The Ego
In Jungian psychology the ego is the centre of consciousness: the “I” we take ourselves to be, the part of us that knows it exists, makes decisions and remembers. It is what most people mean when they say “me.” A stable ego is necessary for an ordinary functioning life, and building one is much of the work of the first half of life.
The ego is not the whole
The difficulty is that the ego easily mistakes itself for the whole person. In fact it is only a small, conscious island in a much larger psyche, most of which is unconscious. Jung made a careful distinction between the ego, the centre of consciousness, and the Self, the centre of the entire psyche. Trouble often comes from the ego believing it is in charge of everything, when much of what moves us happens outside its view.
Inflation and its opposite
When the ego over-identifies with a role, an achievement, or an idea of itself, Jung called this inflation: the person becomes larger in their own eyes than they really are, and loses touch with their limits. The opposite, a collapsed or overwhelmed ego, is just as difficult. Health lies not in a bigger ego but in a right-sized one, secure enough to function, humble enough to listen to what lies beyond it.
“The ego likes to think it is running the show. Much of the work is helping it discover, without collapsing, that it is not.”
Philippe Jacquet
In analysis
Much of Jungian analysis is concerned with relativising the ego: loosening its grip just enough that the wider psyche can be heard, through dreams, symptoms and individuation. The aim is never to weaken a person, but to set the conscious “I” in a living relationship with the larger whole it belongs to.
Book a consultation with Philippe Jacquet, psychotherapist and Jungian analyst, London.