a Jungian view of creative regression

We must take a moment here to consider the relationship
between ego and Self. Just as the ego is the center of the
conscious personality, the Self is the central archetype of wholeness,
as well as the ordering and unifying center of the total
psyche. As ego-consciousness emerges, there is a constant tension
between the ego and the Self, between conscious and
unconscious (Edinger, 1972). When this tension is well held, a
dialogic, fluent relationship between ego and Self emerges and
the ego-Self axis develops. Defenses, including narcissistic
defenses, interfere with this relationship. They rigidify the differentiations
within the psyche; they split psychic reality and
render the ego inflexible and to some degree isolated, thereby
inhibiting the ability of the ego to gain access to the unconscious,
and vice versa. Thus while defenses are employed to
protect the psyche from unmanageable conflicts, they also disrupt
the connection between the ego and the Self. We sometimes
imagine this as the defenses pulling the ego away from
the ego-Self axis, disrupting the dialogue. This effectively isolates
the ego not only from the potentially overwhelming
power of the Self but also from its richness and wealth.
The psyche in its pursuit for wholeness will seek to
realign the ego and the Self (Jung, 1911-12/1956). This may
require a descent into earlier states. In our discussion about the
paranoid-schizoid phase, we noted that the individual who is
working on the consolidation of primary differentiations is
challenged by reabsorption into a lack of differentiation.
Similarly, the person who is working on the development of
narcissistic resources is challenged by regression first to the
paranoid-schizoid phase, ultimately to a primitive lack of differentiation.
Such a regression is typically experienced as a collapse,
a treacherous descent, a defeat. Yet such a defeat may be
just what is required in order to realign the ego and the Self.
Indeed, it is Jung’s (1979) conception that “the experience of the
Self is always a defeat for the ego” (p. 778).