Beginnings

LOOKNG AT THE MAKE UP OF THE UNCONSCIOUS

Three components of the psyche (according to Freudian theories): “…the id exerting instinctive, libidinous force, the superego representing cultural, civilised forces and the ego which achieves some balance between the other two.” A Textbook of Psychology, 1980. Page 27

Looking therapeutic techniques, “free association to the elements of the patient’s dreams and the interpretation of the patient’s statements in terms of symbolic meanings…,” which are used by art forms such as abstract expressionism where techniques are used to express thoughts and emotions from the unconscious (example here). The Stream of Consciousness, a  Freudian concept, looks at how one can express elements from the unconscious by allowing themselves to write without intent or even thinking about what they write, thus to express their mentality or collective of ideas from within the mind that they did not know they had. I use similar methods in my practice to get an insight to my mentality, thoughts and memories stored in my unconscious – I am interested in the concept of hidden desires and ideas.

Certain aspects of Freud’s theories cause a controversy in psychology, such as “his belief that much human motivation is, especially from the id, is unconscious.” P27

Carl Gustav Jung expresses views of analytic psychology but these vary from Freud’s theories in different ways, in particularly his “dismissal of libido as the central life-force.” p28 Jung believed, similar to Freud, that the unconscious was made up of two parts; the personal and the collective.