Memory : Window to the Unconscious mind

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Memory:Windows to the Unconscious mind

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Memories are a viable tool that psychologists can harness to help treat patients.


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Where knowledge inaccessible to the conscious mind is encoded in a deeply personal symbolism.


Memories shape our day to day lives more powerfully than do our nightly dreams;

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Discovering their meaning could therefore yield fruitful results in a therapeutic setting.


Where a psychologist familiar with dream analysis applies that discipline to the patient’s long term memories.

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MAKING MEMORIES


Every second of our conscious lives, our brains make decisions about how to encode and interpret vast amounts of sensory input.

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Some of it is retained in the short term memory - which is referred to by psychologists as “center of consciousness” - while a relatively small amount is given a special place in long term memory.


Most of the time, people do not consciously decide what memories they will carry with them for the rest of their lives.

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Those decisions are generally the provenance of the unconscious, and studying those decisions can thus bring the workings of the unconscious to light.


A useful list can be created by the patients to record long-term memories.

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ORGANIZING MEMORIES


A therapist might set a time limit of ten minutes

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The patient zips through the most prominent memories from one year or era of life to the next, beginning with the very first conscious memory, and only writing down the ones that are most vivid.


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Discussing the list can be a challenge for both patient and therapist because memories are complicated.


Each memory can be noted in a few words, or one word, that will call the whole memory to the patient’s mind.

Each memory should be discussed just enough so that the therapist has a general idea of what it’s about and can guide the patient to determine what its main theme is.

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TAKING MEANING FROM MEMORIES


As patient and therapist identify themes, patterns will inevitably emerge.

Are most of the memories happy, sad, painful, funny, or bizarre?


What role did the patient generally play - bystander, hero, instigator, victim.

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How do current situations in the patient’s life correspond with each memory?


Therapists who work with dreams can apply the same notions of symbolism and personal meaning to long term memory.

If the patient is willing, the results could be truly transformational.

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Memory : Window to the Unconscious mind