Talk with the figure as yourself

Ask, listen, answer back and even refuse, staying with one figure until something resolves.

Por qué funciona

Jung located the decisive stage in coming to terms with what has appeared: at that point it is no longer the unconscious that leads but the ego, which has to keep its own standpoint in face of the counter-position. Johnson's second step, The Dialogue, makes that practical: ask more than you lecture, write down what the figure says and does, respond honestly, and say no when something feels wrong. The figures are treated as having lives of their own, and the disagreement between them and you is the material, because it is different parts of the self learning from each other.

Cómo hacerlo

1. Ask the figure who it is, what it wants, and what it would like to talk about. Listen more than you speak.
2. Write down everything it says and does, then write your own honest reaction, including your feelings.
3. If it invites you somewhere and that feels right, go and record what happens; if it feels wrong, refuse and say why.
4. Stay with this one figure until there is some kind of resolution, even if that takes several sessions.
5. If the figure has the face of someone you know in daily life, ask it to change its appearance before going on.

Evidencia

The ego's active, standpoint-holding role is Jung's own formulation (CW 8, par. 181), and his later writing insists you must enter the process with your personal reactions rather than only look on. Johnson's dialogue step adds the practical rules (questions over pronouncements, recording everything, the right to refuse, staying with one image) from his clinical work. (clinical)

No controlled outcome trial of active imagination was found (PubMed search, 2026-10-14); the evidence is clinical writing and case reports from Jungian analysis. If the dialogue becomes frightening, or you lose your sense of where you are, close the session and bring it to a trained therapist.

Fuentes

• Jung, C. G. "The Transcendent Function" (written 1916; revised and published in the late 1950s). In Collected Works Vol. 8, The Structure and Dynamics of the Psyche. Princeton University Press, pars. 131-193.
• Jung, C. G. (1997). Jung on Active Imagination (J. Chodorow, Ed.). Princeton University Press.
• Johnson, R. A. (1986). Inner Work: Using Dreams and Active Imagination for Personal Growth. Harper & Row.

Error común

Holding a dialogue with the image of a real partner, parent or colleague. Johnson warns this blurs the inner figure with the outer person and pushes you to replay the conversation with them; ask the figure to take another form.