Most of what's occurring in the mind lies outside our awareness. In this episode, Forrest and Dr. Rick Hanson explore the unconscious mind and the material we might find there. They talk about what the unconscious mind is, the purpose of the unconscious, repression, bias, and what we can do to access, use, and release that unconscious material. 

Watch the Episode: Prefer watching video? You can watch this episode on YouTube.

Key Topics:

0:00: Introduction

2:25: What is the unconscious mind?

5:35: Why material gets moved to our unconscious mind

8:45: Freud, Jung, and repression

14:25: Looking at repression through a developmental model

18:55: Bias, relational ‘scripts’, and what we can do about unconscious patterns

21:45: Interpreting dreams, and the limits of science

27:55: Examples of repressed material and how to uncover it

30:05: Rick’s first love story

34:20: Emotional release work you can do without a therapist

38:00: Distress tolerance

42:10: The body-based, non-cognitive nature of unconscious material

44:10: Sentence completions, automatic writing, and sand trays

47:00: Building self-worth, and creating a safe container

54:50: Teaching what you need to learn, and the importance of support

57:30: Including what’s left out

1:00:00: Recap

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New Program From Rick! If you want to break old patterns and step out of the familiar scripts that hold you back, Rick's Change Your Mind online course is for you. It's a 6-week program starting March 18 designed to help you step out of old assumptions and attitudes and into new, helpful thoughts about yourself and others. Visit RickHanson.net/ChangeYourMind to learn more and get 20% with coupon code BeingWell20.

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