Keeping secrets (and deciding what can be told). Individuation, power and the Red book
2011 ◽
Vol 3
(2)
◽
pp. 159-168
Apart from some mentions in Memories, dreams, reflections, the Red book and its contents have been kept from the public for 96 years until its publication in 2009. This delay may have been influenced by the response (especially that from the psychoanalyst Winnicott) to the revelations of Jung's secret inner life in Memories, dreams, reflections. It is ironic that many times Jung refers to the importance of keeping secrets for a sense of self and the promotion of individuation. The discussion centres around two areas of tension: one is that between keeping and revealing secrets, and the other involves keeping the balance between the needs of an information hungry public and the risk of misunderstanding personal psychological material.