Consciousness vs Subconsciousness. Discover what these parts of the mind are responsible for with research into the theories of Sigmund Freud, Marisa Peer, and more.

In this article, you will learn:

• The Sigmund Freud Theory of the Mind.
• The Battle of the Conscious vs the Subconscious Mind.
• The Power of the Subconscious Mind.
• Marisa Peer’s Rules of the Mind.
• and Hypnosis and The Subconscious Mind.

Let’s get started with Sigmund Freud’s theory of the mind.

Sigmund Freud Theory of The Mind

Sigmund Freud advocated the analogy of the iceberg in the sea. He quoted: ‘The mind is like an iceberg; it floats with one-seventh of its bulk above water.’ His theory was that the mind has three parts: the conscious (above water), the preconscious (just below the waterline), and the unconscious (way below the waterline).

Psychology author, Kendra Cherry, reviews Freud’s model of the mind:

‘The famed psychoanalyst believed that behavior and personality were derived from the constant and unique interaction of conflicting psychological forces that operate at three different levels of awareness: the preconscious, conscious, and unconscious. He believed that each of these parts of the mind plays an important role in influencing behavior.

In order to understand the ins and outs of Freud’s theory, it is essential to first understand what he believed each part of personality did. This includes how it operated, and how these three elements interact to contribute to the human experience. Learn more about each of these levels of awareness and the role that they play in shaping human behavior and thought.

The Three Levels of Awareness

• Conscious mind: This contains all of the thoughts, memories, feelings, and wishes of which we are aware at any given moment. This is the aspect of our mental processing that we can think and talk about rationally. This also includes our memory, which is not always part of consciousness but can be retrieved easily and brought into awareness.
• Preconscious: This consists of anything that could potentially be brought into the conscious mind.
• Unconscious (or subconscious) mind:  This is a reservoir of feelings, thoughts, urges, and memories that are outside of our conscious awareness. Most of the contents of the unconscious are unacceptable or unpleasant, such as feelings of pain, anxiety, or conflict.’

Psychology tutor, Saul McLeod, explores further into Freud’s three levels of the mind.

Saul Mcleod:

‘Freud described the conscious mind as consisting of all the mental processes of which we are aware, and this is seen as the tip of the iceberg. For example, you may become aware of feeling thirsty so you decide to get a drink.

The preconscious contains thoughts and feelings that a person is not currently aware of, but which can easily be brought to consciousness. It exists just below the level of consciousness, before the unconscious mind. The preconscious is like a mental waiting room. Thoughts remain until they succeed in attracting the eye of the conscious.

This is often referred to as available memory. For example, you are presently not thinking about your mobile telephone number, but now it is mentioned you can recall it with ease. Mild emotional experiences may be in the preconscious, but sometimes traumatic and powerful negative emotions are repressed and hence not available in the preconscious.

According to Freud, the unconscious mind is the primary source of human behavior. Like an iceberg, the most important part of the mind is the part you cannot see. Our feelings, motives and decisions are actually powerfully influenced by our past experiences, and stored in the unconscious.’

Conclusion of McLeod

McLeod’s explanation clarifies the unconscious mind contains not only negative thoughts from past experiences, but also your deepest desires.

How do you describe your subconscious mind?

Freud’s theory does not take into account the entity of the subconscious. This part of the mind is regularly referred to in therapy.

What is an example of subconscious mind?

Examples of your subconscious mind include fears, beliefs, desires, and memories that you may not be aware of. But some of these can be accessed with some work, such as therapy.

Self-Development Author, Brian Tracy, summarises the importance of the subconscious mind:

‘Let’s first take a moment to consider the fact that your subconscious mind is like a huge memory bank. Its capacity is virtually unlimited and it permanently stores everything that ever happens to you. By the time you reach the age of 21, you’ve already permanently stored more than one hundred times the contents of the entire Encyclopedia Britannica.

Under hypnosis, older people can often remember, with perfect clarity, events from fifty years before. Your unconscious memory is virtually perfect. It is your conscious recall that is suspect.

The function of your subconscious mind is to store and retrieve data. Its job is to ensure that you respond exactly the way you are programmed. Your subconscious mind makes everything you say and do fit a pattern consistent

With your self-concept, your “master program.” This is why repeating positive affirmations are so effective―you can actually reprogram your own thought patterns by slipping in positive and success-oriented sound bites.’

The subconscious and unconscious mind are used interchangeably. Michael Craig Miller, M.D. in an article for Harvard Health explains why.

Michael Craig Miller:

‘The term “unconscious mind” is most closely associated with Freud and psychoanalysis. For Freud, it was a key element of the theory he was developing to explain the causes of mental disorders and how to treat them. Put in the simplest terms, Freud theorized that hidden mental contents were making people “ill.” As he understood it, these mental contents had been “repressed” and made unconscious.

As for the term “subconscious,” Freud used it interchangeably with “unconscious” at the outset. But he eventually stuck with the latter term to avoid confusion. He couldn’t have predicted that the confusion would still exist after more than 100 years of discussion.

As a general rule, in most of the professional literature where mental functioning is concerned (including not just psychoanalysis, but also psychiatry, psychology, and neuroscience, among others), writers—like Freud—tend to use the word “unconscious” rather than “subconscious.” However, due to the literal definition of unconscious being when a person passes out, the term subconscious is often used instead as a preference.’

The Battle of the Conscious vs the Subconscious Mind

How do you use your conscious and subconscious mind together?

Quite often, your mind can be torn between the beliefs of your conscious and your subconscious. This article by investment manager Ray Dalio on Linkedin explores why this happens.

Ray Dalio:

‘As with animals, many of our decision-making drivers are below the surface. An animal doesn’t “decide” to fly or hunt or sleep or fight in the way that we go about making many of our own choices of what to do—it simply follows the instructions that come from the subconscious parts of its brain. These same sorts of instructions come to us from the same parts of our brains, sometimes for good evolutionary reasons and sometimes to our detriment. Our subconscious fears and desires drive our motivations and actions through emotions such as love, fear, and inspiration. It’s physiological. Love, for example, is a cocktail of chemicals (such as oxytocin) secreted by the pituitary gland.

…I also came to understand that while some subconscious parts of our brains are dangerously animalistic, others are smarter and quicker than our conscious minds. Our greatest moments of inspiration often “pop” up from our subconscious. We experience these creative breakthroughs when we are relaxed and not trying to access the part of the brain in which they reside, which is generally the neocortex. When you say, “I just thought of something,” you noticed your subconscious mind telling your conscious mind something. With training, it’s possible to open this stream of communication.

Many people only see the conscious mind and aren’t aware of the benefits of connecting it to the subconscious. They believe that the way to accomplish more is to cram more into the conscious mind and make it work harder, but this is often counterproductive. While it may seem counterintuitive, clearing your head can be the best way to make progress.’

Conclusion of Dalio’s Theory

Dalio’s theory gives relevance to the feeling of procrastination. Sometimes, when you relax and put things off for a while, you sometimes get a ‘lightbulb’ moment out of nowhere. It is in fact, your subconscious saving the day.

The Power of the Subconscious Mind

Whether you are awake or asleep, your subconscious mind is recording and storing everything. Thanks to your stored memories, feelings and desires, your subconscious plays a huge role in the creation of your dreams. This article on The Wisdom Post explains how it works.

The Wisdom Post:

‘When you fall asleep, it is your conscious mind that is sleeping. However, your subconscious mind will never fall asleep. It works 24 hours a day even when you sleep. Your subconscious mind is controlling your body, your breathing, your organs functionality, your cell’s growth and everything. This is why when you sleep, your subconscious mind is still wide awake. And that simply means that it is your unconscious mind that is solely responsible for your dreams.

This is the point where your subconscious mind connects with your mental images that produce what we call, dreams. And because our subconscious mind thinks in the form of symbols, metaphors, and visual forms, our dreams tend to be projected in that way too. This is why most dreams are indirect and difficult to understand, but they are often connected to our experiences and the events in our daily life.’

Marisa Peer’s Rules of the Mind

In this Rules of The Mind article, psychology expert Marisa Peer explains that the first simple job your mind has is to keep you alive for as long as possible. To do that, your subconscious mind will move you away from pain and towards pleasure. It is highly influenced by the words you say and the pictures you imagine. Your mind loves what is familiar and prefers to avoid anything unfamiliar.

Hypnosis and The Subconscious Mind

Hypnotherapy taps into the subconscious mind, often to bring out deep-ridden traumas from childhood or past events that have left feelings of negativity. The subconscious is thought of as a biological hard-drive. Or like a recorded database for all things about you. Your conscious mind may know that you should quit that unhealthy habit, or exercise more often. But this conscious willpower can only guide you so far. It’s the subconscious that needs rewiring in order to achieve your goals. Why? Because your subconscious beliefs can sabotage your conscious efforts. The more aware you are of your subconscious beliefs, the better you will become at accessing them.

You can often tap into the subconscious mind in instances where you feel a ‘gut instinct’ or intuition. The more you pay attention to this, the better you will be at training your subconscious.

Marisa Peer has helped many clients achieve success in their lives through her unique technique of reprogramming the subconscious mind, called Rapid Transformational Therapy (RTT). Based on the science of neuroplasticity, RTT combines the most beneficial principles of Hypnotherapy, Psychotherapy, NLP, CBT, and Neuroscience.

Interested in Exploring your own Subconscious Mind?

If you loved this article and want to explore the subconscious mind even further, you can check out the Marisa Peer audio shop, where you can find a huge range of audios, and audio bundles to explore. Marisa Peer is a world-renowned therapist with over 30 years of experience, and has trained more than 6000 people in her ground-breaking RTT technique. She has developed these audios through her extensive knowledge – read on to find out more.

Marisa Peer Hypnosis Audio Downloads

You can listen to Marisa Peer’s audios from the comfort of your own home. The range features powerful words by Marisa that directly address your subconscious to help you overcome addictions, reach your goals, improve your personal traits, or attract relationships. Marisa recommends listening to them every day for a minimum of three weeks. Click the image below to browse the audio shop.

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When I was training to be a therapist, I was challenged when I was told, “The mind is really complicated and very complex. It takes a lifetime to understand and to master.” I immediately thought, “Well, how is that going to work then? No one has got a lifetime to master their mind. What’s the point of being 80 years old before you can finally work out your mind?”

I don’t know about you, but I’m much more interested in getting results. I have spent over thirty years studying the mind, applying leading principles with thousands of clients, and now I share what I have learnt so that everyone can benefit from it. Understanding how your mind works and applying these mind hacks will enable you to achieve lasting transformational change in your life.

That is why I created Rapid Transformational Therapy® (RTT®) as a complete solution-based treatment, to bring together the most beneficial principles from neuroscience, NLP, CBT, Hypnotherapy and Psychotherapy. I am honoured that my simple steps to produce dramatic and life-changing results have helped so many people and have been recognised with  numerous international awards and accolades. I am excited to be part of reinventing the world of therapy, to help as many people as possible achieve freedom from almost any issue.

The simple truth is that the human mind has one simple job: to keep you alive as long as possible.

Your mind does what it thinks you want it to do and what it truly believes is in your best interest. To do that, your mind is hardwired to move you away from pain and towards pleasure. It is highly influenced by the words and pictures you put in your mind, loves what is familiar and prefers to avoid anything unfamiliar.

The most powerful potential on the planet comes from your mind.

Your words and thoughts are powerful and your mind is always listening. Every word you say and thought you think becomes a blueprint that your mind and body work to turn into reality. The strongest force in you is that you must act in a way that consistently matches your thinking.

Your mind does not know, and indeed it does not care if what you tell it is right or wrong, good or bad, true or false, helpful or very unhelpful – it just lets it in. Your mind’s job is to act on the words you tell it. If you want to learn how to control your thoughts and create the life you want, your job is to give your mind much more powerful, descriptive, and positive words.

Understand the rules of the mind so your mind works with you, not against you

I am a great believer that we can’t fix what we don’t understand. I see so many clients who try to battle their minds using sheer force or willpower. Equally, they try to punish their bodies and force them to act or look different. They try to force family members and their children to change using cajoling, bribes or punishment with little success and a lot of frustration.

You can’t fight your wiring, but when you understand how and why your mind operates you can then work with it, instead of against it, to learn how to control your thoughts and get all the changes you want.

In this TEDx talk, I discuss how to collaborate with your mind for lifelong success. I explain how your potential expands as you move towards it and share a powerful technique on how you could wire your mind for outstanding success.

Want to Know How to Control Your Thoughts? Learn The Rules of Your Mind

As you read through the rules of your mind, you will see how your mind works and how to control your thoughts and make your mind work for you, rather than against you.

• Your every thought and word form a blueprint that your mind and body work to make your reality.
• The strongest force in humans is that we must act in a way that consistently matches our thinking.
• Every thought you think causes a physical reaction and an emotional response within you.
• Imagination is more powerful than knowledge when dealing with your own mind or the mind of others.
• In a battle between emotion and logic, emotion always wins.
• Your mind always does what it thinks you want it to do.
• Your mind works to move you from pain to pleasure.
• Your mind is hardwired to resist what is unfamiliar and to return to what is familiar.
• Your mind responds to the pictures you construct and the words you tell yourself.
• Your mind does not care if what you tell it is good, bad, true, false, healthy unhealthy, or right or wrong, it accepts and acts on your words regardless.
• You make your beliefs then your beliefs make you then the universe makes those beliefs real.
• What you present to your mind, your mind will present back to you.
• When dealing with the subconscious mind, the greater the conscious effort, the less the subconscious responds.
• The mind cannot hold conflicting beliefs or thoughts they cancel each other out.
• Your mind can only work in the present tense.
• Your mind does not recognise neutral words like don’t, can’t, no, not, later. maybe, tomorrow.
• Your mind can only respond to words that make pictures, the more vivid the picture, the more powerful the response.
• Your mind responds better to positive words and to specific detailed dynamic words and instructions.
• The mind learns by repetition.
• What is expected tends to be realised.
• Whatever you focus on, you get more of.

In my BRAND NEW MASTERCLASS: on How Rapid Transformational Therapy Method Will Help You Become An In-Demand Therapist Capable of Transforming ‘Any’ Client. I go into much more detail about how to control your thoughts and how the mind works. Once you understand the rules of the mind it helps you work with your mind, to collaborate and achieve the results you most want, and also how to help others to overcome difficulties in their lives by learning a few simple principles and tools.

I believe that your mind can give you almost anything you desire if you first learn how to understand and dialogue with it.  That’s why I developed Rapid Transformational Therapy® (RTT®), to help people and make life-changing transformational tools available to everyone.

Mastering your mind and learning how to control your thoughts doesn’t require a lifetime. I will share my many years of experience with you, in this special Masterclass. I hope you enjoy learning how to master your mind for phenomenal success.

“I’ve always dreamed big, wanted to make something of my life, and deeply cared about people. However, as a kid I suffered emotionally in a major way. I always felt like the dumbest person in class. I was tall, skinny, goofy looking, constantly made fun of and never felt I had any real friends until later in high school. Reading was a major challenge for me. I couldn’t comprehend and read out loud what I saw in books.  I was in the bottom of my class academically, insecure, and looking for ways to fit in. There were many moments I didn’t understand why I was born; I was bullied, picked last in sports, and experienced constant tension at home.” – Lewis Howes

By his own admission, Lewis Howes is no stranger to bullying and feelings of insecurity.  Coming from a difficult past, Lewis ensured his future would look very different. Training to be a successful athlete, his plans were ruined due to injury and not knowing what to do or where he belonged, Lewis turned to knowledge, improving his business mind and not only his life, but the lives of people around him.  In this extremely powerful podcast with Marisa, hear how YOU can change YOUR life by changing the words you say to yourself.

Praise has been pouring in for this podcast but don’t just take our word for it:

By listening to the podcast, you will understand that the common denominator of almost everyone’s issues is that, somewhere along the way, they learned that they weren’t enough. Not loveable enough, successful enough, talented enough, perfect enough or good enough to be accepted unconditionally.  Lewis Howes realised he was enough and look at how it transformed his life.  Isn’t it time you did too?

One of the guiding principles of my methods as a therapist is the power of repetition. If you repeat anything often enough, whether it’s good or bad, you can instill it into your mind. Most people, unaware of this power, repeat negative or unhelpful things, whether that’s critical self-talk, bad eating habits, or comparing themselves to others. Each day, as they do those things, they don’t see the effect that repetition is unwittingly having on their lives. But the good news is that the flipside is true too. The power of repetition can unknowingly work in your favor—provided you repeat the right actions in your daily life.

That tool you can use to change your life in so many ways is repetition. So many things we try—whether it be a new blog, a new diet, a new exercise regime—fail because we stop doing them. This seems incredibly simplistic, but it’s worth noting that there is evidence to back up the idea that the more you repeat something, the more likely it is that you’ll be doing that thing in one, two, or ten years down the line.

Indeed, it takes a minimum of 10 days and a maximum of 21 days to completely let go of an old belief. Crucially, it takes the same amount to create a new one. If you operate under the belief that you need to eat chocolate every day, and you repeat that each evening when you get home, then you will likely still be eating chocolate every day for the next year. But if you decide to repeat the habit of choosing a healthier option instead of chocolate—and you can stick to it for 10 to 21 days—your chances of kicking the habit forever are much higher.

Often, when people begin to implement the tactics I advise, they come back to me saying “how do I know if it’s working?” or “I tried it a couple of times, it didn’t work.” What these people are missing is that the power of repetition is cumulative. It’s not an instant flash of change, but rather, a slow and gradual nudging of our minds to a more positive and productive place. Often, the shift is imperceptible. When you’re trying to replace bad habits (another form of repetition) with new ones, it’s vital to stick with them for at least three weeks before you feel the effect they are having on you. We repeat negative habits all the time without knowing it; sometimes it takes replacing it with a positive habit for it to stick. Don’t underestimate the simple and enduring power of stubbornly sticking to your goals. And remember we change in one of three ways; immediately, retroactively and cumulatively so don’t compare your change to that of others.

Click this link to find out more about Marisa Peer’s brand new personal development program I Am Enough.

After she finished talking, I pointed out to her that she was frequently using the phrase “I can’t cope.” Immediately, she broke down: “Oh my goodness, my mother used to say that constantly.” This client had inherited that phrase—and by extension, that belief—from her mother, and was not taking responsibility for the words and pictures she was choosing. As a result, she had convinced herself that her life was one she could not cope with. This is how the power of words manifests itself in reality though influencing your mind.

We replaced that phrase “I can’t cope” with something more neutral: “I have phenomenal coping skills.” Every time she began to feel overwhelmed with her life, I instructed her to say out loud or to herself “I have phenomenal coping skills.” This subtle shift made her believe the phrase was true. By using different words, she created a different picture.

In a few weeks, she came back, feeling far more able to cope with her life, succeeding in her job, and getting on better with her kids and husband, who had noticed the change in her. But her life hadn’t changed at all — her beliefs about it had, which made it all the more bearable. She was a perfect example of the fact that to underachieve you have to fill your mind with negative thoughts and images and to overachieve you have to do the opposite.

Notice here that I didn’t instruct my client to say something that wasn’t true. Her job was hard, and her kids were a challenge. But by changing the overtly negative “My job is hell, my kids are badly behaved” to a more neutral version of events: “My job is demanding at times, and my kids can be a challenge, but I have phenomenal coping skills,” you immediately create less emotionally and negatively charged feelings towards it.

This isn’t about the power of positive thinking and pretending everything is rosy; indeed thinking positively when things objectively aren’t can be unhelpful and set up expectations that can’t always be fulfilled.

This is about actively re-framing the events of your life to reflect a different, more realistic picture. So, “I’m late again, I’ve messed up, I’m going to fail at all my tasks today” turns into: “I prefer to be on time, but I can still do this, I can get through the day in a manageable fashion.” With the latter phrase, you’re not pretending you’re superman or woman, but you are encouraging yourself to not expect the worst whilst believing in yourself .

Almost all of us talk to ourselves, but few of us examine the way we talk to ourselves. And we forget the power of words and how they can shift our perseption of ourselves and situations.

When you pay close attention to the words and phrases you’re constantly saying to yourself you identify some repeat offenders — such as my client’s “I can’t cope” refrain. Ask yourself: Would you talk to your best friend that way? Would you say “Oh, you’re always messing things up,” “You’re so hopeless,” or “You really have taken on way too much, you’ll never get it all done.”

Chances are, if you’re a good friend, you won’t dream of saying those things. Instead, you would be kind and encouraging and helpful. As a friend, you might say: “Life isn’t perfect, but we all do the best we can,” or “I’m sure you’ll get through it, and I’ll help you.” So ask yourself what might happen if you choose to talk to yourself how you might address a friend? Be kind and encouraging and supportive of yourself, and you’ll be amazed how much easier the world around you seems to become.

Learning about the power of words and the human mind is a fascinating and intriguing field of study that has been proven to be able to help people in just about every area of life. If you are interested in even more advanced tools to make greater changes in your life or the lives of others, watch this free Rapid Transformational Therapy masterclass.

The truth is that the human mind has one simple job: keep you alive as long as possible. To do that, our mind is an expert at helping us avoid and flee what causes us pain or danger. When we were living in tribes in the bush, this job was actually quite difficult. We had to flee predators, find water and food, and protect ourselves from the elements constantly. We were under physical threat far more often than we are today, and we were designed to respond to those stressors. Our bodies developed “fight or flight” responses which informed how we responded in times of stress, which usually involved large animals, angry tribesmen, or natural disasters.

The physical world has changed a lot since then. On a daily basis, most people in the modern world don’t have a direct threat to their physical well being. But there’s a fundamental design flaw here: our mind hasn’t changed much at all to reflect our new, safer and tamer reality. We are still primed for fight or flight responses to the stress and adversity life throws our way. The difference now is that the stressors and roadblocks are less primal and more mental. Nevertheless, when we come onto the planet, our mind still believes in its one, singular job: keeping us alive. And how does it do that? By listening to our instructions we give it about what causes us pain.

This is why when we’re sitting in traffic in the morning, running late to work, and we spill our coffee all down our white top and say “This commute is killing me. This traffic is a nightmare. My boss is stressing me out. I’m dying under the pressure” our mind actually believes us. And so how does our body respond to these instructions? Well, it’s been told we’re under threat—Something is killing you! Your mind wants to keep you alive!—so your heart rate goes up, your cortisol levels increase, your body surges with hormones and you feel angry and lash out at your kid sitting in the back seat and send a rude text message to our colleague. We tell our mind that it’s stressed and that we’re under direct threat, and lo and behold, it believes us. Hour after hour, day after day, our mind uses the language it hears us using to inform how it should feel.

This is such an important lesson for you to learn: Your mind does what it thinks you want it to do.

In the moment you’re sitting in traffic and allowing yourself to feel immense stress, your body is desperately trying to get you out of that situation because you are giving it all the indicators that sitting in the car is causing you great pain. You are giving your mind instructions, through your words, that is triggering a physical fight or flight response. But the truth is, being 15 minutes late to work in a stained white top doesn’t cause you any pain. Inconvenience, perhaps, but not the kind of stress one feels when their house is burning down, or they’re being chased by a wild boar. But your mind doesn’t care. You’ve verbally expressed that you’re in pain and under threat, and thus your mind gives you all the symptoms and responses to help you flee it. The result? You just end up stressed and miserable.

Like all my teachings, this truth is based on science. Muscle testing is a technique that comes from the field of applied kinesiology. In a sense, muscle testing is like asking your subconscious mind a question with words and getting a physical answer from your body. If you ask a question or test a statement that is untrue, “i.e. My name is Ed” when your name is not Ed, your body will have a “weak” response—that is, your arm will not be able to resist the person who is administering the test. If you say something true, however, your body will have a strong response and be able to resist.

Muscle testing proves that our bodies respond to things in a way we’re not always conscious of or in control of, similar to what happens when we’re sitting in traffic that we verbally call “hell on earth.” Remember that words are powerful, and your mind is always listening—so tell it what you want it to do!