Träume als Sprache der Seele

Hans Dieckmann

(My note: This passage of the book is translated by me from the original Czech version, so there might be some mistakes. The page may not match the original either. I am also not sure if this book is available in English)

Attitude to unconsciousness, page 13

“Due to the above, in the therapeutic process in analytical psychology, the strengthening and development of the self is worked only in the first phase. The second phase or the second essential part is to mediate a conscious understanding of that structurally given developmental process, the self no longer plays the role of captain, but rather the role of helmsman. Ego is no longer the ruler of the psyche, but the self is taking over the service of the inner, superior laws of the whole personality, which correspond to the spirit of the best possibilities for the development of this whole. Such an attitude naturally presupposes that there are meaningful or potentially meaningful processes in the unconscious, to which the individual can gain access only on the basis of personal experience. Naturally, we cannot expect or impose such an attitude on the patient. The patient can and should be skeptical and critical and should carefully examine his or her own psychological material. There is nothing more dangerous in our field than the uncritical acceptance of a ready-made opinion on a relatively unknown thing. Despite all the research so far, the human soul is still a very unknown area. A similar attitude is necessarily needed by the analyst, even though, unlike the patient, he has a lot of experience and certain knowledge. Whether he is aware of it or not, under the influence of these experiences, he will expect not only repressed experiences in the manifestations of his patient’s unconsciousness, but also meaningful, prospectively final material, and his attention will be focused in this direction. However, this puts it in a state that we have described as the observer’s attitude to the observed object.”