Appreciating Differences - Jack Falt - Ottawa area, Ontario, Canada

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Professional Handout Review by Jack Falt

Hartzler, Margaret & Hartzler, Gary, Conscious Individuation: Exercises to Develop Skills Associated with the MBTI® Preferences and Functions in Attitude, Louisville, KY: Type Resources, 1999, 55 pp - Binder format

The goal of Carl Jung’s therapy was to help people become Individuated and one thing he meant by this was that they should become aware of all their mental functions. He didn’t really believe that very many would actually achieve this but that it would be helpful for people to try to become as conscious as possible. With this in mind the Hartzler’s have come up with a book of exercises that help develop our eight preferences.

Besides exercises for the four attitudes (E, I, J and P) there are exercises for all eight of the functions (the four functions in their extraverted and their introverted attitudes). In addition there are exercises that cover all of the twenty subscales that are measured by the Step II of the MBTI® instrument.

I wouldn’t consider the exercises exciting but they do give practical examples of each of the characteristics of the preferences, functions and subscales. Many of the exercises, particularly those for the introverted forms, are ones to be done by individuals by themselves. Most of the ones for the extraverted forms are ones individuals do in the outer world rather than in a training session. Some exercises are ones that could be used in a more group dynamic setting where people would be asked to notice specific functions and to check their accuracy periodically with others in the group.

As a resource for facilitators, it is useful as background material to help you understand better the concepts you are trying to present in a practical way. You may also want to develop one of your own less conscious function just for your own personal development.

I would see this material as aimed at the professional rather than the casual reader.

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