The Self in the Consulting Room

The realization of the Self, although the absolute basis of Jungian psychology, has internal inconsistencies, is difficult to understand, and offers a promise of realization that cannot be fulfilled. This has weakened it, and its existence is now one of speculation. If this is the case, what is to be done with it in the consulting room? How should it be introduced and accounted for, if at all? This paper suggests some alternatives but concludes that the myth of the Self has gravitas in other established traditions, and it is those that offer a more coherent framework for the emergence of the Self.