ABSTRACT
This chapter highlights Jung's contributions to the field of art therapy and explores several important notions, among them, how the ego processes unconscious material images and art in particular. Jung's thoughts and theoretical concepts provide an essential foundation for the practice and application of Jungian art therapy, yet Analytical Psychology Jung's name for his own work extends far beyond the chapter. Margaret Naumburg was sympathetic to Jung's ideas at the time she founded Walden in 1915. Both Naumburg and Florence Cane undertook a Jungian analysis with Beatrice Hinkle, the first American psychoanalyst who turned away from Freudian theory because of his views on women and the feminine psyche. Psychic energy, evoked by such things as dreams, words, art images, or relationships, is a dynamic force that provides will, purpose, and the potential for transformation. Jungian art therapy is viewed as a hero's journey, a descent into the unconscious, an alchemical process, or one of initiation.
