16 Associations, Based on Jung.
This exercise was developed from Jung’s word-association test, which he used in his work on personality types. Today the method is widely used to examine internal beliefs—cognitions.
1. Formulate your question. Describe, in a word or short phrase, the problem or task that concerns you.
2. As quickly as possible, without overthinking, write down in the left-hand column all sixteen associations that come to mind when you think of that word. Let yourself go; record whatever words appear.
3. Now combine the words in pairs: the first with the second, the third with the fourth, and so on. Once paired, work with each pair separately, without referring back to your original word (the one describing your question). For each pair, find a single association—a word that connects those two words for you personally. Write the results in a second column.
4. You now have eight words. Pair them up again and repeat the process from step three. This produces a third column containing four resulting associations.
5. When you have four words, repeat the same process: pair them up and write the resulting associations in a fourth column.
6. Finally, combine the remaining two words into one main word. This last word represents your deeper association.
Once you have completed the exercise, begin analysing the result. This is where the work on yourself begins. Most importantly, do not attribute mystical powers to this exercise. It does not solve a problem; it merely provides a tool for examining the problem and becoming aware of hidden cognitions that influence our decisions and behaviour. Becoming aware of a problem is half the battle.