When an adverse event shakes the very foundations of our existence, the initial moments may be marked by collapse, disorientation, and grief. In a culture obsessed with quick fixes, immediate recovery, and the relentless pursuit of happiness, a life crisis is often treated as a mechanical failure: something that must be repaired as quickly as possible.
There are other approaches, however, that offer us a radically different perspective by understanding crises as processes that bring about a deep internal reworking of experience. The task, then, is to open psychic space for conscious exploration and transformation.
Holding the tension of opposites
When a crisis arrives, the familiar ways in which the conscious mind navigates the world begin to fall apart. Faced with the pain that follows a rupture in the usual state of our lives, the first impulse is often to force an artificial resolution or repress any uncomfortable emotion in order to move out of suffering as quickly as possible. At times, immediate emotional regulation and an initial process of elaboration are necessary to recover a sense of safety.
And yet, psychic work—the work of the soul—requires care, compassion, and slowness. An important challenge emerges during periods of upheaval: learning to tolerate and hold the tensions between opposites that coexist within us: pain and hope, fear and courage, despair and renewal.
“There is no equilibrium, no system of self-regulation, without opposition. The psyche is just such a self-regulating system.”
– C.G. Jung
Holding these uncomfortable and contradictory states creates the fertile ground from which new alternatives may begin to emerge.
The power of creative imagination
Trying to resolve a crisis solely through rational logic can lead us into a dead end. Logic operates within the boundaries of what is already known, while a crisis calls for something entirely new. What rational logic alone cannot resolve, creative imagination can reshape and transform.
Through active dialogue with our emotions and the practice of creative imagination, we allow the deeper layers of the psyche to participate in our transformation and in the overcoming of pain and rupture. This means approaching the symbolic dimension of experience, engaging in dialogue with unconscious contents, and entering into an active commitment with the soul.
A bridge to the unconscious
Jung described this process of dialogue with unconscious contents through an engagement with the symbol as the Transcendent Function. It is a natural psychological function that emerges from the dynamic energy generated by the tension of opposites.
Taking the risk of symbolizing our experiences allows these uncomfortable contents to be reorganized within consciousness, opening the possibility of a reflection that moves beyond a single viewpoint and the search for one definitive solution. It makes room for ambiguity and for the coexistence of contradictions—unavoidable in complex situations—so that new perspectives and possibilities may emerge, along with a renewed identity and a different understanding of ourselves and the reality we experience.
Possible applications in crisis work
In the face of a shock, a radical crisis that produces suffering and affects our foundations, the process of working with the symbolic through creative imagination activates what C. G. Jung called the Transcendent Function.
In this sense, some practices we can implement include:
- Hold and wait: Resist the impulse to seek a quick solution or take rushed action. Open the possibility of feeling the tension between what was and what has not yet come into being.
- Incorporate imagination (active imagination): Enter into dialogue with the inner elements in motion, listening to emotions, sensations, and contents that appear in dreams. Give form to these manifestations through writing, drawing, photography, or other expressive channels in a free and spontaneous way.
- Listen to the symbol: Offer attention and invest time in connecting with the images that begin to appear, asking about their meaning and contents.
- Cultivate (self-)compassion: Treat imaginative processes and internal tensions—psychic dynamics—with care, respect, and attention.
The protective and liberating meaning
A crisis, though painful, is also an experience that breaks through the armor of our habitual ways of being. By holding the tension between opposing emotions and notions, entering into dialogue with our inner world, and trusting the conversation with the symbols that emerge—the Transcendent Function—we open the possibility of moving toward deep transformation, with the emergence of a new, protective, and liberating meaning that will arise from the darkness.
- Bibliographic Reference – Jung, C. G. (1953/1966). On the Psychology of the Unconscious. In The Collected Works of C. G. Jung: Volume 7. Two Essays on Analytical Psychology (Part I, Chapter V, Paragraph 92). Princeton University Press / Bollingen Series XX.
If you are moving through a personal or professional threshold and feel that reflection alone is no longer enough to open new paths, it may be valuable to have a space of accompaniment where that process can be held with care and depth.
At THE KEY CALLING, we offer an experiential and contained environment to explore, with respect and presence, the relationship between the inner world and external reality. Through depth psychology, active imagination, and psychodrama, the process invites the rehearsal of new possibilities without rushing answers or forcing transformation.
Some possible ways to approach this work:
- Discovery Session (90 minutes): An initial consultation space to observe the current life moment, recognize internal tensions, and outline possible directions for the work.
- The Rehearsal Journey (6-session immersion): A process of accompaniment to explore the crisis, reactivate creative resources, and give shape, step by step, to new ways of being and responding.
If this resonates with you, you can write us here.
Spaces are kept limited in order to care for the quality, presence, and depth of the accompaniment.
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