It’s a Journey of Self-Discovery
The Type journey is one of Introduction to Integration – with conscious self-awareness and growth expanding at each level.
The 5 Levels of Type are the principles that frame my consulting practice. Rooting these principles within the practice of Type advances learning and effectiveness and provides more memorable experiences for participants. It brings Type alive as the dynamic system of energy it was meant to be.
These principles help participants see they are not ‘stuck in a box.’ They can move from their natural and habitual mental functions (their Type Code) to flex, incorporate, and develop different ways of thinking and behaving when the situation demands. It opens up the world of choice.
“I believe that Carl Jung, better than anyone else, explains human behavior, development, and the wholeness of wrestling with the conscious and the unconscious, which I came to through the doorway of my journey with Isabel Myers, her family, and the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator.”
– Katharine Myers
The Origins of the 5 Levels of Type
One of the great blessings of my career was working and co-authoring articles with the late Katharine Myers, Isabel Myers’ daughter-in-law and Director Emeritus of the Myers and Briggs Foundation, and my friend. Katharine believed most people who learned about Type would stop their journey by finding their 4-letter Type Code. But one could, if they choose to, work to understand themselves from the lens of the Jungian Psyche and what he called ‘individuation’—or the journey to wholeness—through the doorway of the MBTI.
Katharine and I wrote about these ideas, which briefly appeared on her website, MBTItoday.org that was taken down after her passing.
The 5 Levels of Type is my extension of Katharine Myers’ ideas. Based on over two decades of facilitating and coaching teams and leaders from the foundation of Psychological Type, I have found the MBTI Assessment and the 4-Letter Type Code to be most effective when facilitated within the container of Jung’s psychological theory.
Jung’s Psyche and the 5 Levels
Jung defined the Psyche as the totality of all psychological processes, both conscious and unconscious. It is here that Type fits into Junigan psychology. Our Psychological Type is personality in motion, the constant exchange of mental energy between our conscious and unconscious worlds. The mental functions or processes we prefer give us energy; our unconscious functions are more challenging to access and drain us.
The concept of movement between conscious and unconscious functions is integral to teaching and learning about Psychological Types.
It is essential for deep self-awareness and guiding individual, leader, and team growth and development. Each level is connected to the Psyche and benefits those who wish to engage in a typological journey.
Changing how we naturally and habitually think and behave is more challenging than it seems!
“Cut flowers, though they may be beautifully arranged, cannot last and grow. Likewise, if we want Type to live and grow we must be careful not to cut it from the Jungian roots which nourish and renew it.”
– Nancy Millner
Level 1 – Validating Your Best-Fit Type
About Finding Your Type—The first step in understanding your Psychological Type is taking an assessment, such as the MBTI, and working with a Certified Type Practitioner in a workshop or a coaching session. Their role is crucial in validating or selecting your Best-Fit, 4-letter Type Code. A Certified Practitioner can help you understand the meaning behind your particular Type.
The 4-Letter Type Code and the Psyche – The 4-letter Type code represents the mental functions or processes that naturally operate in our conscious minds; our preferred way of interacting with the world. The preferences that do not appear in our Type Code are opposite to what feels natural for us and thus are more unconscious. Our 4-letter Type, in Jungian terms, defines our persona and ego.
Benefits: Increase self- and other-awareness; see how and why we may be different from others; experience the mental functions that may take more energy to access; find your Whole Type description to see how your Type pattern is a dynamic interplay of your Type’s functions and attitudes; accept differences in others without judgment.
Level 2 – Understanding Your Dominant and Auxiliary Functions
About the Dominant and Auxiliary Functions – Our Dominant and Auxiliary Functions are represented by the two middle letters of our Type Code. We use our Dominant Function in our preferred world of Extraversion or Introversion (represented by the first letter in the 4-letter code) and our Auxiliary Function in the opposite Attitude. Like the captain of a ship or the driver of a car, the Dominant Function leads the personality, giving it direction. The Auxiliary Function guides the Dominant Function by providing it with the opposite perspective, as if to say – look, this is what you have forgotten to consider!
Eight mental processes or psychological functions (download definitions here) appear within each of the 16 Types as Dominant or Auxiliary Functions.
The Dominant and Auxiliary Functions and the Psyche – The Dominant and Auxiliary Functions define our ego pattern (the conscious mind) and our orientation to the world. A constant energy exchange between these two conscious functions can provide psychological balance and prevent us from becoming too one-sided.
Benefits: Fully grasp how Type provides the framework for maintaining balance between our inner and outer worlds and between Judging (coming to conclusions) and Perceiving (taking in information); experience how your Auxiliary Function balances your Dominant Function; grasp the strengths and blind spots of your Dominant and Auxiliary Functions; learn to create psychological balance between the functions; discover which mental function is most visible to others and the impact on others, see how these mental functions impact team and leadership development.
Level 3 – Grasping the Type Hierarchy of Functions
About the Type Hierarchy of Functions – The Type Hierarchy refers to the theoretical pattern for using and developing Jung’s 8 Mental Functions within the 16 Types. Jung’s 8 Mental Functions are ordered from the most to least conscious and developed, starting with the Dominant. (download the Type Hierarchy for the 16 Types here.) According to Myers, there are ’16 different paths to excellence’. By understanding our Type Hierarchy of functions, we can navigate the landscape of our minds more effectively.
The Type Hierarchy of Functions and the Psyche – The Type Hierarchy provides us with a theoretical map of our Psyche. Type Dynamic theory holds that moving ‘down’ the Type Hierarchy from the Dominant to the 4th or Inferior Function takes more energy; the mental processes in our unconscious mind are more challenging to access. The farther ‘down’ we move into the unconscious, the more complex, challenging and even distressing it can be. Our inferior function is a bridge to our unconscious and can be most problematic when managing stress.
Benefits: Acquiring a map or compass for growth; seeing the path forward for learning new skills and behaviors and shedding old habits that may no longer be serving your best interests; gaining an increased tolerance for managing the inner tension between opposites within one Psyche; increasing a sense of balance and flexibility and newfound sources of energy and personal satisfaction.
Level 4 – Growing in Your Type Through Type Development
About Type Development – Type development is about exercising and strengthening the psychological muscles to develop the mental functions and associated skill sets that are more unconscious and difficult for you to engage.
Type Development and the Psyche – Theoretically, the primary task of type development in the first half of life is to develop your Domiant and Auxiliary Functions to establish consistency, predictability, and effectiveness for dealing with your life circumstances or a strong ego. In the second half of life, we turn our attention to those mental functions that have resided in the unconscious; we incorporate those previously neglected and unrealized parts of the self. Jungian theory provides the concept that the Psyche dynamically pushes us to grow and develop, whether we are conscious of the process or not. Actively participating in navigating our development helps the process go more smoothly.
Benefits: Recognizing that we all have our own path for development; identifying the mental functions that are most difficult for us to manage; becoming more comfortable with opening ourselves up to different perspectives; discovering how to be more adept at holding the tension between opposite viewpoints, both externally and internally; learning new skills and implementing them in the workplace for a more balanced approach to solving workplace issues.
Level 5 – Using Type as a Guide for Jungian Individuation
About Type and Jungian Individuation – Jungian individuation is the process of becoming whole and who we were meant to be. In the Jungian model, wholeness is defined as a state in which consciousness and unconsciousness work together in harmony to establish a vital connection to the true Self beyond our ego.
Our Psychological Type, as indicated by the 4-Letter Type Code, is just the beginning of self-discovery and individuation. Jungian psychology lets us know that we are born with all of the mental functions, even though we have an innate predisposition to develop some over others. As such, our Type is a compass that guides us to incorporate those mental functions we have neglected (the unconscious functions) to become stronger and more acquainted with our true Self as we grow and develop.
Jungian Individuation and the Psyche—Jung indicated that individuation is the work of a lifetime. The process involves much more than learning to develop skills associated with mental functions through Type Development; it calls us to integrate the mental functions into our being. As such, Type can be a friendly guide through the travails of the developmental journey.
In the first half of life, individuation involves differentiating our Dominant and Auxiliary mental functions to navigate the challenges of finding our place in the world to establish a strong ego. In midlife, the goal of the process is to turn inward to find deeper meaning and a way to connect with the Self. This requires starting to incorporate the more unconscious functions consciously. In the second half of life, individuation calls us to integrate our unconscious functions (Tertiary and Inferior) for a more expanded ego and to manifest discoveries from that expansion into the world. In the third stage of life, we face the challenges of growing physical diminishments and increasing loss. In the face of such challenges, we are called to turn even more inward to embrace the whole source of the greater psyche and spirit and to see our lives as a connection to the greater whole.
Benefits: Seeing how we are connected to the whole of life; accepting the nature of paradox and learning to hold the tension of opposites in a way that provides a sense of peace rather than tension; knowing that we can continue moving in a direction that sustains us despite the great sense of loss and difficulty that comes with the challenges of aging; becoming more grateful with what life has provided to us and connecting with a more profound understanding of Self and with those people that provide soulful solace.