Patterns of Mind

This book is the third one in my series of books on dynamic psychology, the kind of psychology which examines the activities of the subconscious and unconscious minds.

Many people like to believe that each person acts from free will, so that his life is just the drama of the pursuit of his desires and ideals. A pleasant phantasy, but is it true? The reality is that when we explore the subconscious mind then we discover that free will is sometimes just a will-of-the-wisp. The subconscious mind likes to function within certain regular patterns of mind, patterns that we are not usually aware of. These patterns help to create determinism, which is a state of mind that can inhibit the use of free will. In fact determinism is the complementary state of mind to free will. When we find ourself in a situation where determinism is influencing us, then our ability to operate from free will can be severely restricted.

In this book I describe some fundamental patterns by which the subconscious mind functions. The main pattern is that of projection and introjection, and it is important in shaping how we see life. It affects our beliefs and our relationships, and so it is a powerful influence on the way that each person creates his character. I also examine how we change our beliefs, and present a detailed study of how our attitudes link to other states of mind.

My ideas depend on my theory of emotion and abreaction, which is described in my first book on psychology, the articles on Emotion and Abreaction on the Home page. This theory is based on my three-fold analysis of consciousness into mind, feeling, and will power.

My approach to exploring the subconscious mind is a combination of psycho-dynamic psychology and existentialism. My ideas are the result of having engaged in a long and deep psycho-analysis for over 35 years, on and off, which I did on my own. Hence these ideas are sometimes different from orthodox psychology.

My full analysis of Transference is in my second book on psychology: Living in Times of Change, section The Bonding Process.

The copyright is mine, and the articles are free to use. They can be reproduced
anywhere, so long as the source is acknowledged.

Ian Heath
London, UK

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Introduction to Patterns of Mind