EBOOK: Conscious and Unconscious

David Edwards · Michael Jacobs

Nov 2003 · McGraw-Hill Education (UK)

About this ebook

All forms of psychotherapy deal with the limitations of our awareness. We have limited knowledge of our creative potential, of the details of our own behaviour, of our everyday emotional states, of what motivates us, and of the many factors within and around us which influence the decisions we make and the ways we act.

Some therapists, especially those influenced by Freud and Jung, speak of the 'unconscious', giving the unintended impression that it is a kind of realm or domain of activity. Others, reacting against the specifics of Freudian theory, shun the word 'unconscious' altogether. However, so limited is the reach of everyday awareness and such is the range of unconscious factors, that one way or another these limitations must somehow be spoken about, sometimes in metaphor, sometimes more explicitly.

This book offers a broad survey of psychotherapy discourses, including:

The psychoanalytic
The interpersonal
The experiential
The cognitive-behavioural
The transpersonal

This book offers a comprehensive overview of the ways in which these discourses employ a rich variety of concepts to address the limits of our everyday consciousness.

Conscious and Unconscious is invaluable reading for all those interested in counselling and psychotherapy, including those in training, as well as for experienced therapists.

About the author

Michael Jacobs is Visiting Fellow at the Institute of Health and Community Studies, Bournemouth University, having worked for many years at Leicester University. He is is a Fellow of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, a psychodynamic psychotherapist registered with UKCP. His publications on psychodynamic counselling and therapy are used as key texts on many training courses.

David Edwards has taught at Rhodes University in South Africa since 1972 and has a longstanding interest in humanistic and transpersonal psychotherapy. He offers postgraduate courses in transpersonal psychology and the expressive arts in therapy. He is also a Founding Fellow of the Academy of Cognitive Therapy and currently teaches and supervises trainee clinical psychologists in cognitive therapy and group therapy, and supervises research on clinical applications of cognitive therapy.