The Unconscious Mind

Both in the world of psychology and in normal society, we frequently hear the word ‘unconscious’. “He did it unconsciously…”, “Her unconscious is running her life…”, “He doesn’t understand that he always unconsciously reacts that way…” And so on.

So. What is this ‘unconscious’? The very word presupposes that it is something we don’t know about – so how can we understand it? It is this unconscious mind that is central to counselling and psychotherapy and is one of the keys to understanding how we operate in our lives.

Essentially, the unconscious is a set of automatic systems. Transferring our attention to the physical body for a moment, it is evident that we are a highly complex biological machine which could not possibly function without automatic systems. We do not have to think about beating our heart, breathing, or digesting our food – it happens automatically and, thank goodness that is so, otherwise we could not move a step or lift a finger without engaging in some very complex decisions.

The psyche, the mind, is just as complicated and just as dependent on automatic systems. Apart from the things that happen at a reflex level, most of these systems develop during childhood. Here is an example of a positive one which almost everyone reading this will have experienced – our parents taught us to come to the edge of the road, look right, look left, look right again (at least in the UK!) and then walk if it’s clear. We don’t have to think about this – we just do it – it’s unconscious. And that is what the unconscious is. It is a set of programmed behaviours which we developed in our childhood and now, not only don’t have to think about but, importantly, don’t even know about.

This is all very well if they work for us. Sadly, not everyone has an ideal childhood and the various things which happen to us as children force us to develop survival strategies which may not be helpful to us as adults. For instance, our childhood might have been so chaotic that we survived by making sure we were absolutely in control of everything we could possibly control. Or we might have discovered that if we lost our temper and had a meltdown, everyone backed off… Or we might have discovered that if we obsessively looked after everyone and everything except ourselves, this was how we survived. And so on and so on.

So, bless us, we emerge into adulthood carrying a whole portfolio of unconscious attitudes, ways of behaving and ways of seeing the world which got us to that point. Unfortunately, these ways of thinking and behaving have become our automatic systems. We don’t know about them and, while they are unconscious, they run us.

One of the major functions of counselling and therapy is simply to make the unconscious conscious. “Oh every time X happens I react by doing Y”. The minute you bring these systems into consciousness, you have a choice – you can choose not to behave in that way, or have that attitude, or respect that thought. The more we know about these things the more responsibility, control and authority we have over how we operate.

This may not be easy. These things are deep in our psyche. However, with the right type of talking therapy we can haul these unhelpful systems into the light of day and make choices around them. Sometimes I say to my clients – you will reach a point where you say “oh sh*t, I’ve just done that again!” And then you will reach the point where you say “oh sh*t, I’m just doing that again!” And finally, to the point when you say “oh sh*t, I’m just going to do that again – so I won’t!” Result!

So, in summary, the unconscious mind is a set of automatic systems to help us run a very complex neurological machine. Some of these are basic and instinctual but many develop during our childhood and may or may not be helpful when we reach adulthood. Talking therapies are one way of bringing these automatic systems into the light of day so that we can make choices around them and be in more control of our lives.

I'm Adrian Longstaffe, a retired vet and psychotherapist. I'm a Vetamorphosis Network member. Having believed myself to be the only person in the UK qualified both as a veterinary surgeon and a psychotherapist, I was delighted to discover others with similar breadth of training and interest. The veterinary profession has its own constellation of particular issues and it is heartening to be in support of a group of therapists who know the profession from the inside. You can find more about me and the other therapists in the Network in the Vetamorphosis Therapist Directory