My life has been invested in the search for sanity. That search took many paths. Currently my discussion with others on the same journey has included comparisons of the different yet divergent paths. I am a lay person – mostly. After I retired from a career in information systems I entered a counselor-in-training program at the local community mental health center. It was a three year program and I worked there five years. One important lesson I learned was there is not a boilerplate solution for any problem that applies to all people. Every treatment plan is individualized. I also became aware of modern psychology and the psychology of antiquity.

To be sure, there are overlaps in treatment plans. Some standard lessons might be meditation or relaxation exercises. Anyone with anxiety is to going to hear about relaxation. Groups of clients might be sent to 12 Step Meetings. But alas, each individual is different. Different cognitive ability and self-talk dynamics, different emotions, different social standing and awareness, and I would venture to say different personalities.

It is in the realm of common humanity that we find similar treatments, and in the realm of the person that we find individualized treatment.

I like Cognitive Behavioral because we must challenge our “self-talk”. Words have been a part of humanity for so long that we frame everything in the context of words. Some words, like ‘can’ and ‘can’t’ have specific connotation. I have said things like, “I am not a patient man”. A better way to say this, in cognitive restructuring, might be “I can be a patient man”. These are thoughts that ultimately define our self image.

Freud and Jung came along and breathed new life into psychology. The infant psychology of antiquity was emerging, maturing, growing. I use antiquity to include literature – even modern literature. Literature is simply understanding psychology through story telling. Without using the Freudian or Jungian terms the authors spoke of the human condition. Jung does not ignore antiquity. The Jungian analysts embrace the stories. The Arthurian Knight Percival was on a quest for mature masculinity. Hamlet pondered the imponderables of fate and destiny, ‘to be or not to be’. These are psychological stories of individuals reacting to their world. I love them and find them very useful.

One of the twenty-some Jungian volumes is titled “The Development of Personality”. It is an anthology of papers on psychology by Jung. Jung quotes Goethe’s stanza:

The Highest bliss on earth shall be

The joys of personality!

This is an important notation. Jung was looking at the heart of individualized treatment. We must look at the individual when addressing their psychological needs – we must not treat an individual with anything but the dignity of their uniqueness.

Jung further noted on Astrology:

“Astrology is assured of recognition from psychology, without further restrictions, because astrology represents the summation of all the psychological knowledge of antiquity.”
? C.G. Jung

https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/38285.C_G_Jung?page=5

Jung was not saying that planetary alignment was causal – only that the recognition of individual personality was profoundly important. Understanding the world of the archetype is very useful in understanding ourselves – thus it is essential to psychological understanding. Understanding our personality is essential. It gets complicated. What does causal mean? In the Newtonian sense one event follows another and is directly related – but in quantum we find a different model of related elements.

For instance, anxiety might be caused by being too perfectionist, not acknowledging stress, and being too controlling. These are attributes of a person with old insecurities. These character traits can be associated with past trauma, with a childhood life of chaos and danger. The importance of knowing this is dependent on which therapist one talks to. One will say the cause does not change the treatment plan for anxiety. Short term medication, meditation, relaxation, mindfulness, cognitive self talk assessment….. Others say that by confronting the demon – the cause – can be liberating.

Still others might look at these character traits and not attribute them to past trauma. Perhaps the person is simply a warrior who takes charge, has confidence, and likes to control because that is the nature of their personality. Can we assume that a perfectionist attitude is a result of trauma?An Astrologer will look at the ‘first house’ – that moment of birth when the personality is set, to determine if a trait is a flaw from trauma or simply the nature of the person.

We find examples in literature where a scoundrel is just a scoundrel. It is their nature. Did Dickens assign scoundrel status to Fagin, the old man in Oliver Twist? The nemesis of Huckleberry Finn is not the Widow – it is the culture. Huckleberry’s friend Jim is pursued by errant ideas of racism. Even with the trauma of slavery Jim maintains his soul and befriends he boy Huckleberry. Greek mythology abounds with assaults on our modern values. Do we dismiss these as magical thinking? Might we see Astrology in the same light as other literary antiquity stories?

I do not like the modern ‘Take a pill and call me tomorrow” attitude of medicine. When do we address the root problem? Can we just medicate ourselves into acting like nothing is wrong?

Thirty five years ago there were ‘alternative’ medicines that are now accepted by insurance companies (that must mean they work, right?) Acupuncture? Chiropractic? Hypnosis? Anyone been to a chiropractor lately? They were not accepted just a few decades past.

Those who suffer want solutions. They do not want to hear the debate. They do not want to hear why the other guy is wrong. They know that the modern medical solution offered has serious drawbacks. How do we incorporate the wisdom of antiquity into our modern understanding? Can we? Should we? Science did not disprove the Bible – but it did force a reconsideration of the interpretation. But the Bible is a part of antiquity – doe that literature apply today?

Are there cognitive behavioral lessons in antiquity. I think so. Clearly the authors of interpretive literature examined thought processes. This world is not either/or. And sometimes it takes an author to identify the healthy psychology.