Why Jung Is Having a Moment

Something unexpected is happening in popular psychology. Carl Jung—the Swiss psychiatrist who died in 1961, whose ideas about archetypes and the collective unconscious once seemed destined for the dustbin of discarded theories—is experiencing a remarkable revival.

The numbers are striking. Videos tagged #shadowwork have accumulated over 2.3 billion views on TikTok. The Shadow Work Journal by Keila Shaheen, a self-published workbook based on Jungian concepts, outsold every other book on Amazon in September 2023—including Oprah. It has now sold over a million copies. Jordan Peterson's lectures on Jungian psychology have drawn millions of viewers to concepts like archetypes, the shadow, and individuation.

Why is a 20th-century depth psychologist suddenly resonating with Gen Z and millennials scrolling through their phones?

The Hunger for Depth

The simplest explanation is that people are hungry for something that mainstream psychology stopped offering: depth. For decades, the field has moved toward symptom-focused, manualized treatments. Cognitive-behavioral therapy teaches you to challenge distorted thoughts. Medications adjust neurotransmitter levels. Both approaches have value and help many people.

But something gets lost when psychology becomes purely technical. The questions that haunt us at 3 a.m. (Why do I keep repeating the same patterns? Why can't I feel truly connected to others? Why does success leave me empty?) don't yield to cognitive restructuring or selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors alone.

Jung promised access to the depths. He said there were hidden parts of ourselves—the shadow—that we'd rejected and buried, and that these buried parts were sabotaging our lives from behind the scenes. He said we carried within us ancient patterns of human experience—archetypes—that could guide us toward wholeness. He said the goal of psychological development wasn't mere symptom relief but individuation: becoming fully, authentically yourself.

This is what the shadow work phenomenon is really about. When someone journals about their triggers, examines their projections, and tries to integrate rejected parts of themselves, they're doing something that feels meaningful in a way that tracking automatic thoughts in a CBT workbook often doesn't. They're on a journey of self-discovery, not symptom management.

A Reaction to the Curated Self

There's another factor driving Jung's resurgence: social media itself. The platforms that spread Jungian concepts have also created the conditions that make those concepts feel necessary.

Instagram and TikTok encourage the construction of carefully curated personas—polished versions of ourselves optimized for engagement. But Jung warned about over-identification with the persona, the social mask we wear. When we become our mask, we lose touch with the authentic self beneath.

The shadow work trend can be understood as a reaction against the curated self. It's an acknowledgment that behind the filtered photos and optimized personal brands, there's something messier, darker, and more real. The shadow contains what we've hidden from our Instagram feed—and increasingly, what we've hidden from ourselves.

The Therapist Shortage Factor

We should also acknowledge a practical factor: over 120 million Americans live in areas with mental health workforce shortages. Even those with access often face months-long waitlists and costs that insurance doesn't cover.

Shadow work journals and TikTok psychology offer something you can start immediately, on your own, for the cost of a paperback. This accessibility is both a strength and a limitation. While democratizing psychological concepts has real value, doing deep emotional work without professional support carries risks—especially for people with trauma histories or serious mental health conditions.

What the Resurgence Reveals

Jung's return tells us something important about what people need from psychology: meaning, depth, and a framework for understanding themselves as whole persons with hidden dimensions. The purely technical approach—identifying disorders, targeting symptoms, measuring outcomes—serves important purposes but doesn't satisfy the full range of human psychological needs.

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But this raises a question: Does Jung actually deliver what his new followers are seeking? Are concepts like the collective unconscious and archetypes scientifically sound, or are they appealing fictions? Can you get the depth without the mysticism?

These questions matter because what we believe about the psyche shapes what we do about it. If Jung's framework is essentially correct, one approach to self-understanding follows. If it's partly right but flawed in important ways, we need to know what to keep and what to revise.

In the next post in this series, we'll examine what Jung got right—and what he mystified beyond recognition.