate objectively to activated contents of the unconscious (i.e., other complexes), rather than identifying with them, which appears as a state of possession.
Eros In Greek mythology, the personification of love, a cosmogonic force of nature; psychologically, the function of relationship. (See also anima, animus, Logos.)
Extraversion A mode of psychological orientation where the movement of energy is toward the outer world. (Compare introversion.)
Feeling One of the four psychic functions. It is a rational function, which evaluates the worth of relationships and situations. Feeling must be distinguished from emotion, which is due to an activated complex.
Groked Robert A. Heinlein originally coined the term in his 1961 novel Stranger in a Strange Land. The current slang usage connotes understanding beyond empathy and intimacy. When one groks, one literally understands another’s frame of reference and/or a deeper level of the meaning of a central idea or concept.
Imago Dei The image of God in which we are made. How the Imago Dei is expressed depends upon the individual’s culture, religious leanings and age.
Individuation An inner process which involves an increasing awareness of one’s unique psychological reality, including personal strengths and limitations. It leads to the experience of the Self (Soul) as the regulating center of the psyche as well as an enhanced compassion for both self (ego) and human beings in general. Individuation is informed by the archetypal idea of wholeness which in turn depends on a vital relationship between ego and unconscious. The aim is not to overcome one’s personal psychology, to become perfect, but to become familiar with it thus increasing one’s ability to live authentically.
Inflation A state in which one has an unrealistically high or low (negative inflation) sense of identity. It indicates a regression of consciousness into unconsciousness, which typically happens when the ego takes too many unconscious contents upon itself and loses the faculty of discrimination.
Introversion A mode of psychological orientation where the movement of energy is toward the inner world. (Compare extraversion.)
Libido Psychic energy in general. “All psychological phenomena can be considered as manifestations of energy, in the same way that all physical phenomena have been understood as energic manifestations every since Robert Mayer discovered the law of the conservation of energy. Subjectively and psychologically, this energy is conceived as desire. I call it libido, using the word in its original sense, which is by no means only sexual.” [Psychoanalysis and Neurosis, CW 4, par. 567]
Intuition One of the four psychic functions. It is the irrational function, which tells us the possibilities inherent in the present. In contrast to sensation (the function which perceives immediate reality through the physical senses) intuition perceives via the unconscious, e.g., flashes of insight of unknown origin.
Logos The principle of logic and structure, traditionally associated with spirit, the father world and the God-image. For moderns it is associated with patriarchy. (See also animus and Eros.)
Metaphor A metaphor is a device known for usage in literature, especially in poetry, where with few words, emotions and associations from one context are associated with objects and entities in a different context. For example we find Shakespeare writing in “As You Like It,” All the world is a stage / and all the men and women merely players. Another example is Lets go deep before we leap, a metaphor I use to describe using symbols from dreams, etc., in our life planning processes.
Participation mystique A term derived from the anthropologist Levy-Bruhl, denoting a primitive, psychological connection with objects, or between persons, resulting in a strong unconscious bond.
Persona (Latin, “actor’s mask”). One’s social role, derived from the expectations of society and early training. A strong ego relates to the outside world through a flexible persona; identification with a specific persona (doctor, scholar, artist, etc.) inhibits psychological developments.
Personal unconscious It is the personal layer of the unconscious, distinct from the collective unconscious containing lost memories, painful ideas that are repressed and subliminal perceptions.
Phased Retirement Research indicates that approximately 70% of the baby boomers will work until age 70 or beyond. During midlife and beyond many engage in part time work, consulting or entrepeuneurial activity. The reasons for working are varied ranging from financial need to vocation to boredom. The big difference is about balance. Many who engage in a working retirement are focused on a healthy balance between personal interests such as leisure activities or travel and work or volunteerism.
Projection The process whereby an unconscious quality or characteristic of oneís own is perceived and reacted to in an outer object or person. Projection of the anima or animus onto a real woman or man is experienced as falling in love. Frustrated expectations indicate the need to withdraw projections, in order to relate to the reality of other people.
Provisional life A term used to describe an attitude toward life that is more or less imaginary, not rooted in the here and now, commonly associated with puer psychology.
Psyche Greek for soul which is defined as mind, emotions and will. When defined in this way, psychology literally means the study of the soul.
Puer aeternus (Latin, “eternal youth”). Indicates a certain type of man who remains too long in adolescent psychology, generally associated with a strong unconscious attachment to the mother (actually or symbolic). Positive traits are spontaneity and openness to change. His female counterpart is the puella, an “eternal girl” with a corresponding attachment to the father-world.
Religious attitude Psychologically, an attitude informed by the careful observation of, and respect for, invisible forces and personal experience.
Sensation “One of the four psychic functions.” Please see either “feeling” or “intuition” as a guide. It is the irrational function that perceives immediate reality through the physical senses. (Compare intuition.)
Self The archetype of wholeness and the regulating center of the personality. It is experienced as a transpersonal power, which transcends the ego, e.g., God.
Senex (Latin, “old man”). Associated with attitudes that come with advancing age. Negatively, this can mean cynicism, rigidity and extreme conservatism; positive traits are responsibility, orderliness and self-discipline. A well-balanced personality functions appropriately with the puer-senex polarity.
Shadow An unconscious part of the personality characterized by traits and attitudes, whether negative or positive, which the conscious ego tends to reject or ignore. It is personified in dreams by persons of the same sex as the dreamer. Consciously assimilating oneís shadow usually results in an increase of energy.
Sign Is different than a symbol in that there is common agreement as to the meaning. For example traffic signs. See Symbol.
Symbol “Habentibus symbolum facilis est transitus” (For those who own the symbol, it is easy to pass). An object or image used to represent thoughts, feelings, or impulses that are not easily verbalized. Jung distinguished between symbol and sign. In Symbols of Transformation we read “a symbol is an indefinite expression with many meanings, pointing to something not easily defined and therefore not fully known. But the sign always has a fixed meaning, because it is a conventional abbreviation for, or a commonly accepted indication of, something known.”
Synchronicity An acausal connecting principle. A principle that links events acausally in terms of the subjective meaningfulness of the coincidence, rather than by cause and effect. In other words, a meaningful coincidence.
Thinking “One of the four psychic functions.” Please see either “feeling” or “intuition” as a guide. It is the rational function that employs the mental process of interpreting what is perceived. (Compare feeling.)
Transcendent function The reconciling “third” which emerges from the unconscious (informed of a symbol or a new attitude) after the conflicting opposites have been consciously differentiated, and the tension between them held.
Transference and Counter Transference Particular cases of projection commonly used to describe the unconscious, emotional bonds that arise between two persons in an analytic or therapeutic relationship.
Uroboros The mythical snake or dragon that eats its own tail. It is a symbol both for individuation as a self-contained, circular process, and for narcissistic self-absorption.
Very Important Questions (VIQs) The ability to come to a rational understanding of archetypal events demands that we separate the personal from the impersonal. Asking seemingly simple questions such as “Who Am I” can facilitate self awareness if one is imaginative enough to suspend the disbelief of the ego.
