Theory of Autonomous Complexes

“I hear voices…” by Celeste is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0

Theory of Autonomous Complexes

Carl Jung developed his theory of autonomous complexes in 1908, through word association experiments at the Burghölzli psychiatric clinic in Zurich. By measuring subjects’ reaction times to stimulus words and noting hesitations, slips, and emotional reactions, Jung discovered patterns suggesting emotionally-charged “hot spots” in the unconscious.

Fundamental Conclusions

Jung concluded that complexes are emotionally-charged clusters of feelings, memories, and thoughts that operate largely outside conscious awareness and possess genuine autonomy; meaning they can “come and go as they please” and resist conscious intentions. He determined that complexes are universal; everyone has them, and they are not inherently pathological. The problem arises not from having complexes but from the psyche’s breakdown in its capacity to regulate them. bigthink

Jung concluded that complexes behave as “splinter psyches” or “shadow governments of the ego,“ possessing their own characteristics: reddit

Their own physiology, capable of disrupting stomach, breathing, and heart function
Independent willpower and intentions that can interrupt conscious thought and action
The ability to dramatize themselves in dreams, poetry, and hallucinations
Power to completely possess the personality in severe cases bigthink

Implications for Agency and Will

A crucial conclusion was that complexes can sometimes override conscious control, which Jung believed demonstrated “diminished responsibility” in certain states. He famously stated that we not only have complexes but “complexes can have us,” challenging traditional notions of free will and suggesting that unconscious forces possess energy values sometimes exceeding conscious intentions. reddit

Therapeutic Conclusions

Jung concluded that integration through individuation was on path to psychological health. This required bringing unconscious complexes into conscious awareness; a process he called assimilation or integration. He believed complexes have roots in the collective unconscious and are “tinged with archetypal contents,” connecting personal psychology to universal human patterns. By recognizing and integrating these autonomous forces, individuals could diminish the complexes’ ability to control behaviour from the unconscious depths and achieve better psychological balance. simplypsychology

Jung maintained throughout his work that “if it is unconscious, it is against you,” emphasizing that unacknowledged complexes become pathological precisely when we deny having them. appliedjung

Historical Development

Jung developed his theory very early in his career (1900–1908). The method itself derived from Sir Francis Galton’s 1879 invention of word association, but Jung’s innovation was applying it to detect unconscious processes. By measuring subjects’ reaction times to stimulus words and noting hesitations, slips, and emotional reactions, Jung discovered patterns suggesting emotionally-charged “hot spots” in the unconscious. chmc-dubai

The term “complex” was originally coined by German psychiatrist Theodor Ziehen in 1898, but Jung’s interpretation solidified its place in psychoanalytic vocabulary. Jung initially called his entire body of theories “Complex psychology” because complexes were so central to his thinking. He defined them as “feeling-toned complexes of ideas” consisting of a nuclear element characterized by affect and surrounded by secondarily constellated associations. wikipedia

Jung’s theory evolved from his early word association work through his 1919 paper “Instinct and the Unconscious” (where he first linked complexes with archetypes) to his 1928 publication “On Psychic Energy,” maintaining a consistent core definition throughout his career. After breaking with Freud, Jung renamed his approach “analytical psychology” to distinguish his complex-based theory from Freud’s narrow focus on the Oedipus complex. iaap

Contemporary Applications and Developments

The theory has been extensively used and expanded in modern psychotherapy, particularly through parts-based models of the psyche. Richard Schwartz’s Internal Family Systems (IFS) Therapy directly translates Jung’s autonomous complexes into therapeutic practice, treating different parts of the mind as distinct personalities that can be engaged through dialogue and compassion. Schwartz discovered this independently when a bulimic patient reported hearing autonomous voices, leading him to develop IFS as a systematic approach to working with these “discrete and autonomous mental systems”. bigthink

Other parts-based approaches include Hal and Sidra Stone’s Voice Dialogue (which emphasizes archetypal dimensions of complexes) and Arnold Mindell’s Process-Oriented Psychology (which views complexes as “dream figures” appearing in both sleeping and waking life). These therapies unite Jung’s depth psychology with Gestalt’s experiential techniques, providing structured methods for recognizing and integrating autonomous complexes. gettherapybirmingham

Beyond Jungian circles, related concepts appear under different names: “schemas” in cognitive psychology and “core beliefs” in cognitive behavioural therapy address similar phenomena, though therapists outside depth psychology may consider complexes themselves theoretical fiction. The theory also influenced the development of Humanistic Psychology (particularly concepts of self-actualization and individuation) and Transpersonal Psychology (which extended Jung’s cartography into perinatal and transpersonal dimensions). bigthink

Current research continues to explore complexes as the smallest functional units of psychic structure, with recent work examining how networks of complexes explain trauma mechanisms and how they remain “skeletons in the cupboard” influencing behaviour when unacknowledged. The concept of subpersonalities, expanded by British psychotherapist John Rowan, treats complexes as “semipermanent and semi-autonomous regions of personality capable of acting as a person,” facilitating integration through therapeutic dialogue. onlinelibrary.wiley

Supporting Evidence

There have been substantial evidence-based research efforts for both Jungian therapy and the complex-based therapies that derived from it, though the evidence base varies in strength and scope. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih

Jungian Psychotherapy Research

Since the 1990s, multiple empirical studies on Jungian Psychotherapy (JP) have been conducted, primarily in Germany and Switzerland. These include prospective naturalistic outcome studies and retrospective analyses examining effectiveness rather than efficacy in controlled settings. mdpi

Key findings demonstrate that JP produces significant improvements across multiple domains: pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih

Reduction in symptoms and interpersonal problems
Changes at the level of personality structure and everyday life functioning
Improvements that remain stable up to six years post-therapy
Continued improvement after therapy ends—the so-called “sleeper effect” that psychoanalysis has long claimed pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih

A 2024 study of JP in supervised training settings found notable reductions in symptom burden, particularly for depression, anxiety, and obsessive-compulsive symptoms. These naturalistic studies establish the effectiveness of Jungian psychotherapy in real-world clinical settings. researchinpsychotherapy

Research Limitations

The evidence demonstrates effectiveness but lacks RCT-level efficacy data. Researchers acknowledge that while naturalistic studies confirm JP’s practicability and contribution to mental health treatment in countries like Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and Japan, there remains a strong need for Randomized Controlled Trials to make firm efficacy conclusions possible. Academic psychology has historically criticized Jungian approaches for insufficient empirical proof, and the field has developed “far from empirical research” for decades. iaap

Internal Family Systems Evidence

Internal Family Systems (IFS), the most prominent therapy directly applying Jung’s autonomous complex theory, has accumulated more rigorous evidence in recent years. A 2014 pilot study showed IFS had significantly positive effects on adults with PTSD and complex trauma—at one-month follow-up, 92% of participants no longer met PTSD criteria. tandfonline

Two published randomized controlled trials demonstrate IFS efficacy: tandfonline

Haddock et al. (2017) compared 16 individual IFS sessions to treatment-as-usual (CBT or IPT) for depression in female university students, showing positive results
Shadick et al. (2013) examined IFS for depression and chronic pain in women with rheumatoid arthritis, finding statistically significant improvements in pain levels, physical function, joint pain, self-compassion, and depressive symptoms sustained one year later compared to an educational control group tandfonline

A 2020 randomized clinical trial examining IFS for PTSD and opioid use is currently underway, representing the largest funded IFS research project to date. A 2025 scoping review concluded that while limited in scope, existing evidence highlights IFS as a promising treatment, particularly for chronic pain, depression, PTSD, and developing self-compassion, with studies providing “valuable insights and a strong foundation for future research”. foundationifs

Jung significantly extended his thinking beyond individual hallucinations to include collective paranormal experiences; phenomena witnessed by multiple people simultaneously. This evolution marked an important shift in his conceptualization of autonomous complexes and their potential to manifest beyond individual psyches. wikipedia

Extension to Collective Phenomena

Jung moved from explaining individual apparitions as projections of unconscious complexes to considering cases where multiple witnesses reported seeing the same paranormal phenomenon. During his research with flying saucers in the 1940s-1950s, he specifically noted instances where several people claimed to see UFOs at the same location, while others present could see nothing despite being shown exactly where to look. From this, Jung inferred “the possibility of collective visions on such and other occasions”.

This represented a significant theoretical development: rather than dismissing all paranormal experiences as purely subjective hallucinations, Jung acknowledged that some phenomena might involve archetypal constellations from the collective unconscious manifesting in ways that multiple observers could perceive. He proposed that synchronicities and certain paranormal events arise when archetypal forces within the collective unconscious activate, manifesting through meaningful coincidences or shared experiences in the external world. wikipedia

The Psychoid Concept

Jung developed the concept of the “psychoid archetype” to explain how psychological contents might produce effects observable in physical reality. He suggested that at the deepest level, the collective unconscious transcends the boundary between psyche and matter, existing in what alchemists called the unus mundus (one world); a fundamental reality without differentiation between psychological and physical. This framework allowed him to theorize how archetypal activations could potentially produce phenomena perceivable by multiple witnesses, not merely individual projections. psi-encyclopedia.spr

Evolution of His Position

Critically, Jung’s position softened considerably over time. While his 1919 lecture confidently stated he saw “no proof whatever of the existence of real spirits,” by 1948 he added a footnote acknowledging: “After collecting psychological experiences from many people and many countries for fifty years, I no longer feel as certain as I did in 1919… I doubt whether an exclusively psychological approach can do justice to the phenomena in question”. This revision demonstrates Jung became increasingly open to the possibility that some paranormal phenomena might involve more than purely psychological processes. nightwalks

Response from Parapsychology

Parapsychological researchers had a mixed response to Jung’s theories. J.B. Rhine, the pioneering parapsychologist, appreciated Jung’s interest but disagreed fundamentally with the synchronicity concept. Rhine remained committed to causality and believed psi phenomena like telepathy and precognition involved actual causal mechanisms (conscious or unconscious intention producing effects), whereas Jung’s synchronicity proposed “acausal” meaningful coincidences. vicmansfield

Later parapsychologists suggested Jung and Rhine were addressing different categories of phenomena: Rhine’s repeatable laboratory effects (telepathy, precognition) may depend on volition and follow causal principles, while Jung’s synchronicities represent occasional remarkable coincidences following different patterns. Some researchers now propose these might both be valid, with parapsychological events potentially accompanying volition without being directly caused by it. psi-encyclopedia.spr

The Society for Psychical Research gave Jung a platform (his 1919 lecture), and he maintained honorary memberships in both the British SPR and American SPR throughout his career. However, his psychological reductionism initially disappointed those hoping for evidence of spirit survival, even as his later openness and concepts like synchronicity and the psychoid archetype provided theoretical frameworks that some parapsychologists found valuable for understanding collective and physical manifestations of psi phenomena. parapsychology

Contrasts with other theoretical models

Now that we have some background, I’d like to contrast Jung’s theory of Autonomous Complexes with other theories, to see cross-model support.

I can see that in-part, Jung is speaking of compulsive behaviour being seen in these complexes. But also, that those complexes can become animated, become voices in our mind, and take on different personalities.

There are clear parallels with IFS, however, IFS seems to take less of a view of those silent compulsive voices.

We have discussed elsewhere our own concepts of the DNA-Self and the Human Symbolic Interface. We can see many parallels between Jung’s autonomous Systems and our own thinking in regard to animated genetic role models as inherited thought forms that humanity has been mistaking as a divine distraction in the outside world, instead of hearing the message, to look within, and find out how to use that Human Symbolic Interface.

We can also see, that such autonomous processes will be held within a schema, as proposed by Schema Theory. And that the compartmentalising rules will include decisions about how to present oneself to society, implemented as masking rules.

Jung’s archetypes themselves, could be viewed as part of the systems method of embodying basic survival instincts at higher, metacognitive levels. The Divine Feminine, for example, could be simply a higher level, intelligent driver for an individuals nurturing commitment to itself and others.

Those may well include higher level survival and growth functions, inherited from DNA, but distorted, rejected or dissociated from the child’s core self-concept in early infancy. A rejection that reverses their effective polarity, creating an anti-survival architype, from Jung’s inner “Saviour”.

We can also see how Cognitive Theory shows us that we can remove, though sometimes only temporarily, the coping rules that make up part of our mask. This is done by understanding that the self-decision that created those rules was determined by a balance of pros and cons – Ideas that serve to prop-up and reinforce self-beliefs, as well those that undermine them. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy addresses these immediate, seemingly incongruent coping patterns by using logic and reason, to remove or add props into that question, in order to switch the balance, reverse a prior self-decision and therefore effect behavioural change.

We can also see that Transactional Analysis is also observing those impulsive and compulsive behaviours that Jung is mentioning as Autonomous Complexes, with it’s observation of secret life-positions that often undermine an individuals progress and growth.

We can see how the Dual-Mask model, of hidden and secret coping styles, allows for those secret life positions to exist in opposition to the individuals stated ambition, even after they seem to have found and integrated that schema.

We also can deduce that the space that this interaction takes place, is part of Rogers Phenomenal Field, and that this too is seen as being highly symbolic.

Can we perhaps also see, that therapies such as CBT, may actually cause these voices to develop, by failing to correct the core issue, resulting in further dissociation long-term, and therefore allowing the dissociated processes in the Shadow mind, to collectively have more power over the individual, as they lose their agency and sovereignty to their personal shadow “opposition?

Harmonies with Other Theories

Theory	Key Concept	Autonomy & Manifestation	Link to DNA-Self/HSI
Jung	Complexes as splinter psyches	Voices/personalities; steer behaviour autonomously bigthink	Rejected innate traits in shadow schemas, symbolized in phenomenal field
Schema Therapy	Schema modes (e.g., Detached Protector)	Coping states activate independently like subpersonalities frontiersin	Pruned core-self functions compartmentalized, interfaced symbolically
Transactional Analysis	Ego-states (Parent/Adult/Child)	Semi-autonomous; drive transactions/scripts gettherapybirmingham	Layer 1 masks enforce rejected growth functions
Rogers Phenomenal Field	Symbolic perceptual reality	Dissociated regions evoke shadow terror	HSI maps unconscious symbols to regulate pruned potentials

Contrasting Jung’s autonomous complexes with schema modes, TA ego-states, and Rogers’ field/HSI helps us to see the potential for a unified model which our own theories of the DNA-Self serve to help further enhance this harmony.

Additional Theories

Internal Family Systems (IFS): Parts (exiles/managers) mirror complexes/modes as protective subpersonalities holding trauma; Self leads unburdening, aligning with HSI reclamation.
Gestalt Therapy: Topdog/underdog polarities as dialogic figures/grounds evoke shadow voices; awareness experiments embody phenomenal field shifts.
Polyvagal Theory: Dissociation (dorsal vagal) freezes rejected functions; ventral activation restores agency, enhancing CBT hybrids.
Attachment Theory: Internal working models as schemas encode early pruning; earned-secure reparenting integrates Layer 1.

These inform and help us to expand Integrative Genomic Schema Therapy as multi-modal, phase-oriented framework for the recovery of personal sovereignty and agency. Simply by helping us see that much of what we might think of as our authentic self, is, for most of us, still unexplored, and unknown.

Theory of Autonomous Complexes

Published by Barra on 27 November 202527 November 2025