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Art, dreams and active imagination:
A post‐Jungian approach to transference and the image
Author(s) -
Schaverien Joy
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
journal of analytical psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.285
H-Index - 23
eISSN - 1468-5922
pISSN - 0021-8774
DOI - 10.1111/j.0021-8774.2005.00519.x
Subject(s) - embodied cognition , psychology , countertransference , mental image , sign (mathematics) , action (physics) , dream , expression (computer science) , symbol (formal) , frame (networking) , psychoanalysis , mode (computer interface) , diagrammatic reasoning , cognitive psychology , aesthetics , art , cognition , epistemology , psychotherapist , philosophy , computer science , linguistics , mathematical analysis , telecommunications , physics , mathematics , quantum mechanics , neuroscience , programming language , operating system
The term active imagination is sometimes applied rather uncritically to describe all forms of creative activity that take place in depth psychology. Whilst there are many forms of expression that evoke or are evoked by active imagination, they cannot automatically be classed as active imagination. In this article investigation of visualized mental imagery, dreams and art reveals three distinct forms of image‐based psychological activity. Integrated and mediated within the transference and countertransference dynamic, it is proposed that the engagement in active imagination reflects and is influenced by the transference. Distinctions between sign and symbol, simple and big dreams as well as diagrammatic and embodied imagery clarify the differences. Examples from clinical practice demonstrate each mode in action within the analytic frame.