postJungian

PostJungian refers to a current or tendency in depth psychology that grows out of Jungian theory but moves beyond some of Jung’s original formulations. The label describes thinkers and practices that reinterpret Jung’s concepts—such as archetypes, the collective unconscious, and individuation—through contemporary philosophy, literature, and cultural critique. The term is not uniformly used, and practitioners may identify with archetypal, imaginal, or soul-centered approaches rather than with any single school.

Core postJungian ideas center on the psyche as a field of images and meanings rather than solely a system of energy or drives. Imagination, myth, and storytelling are given central roles in psychological life. Inner images are treated as active agents that shape perception and behavior. PostJungian work often critiques reductionist models that attribute mental life only to biology or reflex, and it tends to emphasize meaning-making, personhood, and the sense of soul or spiritual dimension within experience.

Historically, the movement is most closely associated with James Hillman, founder of archetypal psychology, who urged shifting focus from psychodynamics to the imagination and the image. Other contributors—writers and therapists who blend Jungian ideas with phenomenology, literature, and spirituality—have expanded the field, though the term postJungian is sometimes used interchangeably with archetypal psychology rather than as a distinct, widely delineated school.

Practices commonly associated with postJungian work include dream work, active imagination, and the interpretation of myths and cultural artifacts. Therapy and analysis aim to cultivate imaginative engagement with life, seeing personal experience as embedded in broader symbolic patterns rather than in isolation. Critics note potential gaps in empirical grounding, while proponents argue that the approach offers a richer account of meaning, image, and soul in human psychology.