Graduate Research Library: A Library Guide to Jung's Collected Works: Complex

Reference publications: Complex

"Complex (Analytical Psychology)" In International dictionary of psychoanalysis by Kast, V.
Call Number: Ladera: REF RC501.4.D4313
Publication Date: 2005
Complex: A complex is the more- or less-repressed standardization of emotionally strong conflictual experiences. When these experiences are triggered, either by certain themes (such as new pieces of information), or emotions (in which case they are called "constellations"), the complex produces a reaction, such that the individual perceives the situation in terms of the complex (with a distortion of perception), and responds with an emotional overreaction, which mobilizes the processes of stereotyped defense.
Carl Gustav Jung developed his concept of the complex at the same time as he was engaged in his experiments with association. It is within this context that the concept appeared for the first time, in 1904, in an essay called "Experimentelle Untersuchungen über Assoziationen Gesunder" ("The associations of normal subjects," with Franz Riklin). But he had already used the term, without any particular specificity, in his thesis of 1902." (p. 320) [Read more]
"Complex" In A critical dictionary of Jungian analysis by Samuels, A., Shorter, B., & Plaut, F.
Call Number: BF173.J85 S275 1986
Publication Date: 1986
Complex: "The notion of a complex rests on a refutation of monolithic ideas of ‘personality’. We have many selves, as we know from experience. Though it is a considerable step from this to  regarding a complex as an autonomous entity within the psyche. Jung asserted that ‘complexes behave like independent beings’ (CW 8, para. 253). He also argued that ‘there is no difference in principle between a fragmentary personality and a complex ... complexes are splinter psyches’ (CW 8, para. 202). " (pp. 33-34) [Read more]
"Complex". In Jung lexicon: A primer of terms & concepts by Sharp, D. (Ed.).
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Call Number: BF109.J8S53 1991
ISBN: ‎ 0919123481
Publication Date: 1991
Available as a free download from the publisher
Complex. "An emotionally charged group of ideas or images (Sharp, 1991)
[A complex] is the image of a certain psychic situation which is strongly accentuated emotionally and is, moreover, incompatible with the habitual attitude of consciousness. ["A Review of the Complex Theory," CW 8, para. 201.]
The via regia to the unconscious . . . is not the dream, as [Freud] thought, but the complex, which is the architect of dreams and of symptoms. Nor is this via so very "royal," either, since the way pointed out by the complex is more like a rough and uncommonly devious footpath. [Ibid., para. 210.]
Formally, complexes are “feeling-toned ideas” that over the years accumulate around certain archetypes, for instance “mother” and “father.” When complexes are constellated, they are invariably accompanied by affect. They are always relatively autonomous." (Sharp, 1991) [Read more]

"Complex" in A Guided Tour of the Collected Works of C. G. Jung by Robert H. Hopcke
Call Number: REF BF173 .J85 H66
ISBN: 9781570624056
Publication Date: 1999
"Closely allied with Jung’s concept of archetype and the collective unconscious is his concept of the complex, which he formulated on the basis of empirical evidence and which proved somewhat less controversial. While working at the Burghölzli Hospital in Zurich as a young man, he undertook the development of a word association test as a means of detecting the unconscious roots of mental illness. Exceedingly simple in design, the test consisted of presenting a word to the test subject and then soliciting a spontaneous verbal response to that word. Examination of a subject’s responses, both verbal and nonverbal, seemed to indicate what Jung first called “emotionally charged complexes” (CW 2, p. 72m), and later a “feeling-toned complex of ideas” in the unconscious (CW 2, p. 321), which hindered the normal course of word association and which was clearly related to the patient’s pathology. These feeling-toned complexes, later simply called complexes, in Jung's view consist of two components: the group of psychic representations and the distinctive feeling attached to that group of representations." (Hopcke, p. 18). [Read more]

"Complex" In Encyclopedia of psychology and religion (3rd ed.) by Craig Stephenson
Publication Date: 2020
"Complex: For Jung, a feeling-toned complex is an image to which a highly charged affect is attached and which is incompatible with the habitual attitude of the ego. Often attributable to a trauma that splits off a bit of the psyche or to a moral con ﬂ ict in which it appears impossible to af ﬁ rm the whole of one ’ s being, a complex is a splinter psyche that behaves with a remarkable degree of autonomy and coherence, like an animated foreign property within the sphere of consciousness. It can override will or volition and block memory; that is to say, the individual ego is relatively powerless in a con ﬂ ict with an unconscious complex. In his essay, A Review of the Complex Theory, Jung explicitly describes this as “ a momentary and unconscious alteration of personality known as identi ﬁ cation with the complex, ” although the opposing phrase “ assimilation of the ego by the complex ” could just as appropriately convey the action (Jung 1934/1960, para. 204)." (p. 479) [Read more]

Complex(es) [index term]. In General Index to the Collected Works of C. G. Jung (Vol. 20).
Publication Date: 1979
An exceptionally comprehensive index by paragraph numbers. Certain subjects are treated in separate sub-indexes within the General Index. These include alchemy, animals, the Bible, colors, Freud, Jung, and numbers.

Explore some index entries on Complex(es):

Vol. 01: 93, 132n
Vol. 02: 357, 378-379, 664, 733-6, 740, 742-7, 1082-7
Vol. 03: 181, 218, 263, 429, 434, 521
Vol. 05: 122, , 259, 505
Vol. 06: 175, 384
Vol. 07: 137, 432n
Vol. 08: 255, 856
Vol. 10: 456, 1034n
Vol. 11: 143
Vol. 12: 439
Vol. 17: 170, 200, 204, 211
Vol. 18: 424, 548, 908, 922, 1223

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Jung on Complexes

Jung's essays on Complexes from the Collected Works:

To Begin:

Psychoanalysis and association experiments (pp. 288-317)

Jung, C. G. (1973). Psychoanalysis and association experiments (D. Riviere & L. Stein, Trans.). In H. Read et al. (Eds.), The collected works of C. G. Jung: Vol. 2. Experimental researches (pp. 288-317). Princeton University Press. (Original work published 1906) https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400850914.288
On the psychological diagnosis of evidence: The evidence experiment in the Naf trial (pp. 605-614)

Jung, C. G. (1973). On the psychological diagnosis of evidence: The evidence experiment in the Naf trial (D. Riviere & L. Stein, Trans.). In H. Read et al. (Eds.), The collected works of C. G. Jung: Vol. 2. Experimental researches (pp. 605–614). Princeton University Press. (Original work published 1937) https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400850914.605
The psychopathological significance of the association experiment (pp. 408-425)

Jung, C. G. (1973). The psychopathological significance of the association experiment (D. Riviere & L. Stein, Trans.). In H. Read et al. (Eds.), The collected works of C. G. Jung: Vol. 2. Experimental researches (pp. 408-425). Princeton University Press. (Original work published 1906) https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400850914.408
A review of the complex theory (pp. 92-104)
Jung, C. G. (1969). A review of the complex theory (R. F. C. Hull, Trans.). In H. Read et al. (Eds.), The collected works of C. G. Jung: Vol. 8. Structure and dynamics of the psyche (2nd ed., pp. 92-104). Princeton University Press. (Original work published 1948) https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400850952.92

To Go Deeper:

Association, dream, and hysterical symptom (pp. 353-407)

Jung, C. G. (1973). Association, dream, and hysterical symptom (D. Riviere & L. Stein, Trans.). In H. Read et al. (Eds.), The collected works of C. G. Jung: Vol. 2. Experimental researches (pp. 353-407). Princeton University Press. (Original work published 1906) https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400850914.353
The family constellation (pp. 466-479)

Jung, C. G. (1973). The family constellation (D. Riviere & L. Stein, Trans.). In H. Read et al. (Eds.), The collected works of C. G. Jung: Vol. 2. Experimental researches (pp. 466-479). Princeton University Press. (Original work published 1909) https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400850914.466
The psychological foundations of belief in spirits (pp. 301-318)
Jung, C. G. (1969). The psychological foundations of belief in spirits (R. F. C. Hull, Trans.). In H. Read et al. (Eds.), The collected works of C. G. Jung: Vol. 8. Structure and dynamics of the psyche (2nd ed., pp. 301-318). Princeton University Press. (Original work published 1948) https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400850952.300

Related Works:

On the nature of the psyche (pp. 159-234)
Jung, C. G. (1969). On the nature of the psyche (R. F. C. Hull, Trans.). In H. Read et al. (Eds.), The collected works of C. G. Jung: Vol. 8. Structure and dynamics of the psyche (2nd ed., pp. 159-234). Princeton University Press. (Original work published 1954) https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400850952.159
On psychic energy (pp. 3-66)
Jung, C. G. (1969). On psychic energy (R. F. C. Hull, Trans.). In H. Read et al. (Eds.), The collected works of C. G. Jung: Vol. 8. Structure and dynamics of the psyche (2nd ed., pp. 3-66). Princeton University Press. (Original work published 1928) https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400850952.3
Psychological aspects of the mother archetype (pp. 73-110)
Jung, C. G. (1968). Psychological aspects of the mother archetype (R. F. C. Hull, Trans.). In H. Read et al. (Eds.), The collected works of C. G. Jung: Vol. 9 pt. 1. Archetypes and the collective unconscious (2nd ed., pp. 75-110). Princeton University Press. (Original work published 1954) https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400850969.75

Ebooks books available from the library:

Fear of Jung: The complex doctrine and emotional science by Theo A. Cope
ISBN: 978185575399
Publication Date: 2006
The current neuroscientific research in the field of emotion studies highlights a paradigm of scientific research that must be categorized as functional science. As functional science, the neuroscientific theory of the "neuron doctrine" combined with a Jungian theory of the "complex doctrine" hold significant potential for a natural human science and a psychological study of affectivity. Though researchers utilize psychological constructs similar to those proposed by Carl Jung, there appears to be a "fear of Jung," that is, a professional fear of invoking Jung's name or his psychological research. One familiar with Jung's works notice similar terminology, ideas, and even conclusions. The marginalization and neglect of Jung's psychological insights from a serious "empirical-scientific" approach to psychology is due to many factors. Jung did not reduce psychological experience to the body or brain; a reductive science does not consider seriously the reality of the psyche. This work is an initial contribution to a psychological and neurological study of personal emotional experience. [Read more]
Tangled up in blue: A reappraisal of complex theory In How and why we still read Jung by Jean Kirsch & Murray Stein (Eds)
Call Number: BF109.J8 H69 2013
Publication Date: 2013
Abstract: To strengthen and deepen what she found useful from her years of Freudian consultation and to find a more hopeful therapy for her patients' suffering, Betsy Cohen turned to Jungian analytic training. Despite her best efforts, she could not find a way through her reading of Jung to build a solid foundation from which to address the repetitive forms of self-defeat she encountered in her patients. She was frustrated with the too conceptual terms in which Jung described his therapies. Finally, she was directed to the writings of the Jewish philosopher Emmanuel Levinas and the Torah scholar Avivah Zornberg. With them, she found a spiritual, home from which she could read Jung's writing on complexes in a more interpersonally related way. Her dilemma is by no means unique, for many readers are confounded by Jung's deliberate ambiguity of expression and the multiple definitions he gives us for his basic concepts. We stumble through The Collected Works, eventually finding a way to uncover his deeper meanings by shining the light of yet another author's mind. Thus, we can settle into a personal way of reading with renewed confidence and a greater sense of ourselves as readers of Jung and of life. [Read more]
"Jungian Complex Theory " in Jungian Psychoanalysis by Mark Winborn
ISBN: 9781032121932
Publication Date: 2023
"Jung’s concept of complexes is the most essential element in the theory and practice of analytical psychology. Complexes are seen as the fundamental structures which organize the human psyche around specific themes, relationships, and situations. Complex theory is so central to Jung’s model that he initially considered naming his new approach to psychoanalysis ‘complex psychology’ rather than analytical psychology. Jung also proposed that everyone has four complexes which function similarly in everyone’s psyche. These four complexes such as ego, shadow, persona, and anima/animus, are referred to as functional complexes. Persona and shadow are seen as being in compensatory relationship with each other, i.e., the brighter or more ideal the persona is, then the more difficult it will be for the contents of the shadow to become acknowledged and integrated with the ego. Circumambulation is the term Jung coined to describe the process of going around and around one’s complexes during analysis."
"Complex" In Complex/archetype/symbol in the psychology of C. G. Jung by Jolande Jacobi; Ralph Manheim (Trans.)
Call Number: BF173.J85 J293 1959b
ISBN: a0691017743
Publication Date: 1971
Books at JSTOR
Library (Print copy)
As an associate of C. G. Jung for many years, Jolande Jacobi is in a unique position to provide an interpretation of his work. In this volume, Dr. Jacobi presents a study of three central, interrelated concepts in analytical psychology: the individual complex, the universal archetype, and the dynamic symbol.
"The populated interior: The complexes" In Jung's map of the soul by Murray Stein
Call Number: BF173 .S674 1998
Publication Date: 1998
"Imagine for a moment that the psyche is a three-dimensional object like the solar system. Ego-consciousness is the earth, terra firma; it is where we live, at least during our waking hours. The space around the earth is filled with satellites and meteorites, some large, some small. This space is what Jung called the unconscious, and the objects that we first come across as we venture out into this space are what he called the complexes. The unconscious is populated by complexes. This is the territory' that Jung explored initially in his career as a psychiatrist. He later called it the personal unconscious. He began to map this area of the psyche even before he looked very' closely at the ego complex or at the nature of consciousness." (Stein, p. 36) [Read more]
"Complexes and their compensation: Impulses from affective neuroscience" in Anthology of contemporary theoretical classics in analytical psychology by Ann Casement; Stefano Carpani (Ed.)
ISBN: 9781000554229
Publication Date: 2022
"The author asks, what influence does it have on the understanding of complexes and dreams, and thus on our clinical work, if we consistently assume that the basis of personality is affectivity, as C.G. Jung understood it and how it is currently understood by Jaak Panksepp, a leader in affective neuroscience? Does Panksepp’s idea of enriching or replacing predominant emotions with compensatory emotions bring a constructive dynamic to the stagnation associated with constellated complex episodes?"

Print books available from the library:

Complexes: diagnosis and therapy in analytical psychology (Print copy) by Hans Dieckmann; Boris Matthews (Trans.)
Call Number: RC569.5.C68 D5413 1999
ISBN: 1888602090
Publication Date: 1998
"Complex groups of associations arising out of the unconscious have been known and described in all cultures and are integral to the healthy psyche. Breuer first coined the term complexes to describe certain personalities. Jung developed the concept further, assigning the shell of the complex with its amplifications and associations to the personal unconscious and postulating a core that is archetypal in nature and rooted in the collective unconscious. In this book, Hans Dieckmann fills a lacuna by developing a general theory of the complexes that gives both the student and the practicing analyst an overview of this concept for the purposes of diagnosis and therapy. Illustrated throughout with clinical vignettes and diagrams, Complexes provides a clear and orderly path through the chaotic contents of analysis."

Journal articles available from the library:

Caetano, A. A., & Machado, T. C. (2018). Complex in memory, mind in matter: Walking hand in hand. The Journal of Analytical Psychology, 63(4), 510–528. https://doi-org.pgi.idm.oclc.org/10.1111/1468-5922.12431
Abstract: "This paper aims to highlight four major points: first: a ‘Jungian attitude’ understood as a viewpoint which enables work with interconnectedness through various fields of knowledge. Second, that complexes are dynamic, as is memory, and that both are transformed by experience and develop hand in hand with each other i.e., the transformation of the complex occurs through the transformation of memory as embodied in internal working models, and vice versa. Third, complexes and archetypes are linked to each other in matrices of one form or another and lead to the complexity of the psyche, which is a developing system. Fourth, the analytical process provides an arena that enables and consolidates interconnections that foster a better intrapsychic transition. The analytic meeting promotes profound changes, redesigning our neural architecture as well as our psychic landscape."

Fidyk, A. L. (2016). Unconscious ties that bind—Attending to complexes in the classroom: Part 1. International Journal of Jungian Studies, 8(3), 181–194. https://doi-org.pgi.idm.oclc.org/10.1080/19409052.2016.1195425
Abstract: "Recognized by few in theory and practice, unconscious dynamics affect all aspects of education, including teaching and learning, as well as assessment, coding, and teacher preparation. Jung proposed that the collective unconscious is akin to a very deep psychosocial well from which individuals, families, and cultures across time and place draw in order to organize and make meaning of life. If we accept this claim, then the ways we understand and attend to interpersonal dynamics within the classroom radically change. Here, in two conjoining parts, a case is made for the vital importance of acknowledging and working with the unconscious, particularly the cultural layer (Part 1) and the familial layer (Part 2) of the psyche. Attention in Part 1 is given to the social and political turn in Jungian psychology and its importance to the dramatically changing ethnocultural character of Canada’s classrooms (likewise with many countries today). The cultural unconscious, cultural complexes, scapegoating, and the critical intersection between groups and individuals are examined in relation to education."

Fidyk, A. L. (2016). Unconscious ties that bind—Attending to complexes in the classroom: Part 2. International Journal of Jungian Studies, 8(3), 195-210. https://doi-org.pgi.idm.oclc.org/10.1080/19409052.2016.1195426
Abstract: "Continuing the argument from Part 1, regarding the cultural unconscious and cultural complexes, a case is made for the significance of attending to the unconscious in the classroom. Understanding of cultural and familial complexes and the way parental psychology gets replayed within schools aims to bring greater awareness to the psychology of group life. Here specific attention is given to the family unconscious, family complexes, family soul, and the ancestors—both personal and archetypal. A method borrowed from family constellation work and rooted in African traditions of healing is outlined. This method is offered in an effort to unlock unconscious familial patterns whereby the emergence of new images may not only contribute to healing but also might have long-term effects on learning. Transgenerational patterns shaped by traumatic experiences, life events, cultural and environmental factors affect students, and so their learning. Parallel findings in epigenetics are also considered to be able to better contribute in long-lasting ways to resolving conflict, as well as to understanding deeper issues affecting our relations within education."

Kast, V. (2014). Complexes and imagination. The Journal of Analytical Psychology, 59(5), 680–694. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-5922.12113
Abstract: "Fantasies as imaginative activities are seen by Jung as expressions of psychic energy. In the various descriptions of active imagination the observation of the inner image and the dialogue with inner figures, if possible, are important. The model of symbol formation, as Jung describes it, can be experienced in doing active imagination. There is a correspondence between Jung's understanding of complexes and our imaginations: complexes develop a fantasy life. Complex episodes are narratives of difficult dysfunctional relationship episodes that have occurred repeatedly and are internalized with episodic memory. This means that the whole complex episode (the image for the child and the image for the aggressor, connected with emotions) is internalized and can get constellated in everyday relationship. Therefore inner dialogues do not necessarily qualify as active imaginations, often they are the expression of complex‐episodes, very similar to fruitless soliloquies. If imaginations of this kind are repeated, new symbols and new possibilities of behaviour are not found. On the contrary, old patterns of behaviour and fantasies are perpetuated and become cemented. Imaginations of this kind need an intervention by the analyst. In clinical examples different kinds of imaginations are discussed."