Jung'S Contribution to Adullt Development: the Difficultand Misutnderstood Path of Individuation

Abstract

Although adult development and adult education researchers and theorists are sympathetic to the contributions of Carl G. Jung (1875-1961), there is little evidence in the literature of attention to the intricacies of Jung's plan for achieving individuation, the primary developmental task of adulthood, in his view. Jung's scheme involves a close attention to dream material and integration of the meanings they contain. Rigorous attention to, and integration of, unconscious material is the process by which adults begin to achieve individuation. In Jung's view, it is this difficult path that leads eventually to the improvement of society in general, through the advancement of individual adults who are willing to come to terms with the unknown psychic background.

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