Three experts—a writer, a historian of psychology, and a neuropsychologist—discuss how unconscious impulses, desires, and feelings might be willfully brought into conscious awareness, whether this unveiling leads to genuine self-knowledge or empowerment, and whether the unconscious can be methodically tapped for creative inspiration. They explore how an expanded understanding of consciousness might help people flourish, think beyond preconceived categories, and frame spiritual experiences or offer spiritual nourishment. The conversation covers noetic experiences, intuition, peak experiences, and Jung's collective unconscious.
A first-person critique argues that the terms 'functional,' 'organic,' and 'psychogenic' in neurological diagnosis perpetuate a Cartesian mind-body dualism that most clinicians claim to reject. The author, drawing on personal experience with medically unexplained seizures, contends that a close reading of a textbook chapter on psychogenic seizures reveals the author's unreflective separation of psyche and soma, implicit bias against illnesses labeled psychogenic, and sexist assumptions. The author proposes that even when symptoms persist, heightened self-consciousness and narrative framing can strengthen a patient's sense of agency and offer therapeutic benefits, concluding that ethical treatment demands respect for patients' stories.