The War Of The Gods In Addiction Summary

Introduction

Jung, the founder of analytical psychology, is referred to as a major contributor in the formation of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and the 12-Step tradition (Schoen, 2009). His main contribution was bringing forth the principle of surrender to a higher power founded on his understanding of archetypes. Jung (1959/1970) hypothesized that good and evil are psychic realities greater than the ego complex. He observed that whenever the ego is pitted up against something greater than itself, whether it is “divine or devilish or just ‘fate’” (p. 462), the individual has a “numinous” (p. 462) experience, which is an experience of divine awe. From a Jungian point of view, addictions are described as the ego complex being under the influence

What is the purpose of the Self (higher power) in addiction recovery? How can synchronicity and the Self archetype help free clients from addiction? In response to these questions, this review of literature draws on Schoen’s (2009) scholarship in his text, The War of the Gods in Addiction, and a paper by Jung entitled “Good and Evil in Analytical Psychology” (1959/1970), as this text focuses on the role of good and evil as a force to be encountered in the psyche of individuals. Next, this review references von Franz’s (1997) analysis of alchemy and synchronicity in her book, Alchemical Active Imagination, and Mansfield’s (1995) text, entitled Synchronicity, Science, and Soul-Making: Understanding Jungian Synchronicity Through Physics, Buddhism, and Philosophy, to illuminate the connection between synchronicity, Self, and numinous experience. Finally, Kalsched’s (1996) text, The Inner World of Trauma: Archetypal Defenses of the Personal Spirit, provides a model of the “two-stage healing of the split in fairy tales” (p. 146) for drawing on the fairy tale Hansel and Gretel as an example to illuminate the imaginal role of fairy tales as a framework to explore the incarnation of the Self (or vocation). The combination of these texts provides an important insight into the process a client goes through when healing from addiction, the role synchronicity plays in the process, and how healing coupled with

The focus of this review is to contextualize the purpose for tracking synchronicity from the point of view of recovery (from addiction) and discovery (of vocation). These texts are synthesized in order to examine synchronicity as a guiding principle regarding the Self manifesting in the world, and as a conceptual tool to use with clients in clinical practice who are recovering from addiction. Some of the main topics addressed in this review include the symbolic dimension of addiction, the role of the archetype of the Self in addiction, and how addiction recovery can include the principle of