Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961) was a Swiss psychiatrist and founder of analytical psychology, also referred to as “Jungian psychology.” This branch of psychology emphasizes the exploration of the unconscious, focusing on both repressed personal experiences and relationships to universal archetypes. Early in his career, Jung was profoundly influenced by his friend and well-known psychologist Sigmund Freud, but he eventually diverged from Freud’s theories. Jung believed Freud over-emphasized sexual repression and failed to pursue meaningful recovery with patients. Jung’s analytical psychology prioritized uncovering the authentic self through the process of individuation. 

Jung’s father was a pastor in the Swiss Reformed Church. When he was a young man, Jung initially intended to follow in his father’s footsteps and join the clergy. In 1895, after becoming interested in his own dreams and the recurring symbols he found there, he decided to abandon his plans of becoming a pastor and instead study science and medicine. In 1901, Jung began working at a hospital in Zürich, Switzerland, where he explored alternative medicinal techniques, such as somnambulism and using mediums, to explore patients’ psyches. While Jung believed that psychology could move away from the metaphysical realm into the study of empirical science, he felt that alternative methods might be needed to gain access to deeper levels of the unconscious.