"The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed."
— Carl Jung
The Meeting Of Two Personalities Is
The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed.
About this quote
From the essay "Problems of Modern Psychotherapy" in Modern Man in Search of a Soul (1933), p. 49. Jung is discussing the therapeutic encounter — specifically the phenomenon of transference and countertransference — arguing that the analyst cannot remain a detached observer: the patient's unconscious contents affect the analyst just as the analyst's presence affects the patient. The chemical metaphor was characteristic of Jung's scientific training; he intended it literally, not merely as a colourful image. The broader essay addresses why psychotherapy requires the personal engagement of the whole physician, not merely the application of technique.
Source
Modern Man in Search of a Soul (1933)
