10 Differences Between Freud and Jung

The differences between Freud and Jung are interesting

because, paradoxically, when they first started their careers,
their thoughts and theories had a lot in common.
Actually, they were so similar that they were confused with
each other, something that didn’t happen later on in their
careers. Their differences became clearer and their brands of
psychology diverged. We’d like to take a journey through the
stories of these great minds… would you like to come along?
Freud and Jung

Sigmund Freud was an Austrian neurologist who

began and shaped one of the oldest and most
powerful areas of psychology: psychoanalysis. In
addition, he’s considered by many — both supporters
and critics — to be one of the most important
intellectuals of the 20th century.
 Because he was a neurologist, his initial interest
was neurology. His ideas started here and then
progressively became more psychological in nature,
both in how he analyzed causes as well as the types
of disorders he studied.
Carl Gustav Jung, then, was a Swiss psychiatrist,
psychologist, and writer. He was a key player in the
creation of psychoanalysis. He later was a founder
of his own school of analytical psychology, known as
Jungian psychology.
Freud’s work was interesting to
Jung. Freud even publicly
announced Jung would be his
“successor”. However, it didn’t
take long before they went
their own ways due to personal
and theoretical disagreements.
That was how Jung was
expelled from the International
Psychoanalytical Association,
which at one point (1910) he
presided over.
Differences between Freud and Jung
Although Freud and Jung have many differences, in this
article we’ll only list a few of the most important ones.

1. Psychoanalyst vs. not psychoanalyst

Although you may hear the term “Jungian psychoanalysis

”to refer to Jung’s theories, it’s a nominative error. Jung is
not considered a psychoanalyst. Actually, he himself
decided to completely separate from that school and
create his own.
2. The term “complex”
Freud recognized Jung as the
author of the term. Freud did use
“complex” in his theories, like
“Oedipus complex” or “castration
complex.” But for Jung, the term
“complex” meant emotionally
charged images or concepts that
behave like their own split
personality. Each complex had an
archetype at its center, and it was
related to the concept of trauma.
3. Parapsychology and psychic phenomena
Jung saw parapsychology and “psychic
phenomena” as very important. But Freud was
against studying such ideas and linking them to
psychoanalysis; he believed doing so would
distort existing theories.
4. The “archaic remnants” concept
For Freud, “archaic remnants” had to do with certain
unconscious mental forms. He associated them with his
concept called the “mnemic trace.” However, for Jung,
archaic remnants were more than that. In fact, he
used it to create a map of the unconscious that
differed from the one psychoanalysis proposed. Jung
was talking about the collective unconscious.
He would psychoanalyze his patient’s dreams,
interpret myths from different cultures, and
incorporate it into his research on alchemical
symbols. For Jung, the collective unconscious is a
part of human nature. It is made up of archetypal
structures derived from humanity’s most
transcendental emotional moments. He says this is
where our age-old fear of the dark and our ideas
of God and good and evil come from.
“The mind is like an
iceberg, it floats with
one-seventh of its bulk
above water”.

-Sigmund Freud-
5. Historical factors and the importance of the present
For Freud, both neurosis and psychosis develop because of
each individual’s historical factors, not their current factors or
circumstances. That is, historical factors determine current and
future actions.

However, Jung said it worked the other way around. For

him, historical factors are relative. Even when Freud didn’t
disagree specifically about this issue, he did disagree
generally with Jung’s focus on the present being a result of the
past with respect to neurosis.
“I am not what
happened to me, I
am what I choose
to become”.

-Carl Jung-
6. Vital force vs. libido
Jung defined the concept of libido as
a general life energy or vital force
that would change depending on
what’s most important at the time for
our body’s biological evolution: food,
death, sex. But Freud’s concept of
libido was different. He said it was a
predominantly sexual energy
concentrated in different parts of the
body throughout an individual’s
psychosexual development.
7. Psycho-topologies
For Freud, the psychic structure has three levels:
the preconscious, the conscious, and the
unconscious. Jung, on the other hand, agreed on
the conscious level but he talked about two
unconscious: the personal and the collective.
8. Transference
Another difference between Freud and Jung is how
they understand the phenomenon of transference.
Freud believed that it requires an asymmetric
relationship. The therapist is like a blank slate
where the patient can place — transfer —
fantasies, role models, etc. to be used for analysis.
It is one-way.
While Jung still thought transference was a
central problem for analysis, he did not share
Freud’s traditional ideas. He defines the
therapeutic relationship in terms of his alchemic
knowledge. He uses the metaphor of two
different chemical bodies that change each other
upon contact. In other words, the relationship
between the patient and the psychotherapist is
collaborative and two-way.
9. The couch Freud used
the couch as an
indispensable tool for
analysis, the point being
to keep the analyst out
of view. But Jung did his
sessions face-to-face,
sitting in front of the
patient, no couch.
10. Session frequency
Another difference between the two was their
session frequency. Carl Gustav Jung saw his patients
at least two times per week in the beginning, around
one hour per session. He would later move them to one
session weekly for about three years. Freud, though,
saw his patients six times a week, around 45 to 50
minutes for each session.