Becoming: An Introduction to Jung's Concept of Individuation arose from Jungian psychoanalyst Deldon McNeely's reflections on her lifelong work in psychoanalysis, as well as her sadness at the dismissal by current trends in psychology and psychiatry of so many of the principles that had guided her. The teaching of Jung's psychology is discouraged in some schools, and, while Jung's ideas generate lively conversations among diverse groups of thinkers that are presented in journals and conferences, little of this reaches mainstream psychology.
Dr. McNeely realized the need for a new explication of Jung's process of individuation, one written for twenty-first century readers who have little or no knowledge of Jung. Becoming begins by identifying the historical and philosophical contexts in which Jung was situated and then addressing the question of where this approach fits with the cultural issues of today. Dr. McNeely addresses contemporary issues such as gender identity, addiction, the collective, depression and mental health, and the view from outside a western cultural lens. The volume touches upon topics like the overvaluing of the heroic ego, elitism, the function of introspection in an extraverted culture, and the role of inner resources in self-development. Religious parallels include perspectives on eastern thought, mysticism, spiritual experience, and the development of a "new myth" for modern times. Her chapter "The Opus: Finding the Spirit in Matter" delves into Jung's description of alchemist Gerhard Dorn's three stages of individuation.
In the half century since Jung's colleague, Jolande Jacobi, wrote her now-classic The Way of Individuation, modern, post-modern, and post-post-modern thought has raised many questions that color the images of individuation Jacobi presented. Becoming addresses these, offered for those whose minds are receptive to the unknown, in the hope that "it will help some of us to think - more with respect than dread - of the possibility that we act unconsciously.
Deldon Anne McNeely received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Louisiana State University and is a member of the International Association for Analytical Psychology. A senior analyst of the Inter-Regional Society of Jungian Analysts, she is a training analyst for their New Orleans Jungian Seminar. Publications include Touching: Body Therapy and Depth Psychology; Animus Aeternus: Exploring the Inner Masculine; and Mercury Rising: Women, Evil, and the Trickster Gods.
