Sigmund Freud viewed the unconscious part of the mind as a seething cauldron of repressed desires and expectations. Milton Erickson viewed the unconscious mind as being full of forgotten resources that can be called upon to help an individual make the changes that they desire. My view is more in line with Erickson’s view in general.
When you begin to work in psychotherapy with someone who has some understanding of the unconscious mind, the unconscious mind begins searching for solutions. Imagine it being like a Google search…where a phrase such as “growth,” “solutions,” or “resolution” is typed into the search box. Your mind has a wealth of information from your life’s experiences, and some of that information, you have forgotten. But your unconscious mind can begin searching for that information and those experiences that will be of the greatest benefit to you now in resolving your difficulties.
And to that end, and within that framework, the mind begins searching. Have you ever had the experience of thinking very hard on a problem and being unable to find a solution? Have you ever went to sleep on it and woke up in the middle of the night with the solution mysteriously on your mind? And can you imagine the same thing happening for certain vexing life problems? I think we’ve all had that experience and it may seem surprising to imagine that this can take place with various kinds of life problems as well.
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September 2, 2010 at 5:54 am
doctorshankar
Yes. But you could have made it simpler. What exactly is the point. That the mind/brain/unconscious is similar to the computer or even google search engine is obvious. But then do you say that we can solve problems by thinking over them deeply or even analyzing them through the conscious or mind or say, the conscious.
As for Freud, the unconscious is buried and is very difficult to be opened.
regards
Dr.K.Shankar
September 4, 2010 at 7:46 am
thecountryshrink
I think Freud’s view was far too bleak, and that Erickson’s view is more apt to this metaphor. There are times when it is helpful to encourage a patient to think something over very deeply, and there are other times when it is helpful to initiate an unconscious search pattern and strong expectations. I’ve very often seen patients find the solution to part of their difficulties through this method. They will suddenly remember (perhaps even in a dream) about a long forgotten pattern of thinking or being that would work better in their current life situation.
Thank you for your comment.
TCS