Synopsis: Counselor Troi and Lt. Worf are assigned the task of trying to ascertain why a young officer took his life.
While not the main thrust of this narrative, this episode contains an explanation of how Carl (C. G.) Jung stated that individuals should relate to what he called complexes.
In “Eye of the Beholder” the crew of the Enterprise are shocked and saddened by the suicide of a young officer. While Counselor Deanna Troi and Lt. Worf are in charge of the investigation that follows, all the crew are affected by it. There is a scene between
Lt. Commander Data and Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge in which Data reveals to La Forge that at one point early on in his development he considered the android equivalent of suicide. But instead, he had a change of heart and decided to frame the issues that he was having as “challenges to overcome” rather than as “obstacles to be avoided” (Eschevarria & Bole, 1994).
This is very much how Jung taught that complexes should be understood. While in popular culture having a complex has a negative connotation, in actuality, Jung believed that instead complexes should be thought of as opportunities to make one’s conscious ego stronger and one’s psyche more whole. Jung believed that complexes were both messages from the unconscious that something needed attention, and also the psychic containers for individuals to be able to address the issue. By that I mean, that when someone feels that something is inducing an emotional response that seems out of balance, that is how one knows that they are experiencing a complex. But when complexes are acknowledged and the feelings that are brought up by it consciously worked with, they can lead to psychic healing.
Jung felt that complexes were so important to the well being of the psyche that instead of analytical psychology, he almost called the branch of depth psychology that he founded complex psychology. But by any name, the study of the unconscious, which is what defines depth psychology, is one path towards psychic wholeness.
Reference:
Eschevarria, R. (Writer), & Bole, C. (Director). (1994, February 26). Eye of the beholder (Season 7, Episode 18) [TV series episode]. In M. Piller, R. Berman, & J. Taylor (Executive Producers), Star trek: The next generation. Paramount Television.
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