COURSE DESCRIPTION

Step into the analytical ring for a no-holds-barred intellectual throwdown between Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung—two giants of depth psychology whose friendship, rivalry, and radical ideas shaped the psyche of the modern world.

Through lively dialogue and myth-busting analysis, instructors Karen Dougherty and Steven Minuk guide participants through the philosophical, clinical, and cultural battleground where Freud(ians) and Jung(ians) still spar today.

The format: Karen will speak to the Freudian, Steven to the Jungian, assigning each other (and the class) readings and challenging the other’s assumptions.

This Extension course is aimed at psychotherapists, analysts, and clinicians as well as anyone interested in the cultural history of psychoanalysis and analytic psychology.

COURSE OUTLINE

ROUND ONE: The Rise and Fall of an Analytical Alliance

Meet the contenders: brief biographical overviews
The Freud–Jung bromance: letters, meetings, breakdown
Freud’s psychoanalysis vs. Jung’s analytical psychology
Why their split changed the psychological landscape forever

Mythbust:

“Jung was Freud’s student”
“Freud rejected all spirituality”
“The split was just about sex”
“Then Freud fainted…”
“Freud was a Cocaine Fiend”
“Jung was a Nazi/Anti-Semitic”

Bonus Feature: Archival images, excerpts from correspondence, early case examples

ROUND TWO: Battle of the Unconscious

Freud’s unconscious: repressed wishes, dreams, slips
Jung’s unconscious: personal vs. collective layers
Archetypes, complexes, and symbolic function
The architecture of the unconscious: id/ego/super-ego vs. shadow, Self

Mythbust:

“Freud thought all mental problems were about sex”
“Jung ignored trauma and clinical structure”
“Jung’s archetypes are myths”

Bonus Feature: Dream interpretation examples (Freudian vs. Jungian), film/art comparisons

ROUND THREE: Libido, Religion & the Meaning of It All

Libido: Freud’s drive theory vs. Jung’s psychic energy
Freud on religion: illusion, wish fulfillment, neurosis
Jung on religion: individuation, the symbolic life

Science vs. soul: two paths, two worldviews
Mythbust:

“Jung was overly mystical; Freud was overly rational”
“Freud was anti-religion; Jung was religious”
“Jung believed in God”

Bonus Feature: Excerpts from The Future of an Illusion and Answer to Job

ROUND FOUR: Legacy Match

Subtitle: “The Final Bell: Culture, Therapy, and the Shadow of the Fathers”
Topics Covered:

Freud and Jung in the contemporary clinic
Pop culture distortions vs. clinical reality
Integrative approaches: is reconciliation possible?
What each still offers the modern mind

Mythbust:

“You have to choose a side”
“Jung was all about growth; Freud was all about pathology”
“They’re both outdated thinkers”

Bonus Feature: Open forum with the instructors—bringing your own questions, biases, dreams, and myths to the ring.

Learning Objectives:

By the end of the course, participants will be able to:

1. Compare and contrast the biographical underpinnings of Freud and Jung’s theoretical differences.
2. Understand how Jungians and Freudians have caricatured each other and why.
3. Identify the key theoretical contributions of each thinker.
4. Track their influence on culture.
5. Describe how the heirs of each work in the clinic: similarities and differences.

Karen Dougherty, MA, RP (CRPO), FIPA

Karen Dougherty, MA, RP (CRPO), FIPA is a Psychoanalyst and Registered Psychotherapist in private practice in Amaranth, Ontario, a writer and documentary filmmaker, and a mental health consultant for film and television. She is also a clinical supervisor who teaches at the TIP, ATPPP, the FPP, and the Extension Program of the Toronto Psychoanalytic Society, of which she is also Chair. Member TPS&I.

Steven Minuk, RP

Steven Minuk, RP – Jungian Analyst and clinical educator (OAJA) who dedicates his research to early modern culture and its intellectual history, bringing a fresh perspective to the understanding of our shared human experience.