The Unconscious: Theory, Research, and Clinical Implications

Working from a psychodynamic perspective, the authors explicate the narrowness of the Freudian understanding of unconscious processes. Freud had no way of knowing about the sheer pervasiveness of unconscious contributions to human functioning, including our consciousness. Freud’s contribution to our knowledge of unconscious motivation was monumental, but it was the tip of the tip of the iceberg. Thanks to recent decades of research in cognitive science and cognitive neuroscience, we are now appreciating the sheer diversity of unconscious contributions to our mental life. Moreover, these pervasive unconscious processes are not mere mischief-makers; on the contrary, they are overwhelmingly adaptive (in the authors’ terms, the “normative unconscious”).The diversity of these normative unconscious processes has been revealed in a staggeringly complex literature. The authors’ conceptual mastery of this literature is remarkable, resulting in an impressively organized explication that puts the psychodynamic understanding in proper perspective. In addition, they link cognitive science to computational neuroscience in a way that is illuminating and fascinating.The authors’ psychodynamic orientation is invaluable in this work, because they articulate the implications of their reframing of unconscious processes for psychotherapy in a way that can prevent therapists from overestimating unconscious motivational processes (e.g., defenses) and underestimating normative processes (e.g., misconstruing normative processes as motivated “resistance”). True to clinical life, they fully appreciate the limits of psychotherapy without minimizing its benefits.In sum, this work is brilliant, fascinating, accessible, and extremely useful for clinicians.

I just finished giving this book the close, careful read that it deserves.Wow! What an incredible example of scholarship. The depth of review and logical sequencing of ideas makes this book exemplary. While reading the section on computational neuroscience, the systematic presentation of ideas reminded me of a quotation from William James, “Phenomena are best understood when placed within their series, studied in their germ and in their over-ripe decay.” James continues by discussing the importance of drawing parallels once an idea has been mapped out in such a thorough way, “[well-established ideas should be] compared with their exaggerated and degenerated kindred” (James 1902, 373). I felt like this book achieves this high standard set out by James.

Very good book and easy to understand. If you've taken any courses on Psychology, you have a good chance of understanding most of the models that are described and discussed in this book.

This is a fantastic, textured and triumphant read.