The Soulwork Center

Of course, this knowledge can come in many different ways.  Perhaps you have tried other types of therapy and still feel there are issues or areas of your life that remain mysterious, unknown, or unhealed.  It may be that you have read about Jungian therapy on a blog, or in a book, or perhaps you have attended a workshop or class at a local Jung Center or Institute and were intrigued by the ideas you heard.  

The best way to see if Jungian therapy would work for you is to schedule some sessions with a Jungian analyst.

The answer to this question is yes!   A certified (otherwise referred to as a Diplomate) Jungian Analyst has completed a prescribed program of study that is in alignment with the standards accepted by the International Association for Analytical Psychology (iaap.org), and is a certified member of that organization, in addition to holding membership in a local society of Jungian Analysts.  Ken James, director of The Soulwork Center, is a member of the IAAP and of the Chicago Society of Jungian Analysts (www.jungchicago.org).

The training to become a diplomate analyst requires that the trainee undergo personal analysis prior to and during training, as well as at least four years of intensive course work and supervision of clinical work, followed by control analysis (an analysis about the trainee's own clinical practice).  There are oral and written examinations throughout the training period, as well as requirements for the completion of extensive case analyses and a dissertation or thesis covering a significant area of Jungian thought and practice.  

Any therapist who has studied Jung's ideas may call themselves a "Jungian-oriented therapist", so it will be important for the potential client to ask the therapist why they consider their work to be Jungian in nature.  Many non-analyst practitioners are well trained and work within the Jungian tradition, while others may be using the current attraction which Jung's ideas hold for our culture as the reason for calling themselves Jungian.  At the very least, a "Jungian-oriented psychotherapist" should be able to show long-term, consistent study of Jungian thought, and should also be able to say that they have undergone Jungian analysis themselves for a significant period of time.

Jung's ideas cannot be learned solely through academic or literary study.  Jungian psychology is experiential in nature, and there is no substitute for directly undergoing Jungian analysis with a trained, licensed and certified practitioner of this art.