Events

In 1916, Carl Jung delivered a lecture to the Zurich Association for Analytical Psychology in which he introduced for the first time the notion of the persona and how it functions as "a compromise" between the collective and the individual. During the period in the individual's development that Jung refers to as "the first half of life," the persona serves a critical and essential role in mediating and facilitating adaptation to the social, external world. In the second half of life, however, the persona's allegiance to a collective consciousness often comes into conflict with the pull of the psyche's natural impulse toward individuation-a pull away from the collective, and a movement toward true individuality. Therefore, when not made fully conscious, the persona can become the subtle yet effective enemy of the individuation process.