Reddit mentions of Forms of Ethical and Intellectual Development in the College Years: A Scheme

Isn't Jung's term individuation, and self-realization? Self-actualization is Maslow's term and I don't remember Jung using it. I'm fairly familiar with Jung but I have lots more of him left to read, including the Red Book and many major works.

But yes, they are exactly the same thing. I cut my teeth on Jung, Maslow, and Perry. So, "the" initiation is one long arduous journey that is the individuation process. Self-actualization is the broader term for this process that leaves out all of Jung's narrative and dream research. I am not interested in the "development" talked about in developmental psychology that is often merely the slow, painfully slow removal by "professional" "educators" (scare quote party) of slivers of trauma-glass, only to be followed up by replacement with a slightly smaller shard. So much of developmental psychology merely traces the recovery from Oedipal disintegration and suppression. I am interested in the positive spiral of self-actualization, referred to as "adult development," "advanced development," "gifted development," Dabrowski's "positive disintegration" (my favorite developmental psychologist! His hilarious and wonderful "third factor") in the literature. We should stop damaging people and heal them quickly so they can get on with their self-actualization journey.

Yes, initiation is the same way as you describe, a series of stages that seem to bring you right back to where you are. Your comment has actually helped me synthesize my thinking on that, thank you. I looked up that Murray Stein book you mentioned and it looks good, so I added it to my book list.