Depth Leadership
By Helene Smit
()
About this ebook
The depth approach is based on the idea that human behaviour is determined not only by conscious thought and feeling, but also by a wellspring of thoughts, feelings and potential stored in the unconscious mind.
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Depth Leadership - Helene Smit
DEPTH LEADERSHIP
Hélène Smit
Illustrated by Katherine Glenday
Publication © The Depth Leadership Trust 2014
Text © Hélène Smit 2013
Illustrations © Katherine Glenday 2013
First published in 2013 by Moonshine Media
www.moonshinemedia.co.za
Publishing manager: Dominique le Roux
Text editors: Roxanne Reid and Carl Scheffler
Designer: Nicola Glenday
Proof reader: Carl Scheffler
Indexer: Clifford Perusset
Cover illustration: Katherine Glenday
Cover design: Nicola Glenday
ISBN: 978–0–9870034–7–8
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, transmitted, transcribed, stored in a retrieval system or translated into any language in any form or by any means, that is electronic, mechanical, magnetic, optical, chemical, manual or otherwise, in whole or in part, without the prior consent of the author.
DEPTH LEADERSHIP
To those who offer their leadership as a lifetime of deeply considered service.
Preface
This book brings to fruition a process that started about twenty-five years ago. At that time, as an idealistic young adult, I dreamt of a world in which people no longer hurt themselves, each other, or the other living creatures on the planet. My personal history, and my participation as a South African in our collective history, meant that I was outraged when I encountered what I perceived to be oppression - the silencing and injuring of others in order to build and protect personal privilege. I was naively judgemental of people who exploited their power over others. Like many young people, I was acutely aware of the injustices I saw around me, but didn’t know what to do about it. I had a big dream and a great deal of passion, but I didn’t have a method.
The dream is still there, but it is less infused with idealism and judgement. I now understand that people who oppress others have almost always been oppressed themselves. Breaking the ongoing cycle of oppression is a complicated process and it requires many psychological and environmental conditions and resources that are not always easy to find. Wanting it to be different is not enough. I understand that living in a way that respects our fellow human beings and other life forms requires hard work, knowledge, insight, and sacrifice. It does bring joy and deep fulfilment, but it also requires compassion, commitment and the courage to confront one’s own fallibility and frailty, which is always a painful process.
However, after a quarter of a century, I am pleased to now be able to say that I have a method. It is of course not the only method for achieving the dream, or necessarily even the best one, but in my experience, it is one that works. As my knowledge and practice of the approach developed over time, I have learnt to apply it in a range of settings with increasing success. Obviously, this approach to leadership (and living as a whole) does not address all difficulties, but I can say that I have found it to be highly effective in unleashing potential and resolving chronic conflict in groups.
This book describes the method in detail. It illustrates the application of depth psychology principles and practices to leadership. It is a rework of an earlier book published in 2009 called The Depth Facilitator’s Handbook
, which was written as a textbook for students of facilitation. This new book contains the same essential concepts as were described in the Handbook, but this is written for leaders who want to use a depth approach in their work every day. This version is aimed at anyone who leads a group, whether it be a formal organisational group, or even an informal social group. Potentially, this book can help CEO’s, chairpersons, directors, project managers, teachers, police officers, nurses, municipality managers, preachers, sports coaches, choirmasters and even parents in their leadership practice.
The ideas in this book are based on academically sound theory, but they are discussed from a layperson’s perspective. The reader should not need a formal psychological background to make sense of it. The theoretical concepts come from the discipline of depth psychology, which is based on the work of people such as Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung and their colleagues. The book takes a contemporary view of depth psychology, which transcends some of the cultural and era-based limitations of the original work. The academic theories are practically applied and are not presented in their technical form. Mostly, I have used non-technical language and where I used the technical terminology, I explain it. Also, many of the ideas included are still evolving and may be very different in years to come. All the concepts discussed have been applied in real situations over the years and have been modified and refined by practice and feedback from the people I worked with. Finally, from a technical perspective, I have addressed the issue of gender by alternating between the masculine and feminine throughout the book. The concepts described apply to both genders.
Why the illustrations?
I am privileged to have a long standing friendship with award-winning artist, Katherine Glenday. I have always loved her art, but also her conversation, as she is one of the few people I know who hold many different perspectives in her mind at one time. Katherine has an unusual depth of understanding of psychological processes and we share a passion and interest in the mysteries of the unconscious mind. However, unlike me who tries (usually at length) to explain everything to others in verbal form, Katherine makes art of it.
Somewhere along the line, an idea was born that combining Katherine’s drawings with the text that I had written would serve an important psychological purpose in communicating the message. Illustrations engage the unconscious mind and its symbolic capacity, and this helps our rational minds make sense of complex concepts. Katherine’s unusual ability to visually represent abstract ideas in a multilayered, symbolically rich, yet whimsical way allows additional access to the theory. Katherine read the book and illustrated phrases or sentences that evoked images in her mind. Of course, Katherine always added her own meaning and often took the somewhat technical explanation into a world of fantasy, surrealism, and mostly, humour, beyond anything that I could have conceived of as the author.
Acknowledgements
Finally, I would like to acknowledge the important people who do not get their name on the cover, but without whom the book would never be published.
A book like this cannot be made without someone who can conceptually and technically design books. Nicola Glenday, who has a degree in fine art and specialised in print making, worked with finely-tuned creativity, patience, dedication and exceptional technical ability to bring the actual book into being. Nicola is responsible for both the overall design and the painstaking work of marrying the text and the illustrations. She solved many problems and accommodated our whims and foibles with grace and competence. She implemented several edits of the book, and added insight and wisdom all along the way.
Thank you to the other members of the depth crew (thanks, Carl, for that phrase):
Roxanne Reid, for several rounds of editing that always added value beyond the use of the English language;
Carl Scheffler, who bravely agreed to proofread the final document, and ended up contributing significantly, not only to accuracy in the text, but also in deepening the conceptual content;
Cliff Perusset, for being a pleasure to work with and producing an index for the print edition that I know I can trust;
Dominique le Roux, in her role as publishing advisor, who always helps to ensure that the critical things get done.
And last, but not least, thank you to my family:
James, my father, who supports me in very important ways;
Bodo, my partner, who keeps the show on the road while I sit at my computer;
Sylvan, my son, who keeps me on my toes psychologically; and
Sophia, my daughter, who wraps me in empathy when I most need it.
From Katherine
This effort is dedicated to all who suffer from emotion misdiagnosed and misdirected.
My drawing skills are not honed and are by no means perfect, nor even stylistically consistent, nor do they always do the precise job of following the text and sometimes they even go off on wicked side shows of their own. However, juggling resources and time was little enough challenge in the face of our belief in the project and, as we finish, the perfectionist in me is forced to shrug at the many ‘terrible bits’ and let the work and passion go out and about now to meet its undetermined audience.
The experimental confluence of text and illustration has afforded both Hélène and I a wider burst of creative output.
The brilliantly adaptive and resourceful Nicola Glenday sewed up all the seams between our two productions and without her input this book would not have grown its legs and wings. Thank you.
Chapter 1:
Why a new approach to leadership?
Introduction
All groups have leaders, whether they are tribes, communities, organisations, gangs, soccer teams, families, or even couples. We live and function in groups all the time and to achieve group goals, group members naturally expect both formal and informal leaders to direct and co-ordinate the way they behave.
But ideas of what makes good leadership vary enormously. Should our leaders tell us what to do, or should they guide us invisibly? Should a leader be forceful or gentle? How should conflict be addressed? Well, it all depends. The appropriate nature of leadership required by a group depends on the context and culture of the group, including the demands, constraints and opportunities of the times. Deciding what makes for effective and healthy leadership is a complex and difficult task for which there is no simple recipe.
There are many theories about what constitutes good leadership. These have evolved over time as the world changes and knowledge develops. This book presents one more of these theories. It is based on the notion that to thrive sustainably under current world conditions, leaders must base their actions on the deepest possible understanding of human psychology – that is, the theories that explain the drivers beneath human behaviour.
It is hard to summarise world trends objectively without a dedicated study, but certain social changes indicate that a deeper view of human nature would benefit leadership.
Some of these changes and their implications include:
A greater say
There is a general move towards greater democratisation in the world. This means that individuals expect to have a greater say in the policies and rules that affect their lives (notwithstanding the ongoing dictatorships and civil wars that prevail in many parts of the world). Also, an increase in human rights awareness has awakened a greater sense of entitlement in many individuals and groups, and less tolerance of oppressive behaviours at all levels.
Increased human interdependence
A set of changes, including population growth, advances in transportation, communication and technology, mean that we can no longer live far away from each other. If we want to live constructively, we have to acknowledge our interdependence and get on with one another. Also, the environmental impact of humans on the planet has escalated to the extent that we are now more obviously at the mercy of one another’s decisions.
Increased diversity
Increased globalisation, and therefore an increase in population movements, means that many communities, groups and therefore organisations are characterised by greater heterogeneity and diversity.
Greater psychological awareness
The popularisation of the discipline of psychology, the general availability of information and the resulting growth in psychological knowledge worldwide have resulted in a greater focus on individual personal development and self-actualisation. Individuals are more aware of themselves and their potential to develop psychologically.
Need for human innovation
New and ongoing economic and environmental difficulties mean that it is critical to optimise the productivity of resources, particularly human resources. This places even greater emphasis on the need to help people express their full potential while working cooperatively with others. The deepest individual and collective human potential needs to be tapped to ensure that we survive the challenges of our times.
These changes have multiple and far-reaching implications for leadership in organisations and communities. One of the most fundamental implications is that leadership will simply no longer work if it depends on followers accepting the absolute authority and final say of the leader. People want to have their voices heard, and they have the power to ensure that they are heard. Diversity of opinion cannot be ignored. Relationships are crucial because our decisions affect everyone around us. We cannot avoid conflict, so we have to find constructive ways of resolving complex conflict.
All of this means that leaders need to understand how people work, what motivates them, how relationships work, what causes conflict, and what builds co-operation. In other words, they need to understand the deepest drivers of human behaviour.
There are many complex determinants of behaviour and many different schools of thought have developed to explain the roots of behaviour. Most individuals have developed personal and idiosyncratic philosophies in their dealings with others. These are based on a mixture of their personal experience, the academic disciplines and other worldviews they have been exposed to more formally.
For example, we can have a commercial mindset but be liberal or conservative. We can combine that with a secular or a spiritual orientation. At a more basic level, we can believe that people are inherently good, or inherently bad. Often, our worldviews are contradictory or inconsistent in some areas, or we can hold one view consciously and the opposite view unconsciously.
This book argues that the discipline known as depth psychology offers a transformative worldview for leaders. To explain the thinking behind this assertion, it is helpful first to consider briefly the general field of theories of human behaviour.
Theories of human behaviour
Much of human activity is concerned with the issue of human behaviour – attempting to influence it, control it, manipulate it, protect it, or support it in some way. A great deal of theory has been produced in human history about the origins and determinants of human behaviour. The theories span many cultures and disciplines, which have varying degrees of overlap and agreement. Some of these disciplines have begun to integrate as a direct result of the increasing interconnectedness of social and other systems in an increasingly global environment. Technological, intellectual, social, political and environmental factors have all played a role in this increasing interconnectedness.
For those who study leadership theory, it is particularly relevant that in this process of theory integration, several of the academic disciplines that have developed over the past few centuries in the Western world – including those of psychology, politics, sociology and management – have increasingly overlapped in their areas of study. These disciplines attempted to solve different problems. Broadly speaking, politics concerned itself with power arrangements and governance. Sociology addressed the nature and structure of society. Psychology originally concerned itself with understanding mental illness and human development and functioning. Management theory (the youngest of these disciplines) concerned itself with the processes of harnessing human behaviour in the interest of producing wealth.
Many of our current leadership approaches have their roots in an eclectic mixture of all these disciplines, but we rarely remember or talk about this. In particular, a leadership approach is always explicitly or implicitly based on a view of what drives behaviour psychologically. And so, if we are to base our leadership on an understanding of the deepest drivers of human behaviour, we need to have a working knowledge of psychological theories that explain the deepest human functioning.
The different schools of psychology
The evolution of psychology as a discipline led to a variety of schools of thought, each to some extent reacting to or building on the limitations of its predecessors. Each offers a focus on a particular set of determinants of human behaviour. Some of the main schools of thought are described below.
The behavioural school of psychology
One of the earliest formal schools of psychology arose out of the scientific world, which emphasised the development of theory through laboratory experimentation. This school of thought, also known as behaviourism, regards environmental responses to behaviour as the main determinants of behaviour. In other words, behaviour is determined by the perceived reward or punishment the person experiences in response to that behaviour. Behaviour is changed or modified by changing the consequences of behaviour.
Although true in many cases (individuals do change their behaviour based on the consequences elicited by what they do), it is of course also a theory with limitations. As most of us know intuitively, other factors also play a role and at some point consequences no longer have an impact on behaviour. For example, although eating too much makes you feel uncomfortable, it might not stop the tendency to eat too much.
The cognitive school of psychology
The cognitive school of psychology was to some extent a reaction to the behaviourist view, which ignored the human capacity to think. This school emphasises cognitive processes. It focuses on thinking and how to change people’s thinking so that their behaviour might change. A variation of this is the cognitive-behavioural school, which broadens the thinking behind the behavioural school and incorporates the knowledge of cognitive psychology into understanding and managing problems.
Many leadership actions are based on the ideas of cognitive psychology. Any interaction between leaders and followers that tries to change the way people think is essentially cognitive in nature. Like behaviourism, this approach produces results. But it also has limitations because even when people know what the right thing to do is, they sometimes do not do it. A smoker knows that smoking damages health, but this knowledge is not enough to stop the smoking behaviour.
The humanistic perspective
A reaction to the cognitive school’s emphasis on thinking as a sense making faculty was to emphasise feeling, which is the other sense making faculty. A school of psychological thought developed that concerned itself with the human capacity to feel. Known as humanism, it is concerned with a system of values and beliefs that emphasises the better qualities of humankind and people’s abilities to develop their human potential. It focuses on the idea that if you provide individuals with a positive, affirming environment, their behaviour will be productive and constructive.
Of course, this basic premise is true up to a point, but it too has limitations in that even individuals in a very supportive environment will sometimes behave counter-productively. An employee may have a well-paid job with good working conditions and a leader who is supportive, but may still not work hard.
The developmental school of psychology
Another approach to understanding human behaviour is offered by the developmental school of psychology. This school is interested in how individuals’ life stages or developmental phases affect their behaviour. The theories describe a variety of developmental phases – both in early childhood development and through the later stages of adolescence, the middle years and old age – and how they affect human behaviour. Although these stages certainly provide an indication of the behavioural outcomes of certain levels of development, there are many other factors that also play a role. So again, there are limitations to the ability of this to explain human behaviour.
Depth psychology
In the middle to late 1800s a school of thought developed that concerned itself with the notion that some human behaviour is driven from a part of the mind that the individual is not consciously aware of. Depth psychology is a broad term for all the psychological schools that are concerned with the idea that individuals have an unconscious component in their minds, and that this unconscious part sometimes drives behaviour in directions that are in conflict with consciously held perspectives and thoughts. It includes the psychoanalytic and psychodynamic perspectives (as developed by Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung). As with the other schools of psychological thought, this school has developed significantly since its inception.
This book suggests that all of the ways of psychological thinking mentioned above (and others that are not mentioned) can broaden the understanding a leader uses to lead. Many leadership theories already embrace the wisdom of behaviourism, cognitive psychology, humanism and even the developmental school, in many instances without explicitly acknowledging their influence.
Depth psychology is not generally included in leadership thinking, although this is changing in some sectors. If leaders need to understand the deepest drivers of human behaviour, then it is essential to add an understanding of depth psychology to the leadership knowledge base. However, as the rest of the book will explain, adding depth psychology to your knowledge base as a leader may significantly change the way you lead.
Conclusion
Leadership theories abound. This is partly to give researchers and academics like me something to do, but mostly because genuine innovation is needed to manage changing environments. The ideas in this book are not for everyone. If a leader wants to pursue this kind of thinking, we will see in later chapters that it will require a commitment to self-reflection and awareness that some may experience as onerous.
This book discusses an approach that has the potential to be transformative for groups. As with anything that results in true transformation, it requires new ways of thinking and hard work. This approach will also not result in the greatest financial returns in the short term, but it will significantly reduce the psychological costs of group functioning and result in more creative and sustainable outcomes in the long term.
The next chapter explores, from a layperson’s perspective, how including the notion of depth changes your approach as a leader.
Personal exercises
At the end of each chapter in this book, there is a set of exercises or questions you can work through to develop your insight and skills. You can complete them on your own, with a partner or fellow learner, or with a therapist, coach or mentor. The exercises are designed to stimulate your thinking and there are no right or wrong answers. It would be useful to keep your answers in some form of a journal for later reference.
Many of our basic assumptions about the world are implicitly developed through our early relationships. Consider your basic assumptions. Can you identify where you learnt some of these assumptions? Are your basic assumptions still valid?
Consider the formal theories that inform your general worldview and where they came from. Are these still valid? Do they still fit the current context that you find yourself in?
Consider the current context of your leadership. What are the main trends and challenges of your current environment?
What kind of leadership do you think is needed in this environment?
Chapter 2:
What is depth leadership?
Introduction
This book suggests that as a result of the changes in the world that we looked at in the previous chapter, leaders now need to understand and be able to intervene in the under-the-surface processes that exist in people. I call this kind of leadership depth leadership because it is based on the principles of depth psychology.
In layperson’s terms, depth leadership is an approach that achieves two main goals:
1. It addresses and resolves the deeper, often unspoken, conflicts that hinder group success.
2.It unleashes the untapped creative potential of teams.
Many leaders sense a need to work at a deeper level with the individuals and teams in their organisations, but they do not have a psychological framework that would ensure an effective and sustainable intervention. Depth psychology offers the theoretical and practical foundations needed to ensure that leaders can lead from a depth perspective. Depth leadership also embraces the latest thinking in other disciplines. As a leadership approach, it brings together the wisdom of more than a century of rigorous psychological thinking and current knowledge in the disciplines of systems thinking, management and organisational development (although these are not explicitly described in this book).
The origins of depth psychology
The term depth psychology (originally in German tiefenpsychologie) was coined by Swiss psychiatrist Eugen Bleuler (1857–1939) to refer to any psychological approach that incorporated the idea of an unconscious mind. Bleuler’s contemporaries – such as Pierre Janet, Joseph Breuer, Sigmund Freud, Alfred Adler, Otto Rank and Carl Jung – all contributed to our current understanding of the unconscious mind as they created and developed the academic discipline of depth psychology.
But the idea of depth as a factor in human behaviour did not start with Freud and his colleagues. The idea that there is more to human functioning than what we are conscious or aware of has been around for centuries. Guy Claxton, in his excellent book called The Wayward Mind – an Intimate History of the Unconscious, argues that:
… before the seventeenth century, the fact that people were not entirely transparent to themselves was so commonplace that it had not needed stressing. Only in the aftermath of Descartes’ rejection of the very idea of ‘unconscious intelligence’ was a special word required, to point insistently at all the phenomena that had been quietly airbrushed out of the mental picture. An old idea that had been implicit in a host of images and myths and ways of talking was suddenly explicitly reasserted.
– Claxton, The Wayward Mind
Claxton goes on to argue that many ancient cultures such as those of the Egyptians and Greeks incorporated the idea of the existence of a