Machiel Klerk · October 2026
Jungian therapy is a depth-oriented approach to psychotherapy based on the work of Carl Jung. It works with dreams, symptoms, and the unconscious, trusting the psyche's own drive toward wholeness.
In Jungian therapy, the psyche is understood as autonomous. It has its own intelligence, and it is naturally aimed at wholeness. This kind of therapy lets the psyche take the lead. The patient and the therapist listen together to the many ways it speaks.
The psyche speaks in a variety of ways. One classic way to listen to the psyche is through dreams. This is why dreamwork and dream interpretation can play a helpful role in Jungian therapy.
The psyche also speaks through symptoms. These can be psychological, such as depression or anxiety. Rather than rushing to eliminate the symptom, Jungian therapy explores why the symptom is present. Why would depression visit a person? What is it asking them to slow down and feel. Sometimes depression is a response to the wrong job, or the wrong relationship, and the psyche is slowing us down so we can see that clearly. Sometimes it is grief, or an inner transformation already underway, and the work is learning how to let it unfold. Winter moving toward spring, in its own time.
Synchronicity is another way to listen to the psyche. These are meaningful coincidences, moments that feel too precisely timed to be random. They are a deeper way the psyche shows us where we stand, and what is moving in and around us.
The psyche can also manifest physically. When physical symptoms arise alongside psychological ones, Jungian therapy looks closely at them too. Fantasies and daydreams are taken seriously in the same way, as expressions of the unconscious, not distractions from real work.
What You Can Expect in Jungian Therapy
You will learn to listen to the psyche, and see your problems as initiations and invitations into a deeper way of being in the world. There is a sense of meaning in the challenges we encounter.
You will learn techniques to actively engage with the psyche, its symptoms, and its callings. One of them is Active Imagination, what by many is considered Carl Jung's main contribution to psychotherapy. You will build a kinder and more helpful relationship with your psyche.
Jungian Therapy is a deep operation versus a quick Band-Aid. It works on the deeper level of your being and generates longer-lasting results. True transformation can happen. People often report to feel deeper connected to themselves and the world around them. There is a shift in a worldview in which they connect to the unconscious.
Jungian Therapy: Online or In Person
Jungian therapy works remarkably well both online and in person. I am based in New York City, and I see people in person here, as well as online. Sometimes we build a hybrid version together, in person for some sessions, online for others.
If this way of working speaks to you, you can read more about Jungian-informed depth psychotherapy and how sessions work.
Common Questions About Jungian Therapy
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Not quite. A Jungian analyst has completed a specific, lengthy certification through the IAAP, the International Association for Analytical Psychology. My own work is Jungian-informed depth psychotherapy. I draw deeply on Jung's ideas, alongside dreamwork and other traditions, without holding that specific analyst title. Both approaches take the unconscious seriously. I work as a depth psychotherapist, and also incorporate other traditions that take into account an unconscious, and spiritual traditions from around the world.
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This work tends to suit people who already sense there is more going on beneath the surface. If your dreams feel significant to you, if symptoms feel like they are asking a question rather than simply a problem to remove, if you are drawn to symbol and image as much as explanation, this way of working will likely feel like home. Different psyches ask for different medicine. If you really want to deal with the complexes, traumas, disturbing symptoms then this is a very valid process that can help and have lasting results.
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There is no fixed length. This is ongoing work, paced by what is actually unfolding rather than by a program or a deadline. Some people stay for a season, working through a single threshold. Others stay for years, returning to the process again and again as life asks new things of them. We check in together along the way, so the work stays honest about whether it is still serving you.
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Jungian therapy is a depth-oriented approach, not a symptom-checklist protocol. It doesn't aim to eliminate a symptom in a fixed number of sessions. It aims at a deeper shift in how a person relates to themselves and their life. Many people who have done this work report lasting change in how they experience their symptoms, their relationships, and their sense of meaning. If you are looking for a structured, short-term protocol with measurable weekly targets, this may not be the right fit. If you are looking for real, felt change over time, this approach has supported people for over a century.
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Cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT, works mainly with conscious thought patterns. It is often structured, short-term, and focused on a specific symptom or behavior. Jungian therapy works with the unconscious as much as the conscious mind. It is open-ended rather than structured, and it treats dreams, symptoms, and images as meaningful rather than as problems to correct. Neither approach is better in every case. They serve different needs, and some people benefit from both at different points in their life.
