Personality can be defined as the individual’s characteristic habits of thought emotion and behaviour as well as psychological mechanisms-hidden or not really behind these patterns. The influence of both genes and genetics factors alongside upbringing, traditions and encounter are accepted as influencing an individual’s personality. Within the counselling arena the client’s unique individuality will impact their movements and way to finding strategies to issues and problems they bring.
This kind of essay will be evaluating Carl Jung’s type theory of personality which usually suggested that there were specific personality types into which will each individual could possibly be placed. This essay will likely discuss just how useful the usage of his character type theory is within the counselling setting when identifying the client’s goals. Behind Carl Jung’s personality types theory happen to be his principles of the framework and mechanics of the individual psyche.
This individual proposed within a similar problematic vein to his contemporary Sigmund Freud, which the human mind comprised of distinct interrelating systems. The initial system is those of the ‘ego’ which principally the mindful mind can be. Close by to the ego may be the ‘personal unconscious’, which includes anything which is not currently conscious, nevertheless can be. The private unconscious retains all the persons unique encounters and recollections which can be brought into the mindful when needed. Laying behind the ‘personal unconscious’ is the ‘collective unconcious’ which in turn contains ‘archetypes’ which are varieties or symbols that are described by everyone across all sociieties and cultures.
The collective unconcious according to Jung is definitely something that almost all humans were born with and yet will never be conscious of. Jung was not the first theorists to propose that individuals persona can be classified by their ‘type’. Indeed having been inspired somewhat by the ancient Greek physician Galen.
Galen produced the initially type theory of character which was associated with earlier concepts and it proposed that balance of bodily fluids in the individual motivated their different behaviours and made a person into whether phlegmatic, choleric, sanguine or melancholic ‘type’. The initially categorisation Jung made of the personality type was that of the persons ‘attitude’. An attitude, in respect to Jung is an individual’s predisposition as to how a psychic energy was described by the person in response with their world. He proposed that there were two opposing attitudes, extroversion and introversion. These two attitudes performed both while opposing yet complimentary makes.
The introverted person is far more aware of their inner community and their psychic energy is far more focused in that particular direction. The introverted attitude is far more drawn toward internal rather than external evaluation.. In contrast an extrovert person has a even more outward moving psychic strength and they are attracted more to an objective way which is based on their adjacent environment.
Jung felt which a person was born with either predominance to extroversion or perhaps introversion which their type was not adjustable over the course of their particular life. However , he contended that both equally attitudes of extraversion and introversion can be found in every person and therefore once labelling somebody as a great extrovert having been referring to the greater dominant created attitude. Jung suggested that whilst the persons attitude type established the direction of their clairvoyant energy, there was also several further primary ways pertaining to the person to perceive and interpret reality which he termed ‘functions’. Jung divided people in to either working as ‘Thinking’, ‘Feeling’, Feeling, and ‘Intuitive’ types.
These four types were broken into two diametrically opposite couple, therefore thinking is the opposing of sense and feeling is the opposite of intuition. Accordingly if the persons setting was via a pondering function chances are they would see the world analytically using their ‘head’ more while a person who had a more produced feeling function would have a much more empathic ‘heart driven view of the world. Both ‘thinkers ‘and ‘feelers’ distributed the fact that they had a realistic perspective on the planet as they equally require the act of reason.
As opposed the functions of ‘sensation’ and ‘intuition’ are both illogical as they do involve explanation but rather result from either internal or external stimuli affecting anybody. If a one who has a designed ‘sensation’ function they will mostly perceive the world through their particular sense organs, whilst somebody who is more user-friendly inclined will certainly react to the world from a far more immediate inner response, by way of example they rely on their ‘hunches’ or ‘gut reaction’ to a experience. Jung’ theory recommended that when the’ attitude’ and the ‘function’ form of an individual was combined they are often defined as one of a conceivable eight even more refined types.
The extraverted sensing type, the introverted sensing type, the extroverted feeling type, the introverted feeling type, the vibrant intuitive type, the introverted intuitive type, the extroverted thinking type and finally the introverted thinking type. In accordance to Jung any individuality and behaviour could be fixed into one of such eight types. For example someone who is an extrovert sense type will love being around people and take pleasure from such things as music or the disciplines.
In contrast a great introverted thinker will be more centered on analysing the world from a reasoned approach and will choose to rely upon their particular inner self to progress through life. One criticism of Jung’s theory of individuality types is that it compartmentalised personality and tended to place a person in an either/or a particular type rather than to be able to be positioned along an area between two opposing types such as ‘thinking’ and ‘feeling’. Hans Eysenck applied a unique approach to the understanding of persona types.
Having given a long list of adjectives to several thousands of people this individual applied a specialised statistical procedure generally known as factor research to his collected data, which resulted in the Eysenck’s Personality Questionnaire( EPQ) The resulting ratings from a persons completed customer survey enabled Eysenck to place a person anywhere along a trait sizing. Similar to Jung, Eysenck’s first trait dimensions was that of extroversion – introversion on what a high rating indicated expansion and a low score introversion. Applying a similar formula Eysenck then proceeded and identified two various other significant measurements, the initially being that of neuroticism compared to emotional balance.
Individuals credit scoring high on the neuroticism dimensions tended to be of any nervous predisposition whilst low scorers offered emotional stability. The second aspect he recognized was that of psychoticism. Large psychotic scorers may not necessarily show indications of psychoticiscm however they had agreater potential to devlop mental disorders than those with lower ratings. When comparing Jung’s and Eysenck’s personality type theories it can be argued that Eysenck’s theory was not only more sensitive to the variety of individuals personality but likewise his use of statistical evaluation enabled him to apply his theory in a practical plus more valid method in everyday routine which Jung’s theory hadn’t achieved.
However , Jung by no means fully designed his Type theory such as later years this individual became disappointed with that. Indeed having been never motivated to use his theory in a practical way as a measurement as his central perception was that individuals are essentially active and may not be lowered to classes. Jung presumed that when a person endures a mental disorder, all their psyche, is intending to resolve and work through a problem or internal conflict between your conscious and unconscious. This individual believed the fact that nature plus the symptoms of the mental disorder disclosed very much about the inner suffering.
He also believed that the mental disorder had a purpose and was a expression that the psyche was planning to heal alone through the condition presented. This individual felt which the cause of mental illness and disorders were rooted in traumatic events or interpersonal and relatives experiences which will impacted on the individuals intricate inner elements causing mold and also repression of the persons natural hard disks. He believed that though the persons behavior and comprehension of the world was led by way of a more designed and conscious functions, the inferior features were still required to counteract and provide harmony to the dominant ones within the conscious too.
However , when the developed functions became as well dominant a great imbalance happened with the inferior functions turning into submerged, but these submerged features could still impact on the individual in the form of unusual moods, symptoms and mental disturbances just like neurosis. It absolutely was not until the 1940’s that Jung’s theory was developed in a more sensible model which may be applied to recognize personality types. It was the effort and devotion of two women, Katherine Briggs and her little girl Isabel Briggs Myer who had been motivated in their wish build a tool to aid guide individuals towards jobs which appropriate their personality. The result of their particular work was your psychological tool called the Myers Brigg Indicators ( MBTI’s).
This test designed Jung’s pairs of opposition types regarding introversion- extroversion, thinking –feeling and realizing -intuitive plus a next dimension that of judgment –perceiving which was launched as an interpretation of Jung’s realistic –irrational type. A self- reporting set of questions once completed generates a score which in turn determines wherever on each with the four weighing scales the persons preferred placement is kept. Therefore you will find sixteen likely variants from the four weighing machines for each individual.
For example an individual whose answers resulted in an ESTP type personality would have extroversion, sensing and considering as their prominent preference or type. Even though someone who was found with an INTJ preference type will be a more of a great intuitive introvert who adored logical pondering. This type examination tool is usually applied in several fields now such as professional development, team building and exec coaching and counselling and it is now one of the most popular type indicators being utilized today.
Within counselling the MBTI is utilized to motivate the client to become more self-aware and to allow them to check out more deeply where they are in the world and it is greatly a collaborative exercise between client plus the therapist. Nonetheless it could be asserted that it features little use in actually supporting determine the therapeutic desired goals with the client. That is to say, restorative goals in counselling are varied and diverse and are totally exceptional to each every client’s delivering issues. Beneficial goals plus the path to reaching them are also influenced by theoretical construction in which the specialist is doing work.
For instance simply, psychodynamic counselors will see the goal since uncovering the unconscious, behavioural therapists would focus even more on solving an psychological disturbance through the use of cognitive behavioural therapy, whilst the goal of anyone centred specialist will be to enhance self-esteem and develop higher openness to see for the client. A Jungian therapeutic target would focus on rebalancing the conscious and the unconscious areas of the individuality leading to higher integrity with the psyche. When ever determining the therapeutic aim with the customer it might be contended that the customers personality directly influences the matter or problem they wish to look for help with.
That is to say, their own unique persona has to a degree shaped how they go about perceiving the world plus the experiences they may have had in it. For example , someone who seems to be quite introverted may find several experiences inside their world very much harder to cope with than someone who is more extroverted. However , to take a comparative stance between how two individuals may possibly perceive and experience the universe is relatively futile while within the guidance relationship the therapist is targeted on acknowledging the experiences and perceptions unique to that customer. One restorative goal which is universal across all techniques is getting your customer to a stage at which they will focus on themselves in the future.
At this moment, the application of Jung’s type theory might facilitate in the beneficial process supplying the client insight into the way they perceive their community. By using the MBTI the client gets the opportunity to check out and accept their pros and cons and discover there types or preferences of behavior in their persona. Such interior awareness could possibly be said to launch them forwards in a more confident direction as knowing about their own desired styles and strengths enables them to decide just how and when to adapt, to be able to match their particular behavioural design and marketing communications and also to observe more clearly their own true potential.
In Jungian conditions the use of the MBTI would be to permit the client approach towards the objective of lifestyle which this individual termed ‘individuation’ which is the coming to understand, giving expression to and harmonizing several components of the psyche and fundamentally realising ones uniqueness. In conclusion, Carl Jung’s Type theory features contributed drastically to the comprehension of personality simply by identifying and explaining certain universal habits of personal preferences which vary between people depending on the natural direction with their psychic strength whether focusing outward or inward and upon their particular view of reality.
Their education to which Jung’s type theory can be placed on determining healing goals in counselling is debatable as personality would not in itself disclose the goals it reveals more the road down that the goals happen to be achieved nevertheless achieving higher inner conscious awareness and acceptance of ones individual personality can only benefit personal growth.. REFERRALS Radford T, Govier Electronic. ( 1987) A Book of Psychology. Sheldon Press Engler N, ( 1985).
Personality Theories, An introduction. Houghton Mifflin Company. Frankland A, Sanders G. (2009) Subsequent Steps in Counselling. PCCS Publication Sharp D. (1987 ) Personality Types: Jung’s Model of Typology.
Routledge Jung CG. (1976 ) Psychological Types. Routledge.