The Sigmund Freud and C. G. Jung correspondence: A Levinsonian study of the mentor-protege relationship.

摘要

This psychobiographical study explored the relationship between Sigmund Freud and C.G. Jung. The reconstruction of their relationship was based on archival materials, including their correspondence, and the analysis relied on Levinson's theory of adult development.;The Freud-Jung relationship was found to conform to the mentor-protege model identified by Levinson. Their correspondence revealed that theoretical disagreements were not at the core of the dissolution of the relationship. As Freud's protege, Jung developed clinically and personally; however, approaching his Mid-Life Transition, he discovered that aspects of his Dream were unfulfilled. Needing to shed his mentor so that he could become his own man, Jung pushed away from Freud, creating trumped-up charges to support his independence. Following the end of the relationship, Jung was found to have fallen into a mid-life crisis of psychotic proportions. He utilized the experiences of his crisis to emerge with his own psychological theory, which resonated with his Dream.;The mentor-protege relationship was found to prove important to Freud's ongoing adult development as well. Freud's Dream evolved into the desire to spread psychoanalysis throughout the world, a movement he called "the cause." In Jung, Freud felt that he had found a protege capable of facilitating this Dream. When Jung defected, Freud was without an heir, was mourning the loss of his "crown prince," and believed his Dream to be imperiled. He wrote On the History of Psychoanalysis to assert his voice as the leader of psychoanalysis and On Narcissism to refute Jung's definition of libido; however, On Narcissism created theoretical dilemmas that Freud would need to resolve.;Transitioning into late adulthood, Freud was working on the developmental task of overcoming the split between youth and age. Through his role as Jung's mentor, Freud was found to have internalized youthful qualities that allowed him to maintain his creativity and speak more authoritatively with his own voice. He emerged from this difficult period with a body of work that rivaled his earlier accomplishments following his mid-life crisis, and found a balance between his youthful productivity and an older, wiser version of his self.