Transcendent function

The tendencies of the conscious and the unconscious together make up the transcendent function, thus making the transition from one attitude to another organically possible without loss of the unconscious. The transcendent function manifests itself as a quality of conjoined opposites. So long as these are kept apart (in order to avoid conflict), they do not function and remain inert. In whatever form the opposites appear in the individual, it is basically always a matter of consciousness lost, and obstinately sticking to one-side when confronted with the image of instinctiveness, wholeness and freedom.

In therapy, the therapist mediates the transcendent function for the individual by helping him to bring conscious and unconscious together and so arrive at a new attitude. The transcendent function may be produced through access to unconscious material (dreams, spontaneous fantasies).

Transcendent functioning is a level of behaviour rather than a type of behaviour, which goes beyond or transcends average behaviour. It is more creative, more efficient, more productive, and qualitatively superior to habitual behaviour.