THE FRACTAL NATURE OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE SELF

This paper provides a discussion of the life cycle using a framework constructed from ideas in chaos theory. Building upon psychodynamic ideas from Freud, Jung, and Erikson, the integration of the Self is discussed from the viewpoint of Analytical Psychology. It is proposed that throughout our lives we encounter crisis points that fractionate the ego and necessitate use of more complex and adaptive psychic structures to contain or handle the seemingly disparate qualities that arise. We may say that eventually one aspires to realize Analytical Psychology's goal of integrating the superior and the inferior functions of the psyche into a cohesive Self. Jung seemed to state that the Self could never be attained, but it is argued in this paper that a form of transitory self may be realized periodically during the course of the life cycle.