Understanding Jungian Psychology And The Subconscious Mind

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Each of us is born into this world, looking out through our eyes, experiencing the world with our senses, and developing our own unique viewpoint. We are soaking up what we see and experience in our environment, then processing and storing it within our mind. And if we know that reality is multi-faceted, we know that by nature we can only each only see so much. 

Quick side note – If you haven’t listened to my Mindful Soul podcast episode ‘What is truth?’ yet go do that first, then come back. It unpacks Dialectical Thinking as a tool to understand reality, reduce polarization and reduce conflict.  Once we understand how to view reality with more flexibility and expand our perspective so that we can see more – our next step is to understand human consciousness.

Carl Jung was a Swiss psychiatrist in the early 1900’s who also did some work with Freud around the therapeutic practice of ‘psychoanalysis’ – the investigation of our conscious and unconscious mind. Jung introduced his theory of the conscious mind (which is controlled by the ego), the unconscious mind and the collective conscious/unconscious.

It is estimated that 5-10% of our thinking is conscious — that we are aware of. That leaves 90-95% of our thinking as subconscious, it is invisible. So like, really, when you think you know, you really may not fully know. Think of the subconscious mind like the background programs that run in a computer when what you see is on the screen. Our brain has to store and process a LOT. So much of how we experience and perceive the world is based on these subconscious patterns, associations and understandings that we have been developing ever since birth.

Our subconscious mind processes things automatically, kind of like our heart beats without having to tell it to. We start to develop these implicit beliefs and biases about ourselves, others and life as a whole, and then those implicit beliefs and biases can start running our lives in the background without even knowing it. Here are some examples:

• If a child doesn’t experience safety in relationships with caregivers, they develop the belief that no relationships are safe and they must always be on guard.
• A child sees many images of latino or black people on the television portraying them as ‘dangerous criminals’, they develop an implicit bias that certain races of people are to be feared and then automatically tenses with skepticism when encountering them.
• A child sees images of romance and fairytales with happy endings in the cartoons they watch, they develop a belief that all romantic relationships should feel like fairytales at all times and if they don’t it’s a problem with someone to blame. They struggle to find satisfying relationships in adulthood.
• A little boy hears messages from their father that a ‘real man’ doesn’t take no for an answer, so the boy develops a domineering and controlling pattern of behavior to be a ‘real man’.
• A little boy is doted on by his mother, who does everything for him trying to save him any pain. He develops the belief that women simply take care of all his needs, and in adulthood does not help around the house and just assumes that is the way without even thinking about it.

There are infinite examples. As we develop these biases and beliefs that then live in our subconscious, depending on our life experiences, they go unquestioned and unchallenged. They become our own unique version of reality and truth, and we cannot even see that they are simply implicit ideas rather than universal truths.

You can start to see now how things become invisible. And we ALL have implicit biases that are developed through life experiences and the environment that we are raised in. For example a belief, ‘If people leave me that means I am unlovable.’ Or, ‘To be a valuable person I have to make a certain amount of money and have a certain kind of house.’ Or, ‘I have to behave X way (or look X way) in order to be loved and accepted by others.’

The unconscious is where we as individuals also repress things about ourselves or the world that are too painful to face. Things the ego is always trying to protect us from facing.

So let’s get into what the ego is. The ego in the part of ourselves that mediates between our conscious mind and our unconscious mind. You often hear the term ‘ego’ used as an insult, ‘That person has such a big ego!’ or ‘Check your ego!’ And here’s the thing, our egos can certainly get us into trouble but they are not inherently a ‘bad’ thing (remember non-judgment practice). The term ego should not be used synonymously with ‘pride’, although that can be one presentation.

We all have an ego. It’s our sense of self, and how we experience the direct world around us. It’s what separates ‘me’ from ‘you’, and ‘you’ from ‘sky’. We wouldn’t be able to navigate life without one. Think of it as the skin that holds your guts inside. 

You’ve probably heard the terms, ‘Kill your ego!’ or ‘Transcend your ego!’ Timothy Leary popularized the term ‘ego death’ in the 1960’s when writing about LSD experiences that create a state of consciousness that seems to transcend space, time, a sense of self and thoughts. Cool for a bit I guess, but not so practical when you need to get the dishes done and have a conversation with your boss. So, be mindful of our egos and make sure we are managing them well, YES! Kill them, probably not.

While we are human and navigating life on this planet, we need our egos. In essence, they are always trying to keep you safe and avoid pain – which is where things can start to get tricky. Think of it as the bouncer at the club screening what can come up from your subconscious mind (outside) into your consciousness (the fun club). If something doesn’t make the cut (too painful!), that ego is going to lay the smack down and reject it or push it down. ‘Not up in this club! You are NOT welcome!’

The ego, bless its heart, is always doing its job to protect us from pains and distress. It always wants to protect the status quo: ‘I’m safe. I’m right. I’m OK as I am.’ Which of course, is not always the case.

As living beings it is a natural urge to want to avoid discomfort, however we have to learn that pain is not always avoidable and it is also not always bad. We have to develop some distress tolerance and don’t want to get into the habit of constantly living to avoid distress. That is when we become the ostrich that sticks its head in the sand.

Jung theorized that the ego has a variety of defense mechanisms to protect itself which are mostly unconscious – you don’t see them when they’re happening, unless you’re looking on purpose. These are important:

• Denial: Simply refusing to acknowledge reality. ‘No, that didn’t happen! I didn’t do that!’
• Repression: Burying painful memories or experiences.
• Displacement: Transferring feelings to a safer target. For example, a child feels safer taking their anger out on a parent they know won’t hurt them, rather than a parent who might.
• Projection: Attributing feelings to others. ‘Huh uh! I’m not that way, YOU are!’
• Reaction Formation: Turning unacceptable feelings into their opposites. For example, someone being overly kind to someone they secretly dislike. Or a homophobic person who is secretly gay. Or a ‘tough’ bully who is actually very insecure.
• Intellectualization: Using scientific data to avoid fear or other painful emotions.
• Rationalization: Justifying behavior with logical excuses, ignoring the pain of empathy or other emotions. For example, ‘It’s good for the economy! It’s just the logical thing to do!’ No matter that a policy might directly harm people by cutting social programs.
• Sublimation: Channeling unacceptable drives into socially acceptable pursuits. For example, channeling anger into competitive sports, or using grief to create art.
• Confirmation Bias: The tendency to search for, interpret, favor and recall information that confirms one’s prior beliefs or values. ‘Aha! I’m right!’ …relief.

So you can see, when there are painful patterns operating under the surface or even when we are faced with painful facts of reality in ourselves or our environment, the ego (dear thing) gets to work trying to avoid the pain without us even being aware of it. 

Think of a time when someone has given you critical feedback. Remember, getting critical feedback can be a helpful thing when it allows us to become aware of something we were not previously aware of or helps us correct errors. Feedback doesn’t always come in the nicest package that we prefer, but it comes nonetheless.

How did you feel when someone brought your error or area of needed growth to light? Was there embarrassment? Anxiety? Irritation or anger? How did you respond to that feedback? Was there an initial urge to deny the issue or problem? An urge to highlight where the other person has also made mistakes? An urge to rationalize or justify your actions? 

The ego often associates our errors – which are uncomfortable to face – as a threat to our sense of self-worth and value. We must remember that at all times our human worth and value is present. Making mistakes does not subtract from that, although this is not what we’ve usually been taught in Western Culture. 

Having blind spots and subconscious patterns that are hurtful or harmful is very human. We must remember that humility is a strength. Acknowledging that we don’t know everything is a strength. When letting go of judgment this all becomes much easier.

When defense mechanisms arise within us, it’s important for us to be mindful of them and stay curious. I like to say, ‘Thank you brain! Or, Thank you ego! I can see you’re trying to keep me safe and protect me from this embarrassment or frustration.’ And then from there explore what is the most effective way to respond. Sometimes it may be to acknowledge errors with humility and correct our actions, sometimes it may be to protect ourselves by setting a limit. 

When our ego gets to work defending us and avoiding the painful or invisible aspect that needs to be recognized, this is when we get to do the juicy ‘shadow work’. It’s important not to associate an unconscious ‘shadow’ with something ‘bad’ to be ashamed of, otherwise it will be very difficult to do this work. Judging things just pushes them deeper into hiding so we can never learn to work more effectively with parts of ourselves that are ineffective.

Shadow work helps us zoom out and observe our own mind, to question and explore our conscious and subconscious beliefs so that we can get clear on where there may be both accuracies and inaccuracies, helpful patterns and unhelpful ones. Shadow work helps us uncover parts of ourselves that we may not have seen or understood before, and helps us shine light on these areas so that we can be more effective in life.

Doing honest self-reflection to become more conscious and aware of where we may be holding inaccurate beliefs, and where our psychological defense mechanisms may be impairing our ability to be open to new truths or ideas is honorable work – and it’s life long. Not everyone has the courage to embark on it, but when you do – it benefits the entire world.

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