The Practice of Multiple Analyses in Analytical Psychology

THE PRACTICE OF MULTIPLE ANALYSES, i.e., of seeing more than one analyst during an analysis, has long been an accepted pattern among Jungian analysts. This practice can further be broken down into (1) concurrent analyses, or (2) serial analyses. The major focus of this paper will be on concurrent analyses.

Historically, this practice began with Jung who often sent his patients to a woman colleague. Jung preferred to deal with the impersonal symbolic contents of the unconscious and would have the personal aspects dealt with by a woman colleague, (Wheelwright, 1975). Although multiple analyses has been a widely utilized practice, the literature on the subject is quite sparse. (Hillman, 1962) ; (Plaut, 1962) ; (Fordham, 1962) Furthermore, it is a practice which has given rise to a diversity of opinion among Jungian Training Institutes. It is the purpose of this paper to elucidate the theoretical basis for simultaneous multiple analyses, and to discuss the pros and cons of its practice. To do so, some basic concepts of analytical psychology related to multiple analyses will need to be defined.

Basic to analytical psychology is a dialectical method of conducting psychotherapy. The therapist abandons all of his preconceptions and techniques and confines himself to a purely dialectical procedure, not unlike Sullivan's conception of the analyst as a participant observer. The analyst "is equally a part of the psychic process of treatment and therefore, equally exposed to the transforming influences. (Jung, 1929) This "reciprocal reaction of two psychic systems" (Jung, 1935) represents a constant challenge to the analyst, which has to be met on the level of the patient. It leads to an approach of the patient that is highly individual, since it is impossible to assume superior a priori knowledge vis-à-vis the patient as a unique individual organism. Thus, each Jungian analysis is quite different from any other. Jung refers to the individual