Knowing how the id, ego and superego impact our decision making, how does this fit in with what’s conscious and what’s not? 

You may have seen the iceberg illustration. 

The id, our pleasure principle, is present from birth and is completely unconscious. It is fully underwater. It’s instinctive and primitive (remember the baby crying in the night for food), as it doggedly pursues selfish needs on our behalf. 

The superego, our moral principle, develops in early life and is mostly unconscious, partly conscious and pre-conscious. It exists from the bottom to the top of the iceberg. It forms during the first five years, absorbing opinions and the ‘right way’ of doing things from caregivers and society. 

The ego, our reality principle, develops after the id and before the superego. We have it from around our first year, ready to mediate between the two polar forces of the id and the superego. It is mostly conscious and pre-conscious (we know what we’re doing) and partly unconscious. It’s bobbing above the water, as well as slightly below.

A brief rundown of the differences between conscious, pre-conscious and unconscious: 

The conscious mind

Thoughts, feelings and ideas that we’re fully aware of. On the iceberg model, this is at the top. It’s exposed, it’s catching the sun, what you see is what you get. 

The pre-conscious mind 

Although not fully present, these notions and emotions aren’t too far away. They’d just need a light dusting off to bring them into conscious awareness. They’re in the cloud, if you will. Or, just under the surface of the water if we’re sticking with the one analogy. 

The unconscious mind

Deep below the surface, hidden and submerged, is the colossal unconscious mind. This is where unpleasant or unacceptable feelings lurk. A mixture of the things we’ve repressed (too painful, too difficult) and our own primitive needs (the violent, irrational, immoral, unacceptable ones). Left unacknowledged and unprocessed, they can leak out in the present day and cause all manner of destruction. 

---

The last few posts exploring the id, superego & ego, ego defences, the conscious, pre-conscious and unconscious were covered briefly in one introductory session to Freud. I have found the process of writing about them extremely helpful. It’s provoked me to read around the subject a little more, and properly understand the concepts (albeit on a very basic level).

There were a few more Freudian ideas that I’d like to explore further, before moving on to other theories (Erikson, Bowbly) and approaches (humanistic, CBT).

Freud, Erikson and Bowlby all fall within the Psychodynamic approach, i.e. we’re shaped by early experiences and these are what drive us through life. The Humanistic philosophy is that we all have the capacity to change and grow, given the chance.

At the moment, I can see merits in different schools of thought. This is why I champion the integrative approach, where you can draw on different theories from a range approaches depending on the needs of the client.