ABSTRACT

This chapter provides an overview and history of Jung’s discovery of the archetype and the archetypal image. It describes the psychological role of archetypes in Jungian psychology, and in Jungian art therapy. The chapter describes the specific bipolar structure of the archetype; how it forms the central core of the complex and so how the archetype is in relation to the human psyche and the body. The archetype of the Self is discussed and the Self’s relationship with the ego. In addition, clinical examples are provided that illustrate how archetypes might express themselves in the analyst and analysand in session, how they might be observed in art directly as the archetypal image, and their healing quality in Jungian art therapy. Jung’s model relies on two key archetypes: the principle of the Self and Individuation, both of which provide an organizing pattern to the development of the psyche; both are also discussed in the clinical examples.