Conscious and Unconscious Processes: Psychodynamic, Cognitive, and Neurophysiological Convergences

The notion of an unconscious mental life has been subject to debate for over a century. Psychodynamic practitioners generally understand clients' consciously experienced symptoms to reflect conflict within an unconscious realm; cognitive psychologists, on the other hand, doubt the validity of this psychodynamic understanding of unconscious processes. This volume attempts to bridge the theoretical gulf between the two approaches by providing objective evidence for unconscious conflict in psychopathology. Integrating psychodynamic, cognitive, and neurophysiological methods, the authors have developed an experimental model using brain wave measurements that can differentiate types of unconscious processes. The volume provides a unique synthesis of clinical and experimental findings and blazes a new pathway for the study of brain mind interaction.

Howard Shevrin, Ph.D., is Professor of Psychology in the Departments of Psychiatry and Psychology, and Director of the Ormond and Hazel Hunt Event-Related Potential Memorial Laboratory at the University of Michigan, a faculty member of the Michigan Psychoanalytic Institute, and a psychoanalyst.

James A. Bond, Ph.D., is a clinical and design consultant to the research and has a private psychotherapy practice.

Linda A. W. Brakel, M.D., a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Michigan, is a faculty member of the Michigan Psychoanalytic Institute, and has a private psychoanalytic practice.

Richard K. Hertel, Ph.D., a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Michigan, is a faculty member of the Michigan Psychoanalytic Institute, and has a private psychoanalytic practice.

William J. Williams, Ph.D., who has a special expertise in the development of methods for analyzing biological signals, is Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Michigan.