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personal unconscious

in the analytic psychology of Carl Jung, the portion of each individual’s unconscious that contains the elements of his or her own experience as opposed to the collective unconscious, which contains the archetypes universal to humankind. The personal unconscious consists of everything subliminal, forgotten, and repressed in an individual’s life. Some of these contents may be recalled to consciousness, as in Sigmund Freud’s notion of the preconscious, but others cannot and are truly unconscious. The personal unconscious also contains complexes based on the individual’s personal experience. In Jung’s view, the personal unconscious must be integrated into the conscious ego for individuation to occur.

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Psychology term of the day

March 16th 2025

child care worker

child care worker

an individual trained to attend to children on a day-to-day basis in a variety of group settings, including child care centers, schools, businesses, private households, and health care institutions. Child care workers perform such tasks as dressing, feeding, bathing, and overseeing play.