Enantiodromia

What a strange word!

It originated with the ancient Greeks, and although unfamiliar to most of us, its meaning is critical. Do you remember the old grandfather clocks with a pendulum?

The pendulum swings from one side to the other to enable the clock to function and maintain time.

It's the pendulum movement that helps us understand the meaning of this word. 

The pendulum repeatedly swings from one extreme to another – from one side to the other side. That's basically what our strange word means – a movement from one extreme to the other. So, what does this movement have to do with psychology?

The human psyche, an all-encompassing term for psychology, functions in numerous ways, allowing us to experience thoughts, imagination, fantasies, emotions, dreams, and much more. Within the psyche, we also find our experience of opposites. We often are aware that there are two sides to almost anything that our psychology generates. The two sides are typically opposite of each other.

It's easy to see these opposites in the outer world when looking at colors such as black and white, or masculine and feminine animals, even the earth with land-mases and the oceans.

Our psychology provides this opposite dynamic as well. Previous columns introduced this characteristic as the unconscious (hidden psychology) and conscious (awareness), unconscious feminine and masculine elements, and personality characteristics such as extraversion and introversion.

We also experience these opposites when we express beliefs, values, moralities, opinions, and judgements, and when we meet people who are "one-sided" in their views, expressing and living only one side.

So, the meaning of the enantiodromia relates to the movement from one opposite to the other within our psychology.

This movement can be intentional, but it can be unintentional, too. Typically, a one-sided person can experience the opposite side by making a conscious change, but since we have egos (identities and I-ness), people often resist this movement to the opposite side. 

In therapeutic settings, this movement is encouraged. It is the beginning of a balance between two opposites, which is healthy. Living one-sidedly limits our lives and our personal development. Living in the middle with more balance between the two opposites is much more desirable. There isn't a particular psychological term for this balance, but it enables us to live more fully and provides an opportunity for the two opposites to change.

This change is due to a psychological function that produces something greater than either side, while integrating both. This truly is personal psychological development!

Next time you find yourself being one-sided, consider the word enantiodromia.