What is the subconscious and how does it work

Have you ever heard of the power of the mind? As we know, the brain is still the great unknown and it is that as more is discovered about its functioning, we realize that we still have more things to know. Without a doubt, the mind is extraordinary and it is very interesting to discover each of the mysteries it hides.

One of those mysteries is about our subconscious or unconscious mind, but what exactly is the subconscious? How does it work? Psychoanalysis defines the subconscious as the least accessible part of our mind, where memories and repressed impulses are found. In this article from Psychology-Online: what is the subconscious and how does it work, we are going to let you know in detail everything related to this interesting topic.

Index

1. What is the subconscious?
2. How does the subconscious work?
3. Does the subconscious tell the truth? Psychological experiment
4. How to access the subconscious?

To explain this concept, the example is usually used

The subconscious or unconscious is an original term from psychoanalysis and refers to everything we have saved or stored under our own consciousness, as if it were hidden and we could not see it with the naked eye as it happens with the iceberg. It is for this same reason that people find it very difficult to access information that we have stored in it.

Definition of the unconscious

But what kind of information do we store in the subconscious? The information that we have stored there and to which we cannot easily access as in consciousness, usually usually contains deep fears, repressed desires, and traumatic experiences that even consciously we would not like to remember. All this content can lead to the appearance of certain pathologies such as certain anxiety disorders, fears, phobias, etc.

However, despite how difficult it is for us to have access to the subconscious, all those contents that we have stored there, we usually unconsciously express them in different ways.

Examples of expression of the subconscious

To give some examples:

• Dreams: a person who suffered a traumatic experience in childhood may have dreams related to it even if they do not even consciously remember it.
• Unconscious actions: a person who represses his homosexuality in an unconscious way that when he consumes alcohol he becomes uninhibited and approaches people of the same sex.
• The linguae lapses: when we are talking about a topic and suddenly we say a word or phrase that is not related to it.

The moments in which this type of information that we have stored in the subconscious usually comes to light occur when our level of consciousness decreases.

Our subconscious works as a kind of message sender or stimuli that we process at a conscious level and that activate certain patterns of behavior without our being aware of it. That is to say, the decisions we make every day, even if it seems that we make them consciously, are really highly influenced by our own subconscious.

Our subconscious is as if it were a computer program that we have been creating over the years with the experiences that we have been storing and this same program (composed of ideas, ingrained beliefs, thoughts, etc.) causes us to lean more towards a decision than towards another.

Sometimes our subconscious mind is in accordance with our true desires and we make the decisions that we really want, however, in others we do not it is and there is so much negative information that we have stored and that has been accumulating over the years since childhood, that we can get to self-sabotage.

Various researchers have determined that our subconscious is a source of creativity and that helps us solve problems, even those that seem to have no solution. This has been demonstrated through various studies, one of which is quite interesting shows how we become more creative using our subconscious mind.

In this study, participants were asked to invent different ways to use a paper clip, for which they were assigned a specific time. One group of people were allotted 5 minutes, while the other was given only 1 minute.

Surprisingly, the people who were assigned less time they were more creative and they found more ways to use the clip.

But, How did this happen? The researchers concluded that the subconscious mind was always on the go, working to generate new ideas in a process divergent, while the people who were allotted more time, entered into a convergent thought process, so they were consciously discarding all those ideas that they considered absurd or irrelevant, worrying about contributing only those "brilliant" ones, which limited them when it came to being creative. The people who had only 1 minute to perform the exercise were not limited by “reason”, they let themselves be carried away and undoubtedly were able to bring out all their creativity.

Today there are various techniques that help us connect with our subconscious mind, among the best known that are applied in psychological therapy are the following:

Free association

This type of method consists of express without using consciousness and freely, all those thoughts that come spontaneously to mind. This technique can be carried out using an element that stands up to the association, such as, for example, someone else naming a word, number, image, etc. to which you will respond instantly without stopping to think.

Directed reverie

This technique consists of causing the patient to enter a mental state that is between wakefulness and sleep. For this, the patient has to be on the couch totally relaxed and with his attention paid only to her internal world. The therapist directs a fantasy which the patient has to begin to visualize (these fantasies have universal symbols) such as being in the sea, discovering a treasure, etc. The goal is to stimulate the patient to interact within her own fantasy.

Pprojective tests

One of the defense mechanisms that we use to avoid assuming as our own what we attribute to others is the projection. When we speak of projection we refer to unconscious process that we use to free ourselves of the weight that comes from experiencing emotions or ideas that we do not want. The projective tests aim that the person can externalize what he carries inside and that he cannot perceive because it is in her subconscious in order to be able to penetrate your personality and get her to know herself more.

Among the differences projective tests that exist are structural, thematic, expressive or graphic, constructive, associative and those related to movement. The currently best known projective test is the Rorschach test.

Hypnosis

Hypnosis is a technique that makes it easier for us to enter a deep state of relaxation and that allows us to focus on ourselves and our experiences. Through hypnosis we can access the information that we have stored in the subconscious and of which being fully conscious is not so difficult to reach it.

In therapy, this type of technique is used to identify which are the possible causes of problems and sufferings of a person, as well as to assimilate those negative experiences that were stored there and also restructure them and turn them into more positive ones. It is interesting to mention that there is also self-hypnosis where we are the ones who can induce ourselves to that state of relaxation and help us to reprogram our mind.

This article is merely informative, in Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.

If you want to read more articles similar to What is the subconscious and how does it work, we recommend that you enter our category of Personality.

• Linares, R. L. (2018, September 14). The power of the subconscious mind. Retrieved January 9, 2019, from https://www.elpradopsicologos.es/blog/el-subconsciente-lo-que-se-esconde-debajo-del-umbral-de-la-conciencia/
• Grippo, J. G. (2012, May 30). Free association. Retrieved January 9, 2019, from http://www.psiconotas.com/asociacion-libre-141.html
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