DESCRIPTION:

The psychologist Carl Gustav Jung on self-realisation, individuation, transformation, and the psychology of midlife.

Changing direction at sixty? The false quote from Carl Gustav Jung and the true psychology of transformation, self-realisation, and individuation in midlife

You often come across the following sentence online: “At sixty, the soul changes direction.” It is then attributed to Carl Gustav Jung. But if you look at the texts of the founder of analytical psychology, you quickly realise that he did not write this quote. Nevertheless, the wording refers to a real topic — the transition in midlife, the change from outer roles to inner truth.

What it is about:

·         what attribution is all about

·         individuation,

·         shadow integration,

·         spiritual orientation

·         why psychotherapy offers special opportunities in this phase — and

·         how we can apply Jung's impulses to our lives today.

Carl Gustav Jung and the alleged quote: Did he really say it?

Let's start with the question of the source. The sentence about changing direction at sixty appears neither in the Collected Works nor in C. G. Jung's letters. It sounds poetic, but not like the thoughts or even the style of the Swiss psychiatrist.

Jung often spoke of halves of life, thresholds, and the significance of the second half of life. But he avoided generalised age figures. For him, development was an individual process — throughout life. This is why the popular quote is inspiring, but not authentic.

Why does it persist anyway? Presumably because it picks up on a longing: the hope that in old age not only degradation awaits, but a new direction — an invitation to self-development.

Understanding individuation: What does the process mean for midlife psychology?

The centrepiece of analytical psychology is individuation. By this, Jung means the human journey of discovering and developing one's own self. It is not about becoming perfect, but about becoming whole.

In the first half of life, the focus is on development: Education, career, family, status. The ego needs strength to assert itself in the world. In the second half of life, the focus shifts: the individual asks whether the life they're living is also their own.

This is where the individuation process comes in. It leads to a confrontation with the unconscious, with repressed aspects and unrealised possibilities. Those who follow this path experience a transformation — not through external successes, but through inner coherence.

Midlife as a turning point: why self-realisation is rethought here

Midlife raises an existential question: should life simply continue its current path — or is something new calling? For many people, the discrepancy between external role and inner truth becomes noticeable.

This phase is not an illness, but a normal stage of development. It can be a crisis if you cling desperately to the old. It becomes an opportunity if you accept it as a time of self-realisation.

Psychology describes this turning point as a balance between preserving and letting go. The ego does not have to be dissolved but expanded. It is about building a bridge to the inner core.

The inner call: how the unconscious speaks in this phase

In the second half of life, the unconscious makes itself heard more strongly. Dreams, symptoms, diffuse moods — these are all signals. Jung did not see them as random irritations, but as indications of what still needs to be lived inside.

This is where we encounter the archetypes: Figures that are anchored in the collective unconscious. They appear in images, symbols, and myths. A dream of a journey, an old figure, a bridge — all of these can be an expression of a step into a new phase of life.

Anyone who pays attention to this language recognises that the soul no longer wants to be “useful”, it wants to be “true”.

Freud and Jung in comparison: psychoanalysis vs. analytical psychology

To understand Jung's idiosyncrasy, it helps to look at Sigmund Freud. The psychoanalyst explained the life of the soul in terms of drives, conflicts, and defence mechanisms.

Jung — a student and later critic — developed depth psychology with its profile from this. He emphasised not only childhood, but also the second half of life. While Freud focussed psychoanalysis on the “id”, Jung opened the door to spiritual and religious experience.

Both approaches complement each other. For work in psychotherapy today, this means clarifying conflicts as with Freud but also incorporating meaning and spirituality as with Jung.

Religious and spiritual: Why questions of meaning are part of the individuation process

Jung was convinced that the second half of life would be emotionally impoverished without a religiously orientated attitude. This does not mean dogma, but orientation: the feeling of being part of something greater.

The spiritual framework provides stability when external roles crumble. Symbols, rituals, myths — they open a dimension that points beyond mere functioning.

In psychotherapy, this becomes apparent when patients ask: “What remains? What sustains?” Here, the individuation process becomes an existential path — not only psychologically, but also philosophically and spiritually.

Shadow work and unlived life: Becoming whole in later life

A central part of individuation is the integration of the shadow. Jung understands this to mean everything that we have repressed or rejected: Aggression, envy, but also creative impulses.

This unlived life demands visibility. Those who learn to integrate the shadow do not experience a threat, but an expansion. The goal is to become whole: a yes to one's own ambivalence, to the mixture of good and evil.

Psychotherapy uses methods such as role play, dream interpretation or symbolic work to lift the shadow. The effect: more energy, more authenticity, more freedom.

Western myths and archetypes: What depth psychology learns from symbols

Jung saw the great stories of Western culture — Odysseus, Faust, biblical figures — as mirrors of psychological processes. They reveal archetypes of the collective unconscious.

The hero's journey, the descent into the underworld, the return to the light — these are all images of the individuation process. Those who read them recognise structures in their lives.

This symbolic work is not esoteric, but psychological: it provides images that we can use to orientate our experience. Jung thus combines philosophy, psychology, and myth into a comprehensive world view.

Psychotherapy in midlife: practical paths to self-realisation

The practice of psychotherapy shows how valuable these concepts are. People in midlife come with questions about meaning, relationships and role changes. Three focal points help here:

1.       Biographical clarification: drawing lifelines, naming turning points, promoting self-knowledge.

2.       Symbol work: interpreting dreams, images, body sensations without fleeing into mysticism.

3.       Relationship work: A genuine counterpart that enables reflection and correction.

In this way, psychotherapy becomes a space for self-development — psychotherapeutically based, but open to the spirituality of everyday life.

Boundaries, emancipation, uniqueness: What does self-realisation mean beyond the performance ethic?

Self-realisation in the second half of life does not mean eternal youth. It means emancipation from roles that have become too restrictive.

Paradoxically, recognising limitations creates room for manoeuvre. Not everything is still possible — and this is precisely where freedom lies, in focussing on what is unique. This attitude gives rise to uniqueness without posing.

In this way, midlife becomes an opportunity to realise the potential that was previously overshadowed. The path of individuation does not lead to self-optimisation, but to coherence.

Conclusion in plain language: Individuation, self-actualisation, spirituality — what remains, what is sustainable?

The famous quote about changing direction at sixty is a myth. But the topic it addresses is real: the second half of life requires an inner reorganisation.

Carl Gustav Jung understood this as a process of individuation: a movement towards wholeness, towards the integration of light and shadow.

Analytical psychology opens images, symbols, and religious attitudes for this purpose.

Midlife psychotherapy accompanies this transformation — psychotherapeutically founded, taken existentially seriously.

The goal is not eternal growth, but a reminder: the return to the soul, the acceptance of one's own individuality.

Key points

·         The quote “At sixty, the soul changes direction” is wrongly attributed to Jung.

·         Jung's theory does not describe a fixed point in time, but a path of individuation.

·         Midlife is an invitation to self-realisation and self-development.

·         The unconscious, archetypes, and symbols open access to the soul.

·         Freud and Jung provide different, complementary approaches.

·         Shadow integration leads to becoming whole.

·         Psychotherapy in the second half of life strengthens authenticity and meaning.

·         Accepting limits means gaining freedom for uniqueness.

·         The actual task is not a change of direction, but a deeper anchoring in the self.

RELATED ARTICLES:

Ethical personality development: How temperament and character shape our moral behaviour

Childhood trauma: understanding and overcoming toxic shame and cPTSD.