Unrepressed unconscious: A developmental-relational approach

According to Freud, the dynamic unconscious has a: 1) social-relational nature, because it is strictly related to the internalization of early intersubjective experiences; 2) verbal-symbolic nature, in rapport with psychic representations (vorstellung); 3) repressive nature (the word repression is a synonym of unconscious). Contemporary psychoanalysis also considers the role of a more primitive and pre-reflexive type of unconscious: the unrepressed unconscious. This unconscious does not exist from the beginning, but is linked to the quality of sensory experiences between infant and caregiver. For several authors, the unrepressed unconscious is an emotional and preverbal unconscious useful to capture and to symbolize emotional stimuli. Moreover, it has a developmental bond with the repressed unconscious, in the sense that the development of the repressed unconscious is affected by the development of the unrepressed unconscious. Starting with an overview of neuroscientific and psychoanalytic literatures on this unconscious, the author explores the psychological characteristics of the unrepressed unconscious as well as its importance for clinical work.