This is the second in a series of essays about the potential perspectives and practices provided by noted psychologists, philosophers and theologians if they were to be operating in the middle of the 21st Century as professional coaches or consultants. The first of these essays placed Sigmund Freud in the role of life coach (Bergquist, 2026). I offered a wide range of perspectives and practices that might have emerged from the unique, in-depth way in which “Sig” Freud approached his relationship with people he was working with during the mid-21st Century.
While it was bit of a stretch to remove the therapy couch in Freud’s office so that he might be meeting face-to-face with his coaching clients (rather than psychoanalytic patients), the stretch is not as great with Carl Jung, since we know that he often met with businessmen (particularly from the United States) who brought their work-related problems to Jung’s office in Zurich, Switzerland (Bair, 2003). It is interesting to note that these leaders of the thriving American enterprise of the early 20th Century often were “lured” to Zurich because their wives were already receiving psychotherapeutic services from Dr. Jung and his Jungian colleagues.
While the stretch is not too great when we envision Carl Jung meeting with business leaders, it is something of a stretch when we consider the remarkably innovative and often mind-altering concepts and modes of assistance being offered by Jung to his therapy patients. What would it have been like if Jung were living today and was just as cutting-edge in his work with these business leaders—realizing that Dr. Jung might have applied some of these cutting-edge perspectives and practices when meeting (often informally) with the visiting Americans.
In this essay, I will first suggest several of the perspectives and practices that Jung might have used which were not too far afield from what a contemporary executive coach might do with their client. I will then push the boundaries and consider the potential use by Jung of some of the more controversial perspectives and practices in his remarkably large toolbox.
