Psych 101: Uncle Sigmund Was Right.

I have to get something off my chest and I have decided that now is a good time! Since my blog is just a newborn, it is a good time to confess as there aren't too many witnesses. Okay, here it goes......I think Sigmund Freud was/is a staggering genius and I see confirmation of this almost daily in the manifestation from my psyche and the psyches of others. I used to write him off as a sex obsessed, cocaine snorting whacko and now I have a lot more respect for what he brought through. I have realized I fell into the classic trap of discrediting the work/art/words of another because I was not smart enough, open enough or evolved enough to understand or......because it created fear. Plus his collaboration with Uncle Carl (Jung) helped CJ evolve into my favorite grandpappy of psychology. Frued definitely had his quirks but wow, did he nail a few things and humans have not thought of themselves the same way since! He honored us with a few gifts and I would like to highlight a few.....

Uncle Sigmund's Gift #1: Identifying the unconscious

Now, many have talked about the idea that we aren't aware of most of the activity and potential of our brains. Uncle Sigmund really expanded this idea and highlighted how much of our psyche is operating without our consent or direction! Enough said. Well, at least for now.

Uncle Sigmund's Gift #2: Defense Mechanisms

Defense mechanisms are securely built on the foundation of Gift #1, many of the defense mechanisms that he observed come from the unconscious. Usually fueled by anxiety, we have very creative ways of making sure that uncomfortable material doesn't cause psychological distress. While you may think defense mechanisms are negative, I think they deserve our respect. Thank God they are in place or many would not be able to function in their daily lives. Our psyche knows what we can or can't handle. Now, when there is material festering down in the depths that is being diverted through defense mechanisms, it causes problems, that is for sure. There does comes a time to release the defense mechanism, face the pain and anxiety, and heal the past, but that timing is different for everybody. One of the most interesting defense mechanism to me is projection. Projection is when we unconsciously cast our undesirable or unwanted thoughts, emotions, attributes, cravings or desires onto another person, religion, country, group, political party, etc. Of course it is a bit tricky. How can you tell the difference amongst your value system, your preferences or your projections? The best way is to follow the charge-the anger or the fear. When it is projection we feel a lot of energy and the situation looks very black or white to us! Do you get confused when a political candidate campaigns passionately against some issue and then turns out to have the same skeleton is his or her closet? Projection. Isn't fascinating when everybody can see it clearly but them. We all do it! We would have healthier people, families and nations though if we all took time to examine our projections. Shadow work is always transformative.

Uncle Sigmund's Gift #3: Defining dreams as the language of the unconscious

I love me a good dream! There is no way to prove to the skeptic that dreams are really more than just your brain taking out the garbage at the end of the day. I get that. Certainly very difficult to research. I am a convert though, thanks to Uncle Carl. I believe that they are always telling us what is going on in the depths of our psyche. More on dreams later.

"Psych 101" will be another blog series of mine. Now that I have a venue, I don't think I can pass up the opportunity to write and dialogue about some of the fundamentals the study of human behavior and the human psyche.

"Knowing your own darkness is the best method for dealing with the darkness of other people."-Carl Jung