VERENA KAST

The Association Experiment in the Therapeutic Practice
C.G. Jung's Groundbreaking Method for Exploring the Unconscious: Theory and Practice

Verena Kast´s book, initially published in German in 1980 by Bonz Verlag and now available in English, continues this series' mission of making classic works in analytical psychology accessible to a wider audience. This concise book, once available exclusively to students of the C.G. Jung Institute in Zurich, is now accessible to a broader readership.
This book emphasize that the importance of C.G. Jung’s Association Experiment in therapeutic practice lies in its dual function: on one hand, it serves as a diagnostic tool, and on the other, it has a profoundly therapeutic effect.
The association experiment, developed by C.G. Jung in the early 20th century, was a groundbreaking method for exploring the unconscious. Jung used this experiment to study how individuals respond to a series of stimulus words, measuring reaction times and observing emotional or physiological reactions. The aim was to identify "complexes" — emotionally charged groups of ideas that influence thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, often outside of conscious awareness. Jung's method involved presenting a word and asking participants to respond with the first word that came to mind. Delays, repetitions, or unusual responses often indicated the presence of a psychological complex.

Verena Kast, Ph.D., studied psychology at the universities of Basel and Zurich, and trained as a psychoanalyst at the C.G. Jung Institute Zurich. From 1973–2008, she taught at the University of Zurich. She has lectured and lectures at various universities in Switzerland and abroad, and at the C.G. Jung Institute Zürich. She is past president of the Swiss Society for Analytical Psychology, past president of the International Society for Analytical Psychology, and past president of the C.G. Jung Institute Zürich. She was chairwoman of the International Society for Depth Psychology, co-director of the Lindau Psychotherapy Weeks. She has written and continues to write books and essays in the field of emotions, attachment, and separation, but also symbolism. Her love belongs to the imagination and its development.
The publication of this book is independent and facilitated by Jungianeum: Contemporary Initiatives for Analytical Psychology and Neo-Jungian Studies. Under this umbrella, since 2022, I am developing a series of initiatives called: JUNGIANEUM/Books Series: Re-Covered Classics in Analytical Psychology and Neo-Jungian Studies; JUNGIANEUM/Talks: Psychosocial Wednesday; JUNGIANEUM/Yearbook for Contemporary neo-Jungian Studies; JUNGIANEUM/Masterclasses (in collaboration with Pacifica Graduate Institute, USA); JUNGIANEUM/Cultivating the Souls in the Supersociety (interview series on doppiozero.it).

• Verena Kast, Father-Daughter, Mother-Son (2022)
• Polly Young-Eisendrath, Women and Desire: Beyond Wanting to Be Wanted (2023)
• Mary Watkins, Opening to the Imaginal: Waking Dreams and Invisible Guests (2024)
• Pia Skogemann, Waxing Femininity: Adult Female Development from the Perspective of C. G. Jung’s Psychology (2024)
• Verena Kast, The Association Experiment in Therapeutic Practice (2025)
• Mario Jacoby, Verena Kast, Ingrid Riedel, Witches, Ogres, and the Devil's Daughter: Encounters With Evil in Fairy Tales (Forthcoming, 2025)
• Thomas Singer & Stuart Copans, Who's the Patient Here? Portraits of the Young Psychotherapist (Forthcoming, 2025)
• John Beebe, Psychiatric Treatment: Crisis, Clinic, Consultation (Forthcoming, 2025)