1st Edition

Bridges to Consciousness Complexes and complexity

By Nancy M. Krieger Copyright 2014
    216 Pages 27 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    216 Pages 27 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    This book investigates consciousness as an emergent state arising from the global functioning of the brain and the body. In this research Krieger applies these concepts to analytical psychology, particularly to the constellation of the complex and of the archetype. Global brain functioning is considered as a complex system whose macroscopic, emergent patterns such as thoughts and behaviours are determined by physical parameters including emotion, memory, and perception.

    The concept of the feeling-toned complex was among the first of the theories to be developed by Jung, and the theories of complexity and dynamical systems which subsequently developed in the physical sciences did not exist at the time. This book takes a new look at the feeling-toned complex as a basin of attraction which competes for consciousness against other complexes to determine behaviour. By drawing parallels between current ideas in neuroscience and Jung’s more traditional theories, Krieger discusses the relevance for both psychotherapy and everyday life.

    Bridges to Consciousness considers the importance of the link between emotion and the complex in both the establishment of consciousness and the determination of self-esteem, making the work relevant to therapists and analysts. This book will also awaken interest in complexes in both the Jungian and wider neuroscientific research communities and will therefore interest researchers and academics in the field of psychology who want an insight into how the ideas of Jung can be applied beyond the traditional analytic field.

    A Jungian Neuroscience of Consciousness  Part 1  Investigation of Consciousness.  A Theory of Complexes.  Dynamic Systems Theory.  Constellation of a Complex  Part 2  Neural Correlates of the Constellated Complex.  A Theory of Archetypes.  Constellation of an Archetype.  Development of the Ego-Complex.  The Psychic Landscape.  The Three Bridges and Consciousness.

    Biography

    Nancy M. Krieger has a PhD from the Centre for Psychoanalytic Studies, Essex University, UK. She graduated from the International School of Analytical Psychology in Zurich, Switzerland, where she is now a training analyst and teaches regularly. She has a private practice in France near Basel.

    'This is not a book that can serve as bedside reading. It needs time and concentration, so that one finds one’s way into the strange world of Dynamic Systems Theory. Krieger helps this process with lots of pictures and tables, so you will not be lost in this strange world. One can certainly consider her work as a textbook concerning complexes and complexity theory. Whoever is interested in complexes and archetypes, cannot avoid this book.'- Nancy M. Krieger, Analytische Psychologie: Zeitschrift für Psychotherapie und Psychoanalyse, February 2015

    'In "Bridges to Consciousness", Dr. Nancy Krieger throws new lights on the Jungian concept of the complex and the archetype from the viewpoint of neuroscience. In several respects, it has a peerless originality and rich suggestions both theoretically and clinically… In a word, it challenges the hard task to reveal the mechanism through which the consciousness emerges from the constellation of the complexes and the archetypes, with their neural correlates'.-Norifumi Kishimoto, Japan Association of Jungian Psychology Journal