Your Secret Mind

Rebecca Hall received a BA from Stanford University and now works full-time as a freelance writer and editor, specializing primarily in the psychiatric and behavioral sciences and in translating scientific information for the general public. She has co-authored two books, ten psychiatric textbook chapters, eight journal articles, and has edited several additional publications. Her non-fiction stories have been featured in two literary events and a digital magazine. She is also Dr Hans Steiner's Teaching Assistant for his Stanford Continuing Studies Course, 'Your Secret Mind: Getting In Touch and Living With Your Unconscious'. Hans Steiner was born in Vienna, Austria, and received his doctorate from the Medical Faculty of the University of Vienna, Austria, in 1972. Currently, Dr Steiner is Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and Human Development at the Stanford University School of Medicine. He is a founding member and director of the Pegasus Physician Writers at Stanford (2008), and has authored and edited over 500 articles, abstracts, reviews, books, and several narrative medicine short stories.

• Introduction -- Why pay attention to the unconscious? Famous artists as case studies: Rene Magritte, Artemisia Gentileschi, Georgia O'Keeffe, Egon Schiele, and Vincent van Gogh -- Neuroscience of the mind -- The role of psychometrics in the study of the unconscious: what are your personal preferences in resolving stress, conflict, and ambiguity? -- An easy start: memes, slips of the tongue and ear, and parapraxes -- Creativity and the unconscious: the objective correlative and the presence/hermeneutic dialectic -- Expressive writing and the motivational unconscious: recreating and reconstructing the richness of your life -- The royal road to the unconscious: dream analysis -- Epilogue -- Appendix

'What a gem of a book by Hans Steiner, who is a preeminent doctor in the best sense of the word: a teacher, mentor and physician. In this exciting book, Steiner takes the reader on a journey of self-exploration through a series of mind-expanding exercises. Bringing neuroscience and depth psychology together, Steiner helps readers discover hidden aspects of themselves, broadening their resilience and creativity. Join the host of Stanford students who, over many years, have benefitted from this remarkable course.'- Irvin David Yalom, MD, Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry at Stanford University'Hans Steiner is one of the great psychiatric minds of our era and his ingenious approach to conveying the complexity of our mental function delights and informs in equal measure. This is a major contribution to the most important subject in psychodynamic thought, relevant to all those interested in our psychology.'- Peter Fonagy, PhD, Professor of Contemporary Psychoanalysis and Developmental Science, University College London'This is a timely and outstanding volume that explores the opportunities we have to look within and to unlock our creative potential by discovering the secret content of our unconscious minds. Unlike my experience on the couch during two psychoanalyses, decades ago, and sitting behind the couch as a psychoanalyst, Dr Steiner is not silent. Instead, he discusses the unconscious from an up-to-date neuroscientific perspective. He then provides a step-by-step guide to discover our largely unconscious preferences as we deal with stress, resolve conflicts, and deal with ambiguity. This is a journey through art, creative writing, memes, and slips of the tongue, as well as the content of our dreams.'- James F. Leckman, MD, PhD, Neison Harris Professor of Child Psychiatry, Psychiatry, Pediatrics and Psychology, Yale University'In this book, Hans Steiner's long-lasting experiences as an outstanding academic teacher, clinician, and researcher meet his great talent in creative writing to produce a unique book, which I have read with continuously growing enthusiasm. I am sure that this book will help enormously to attract students and young colleagues to psychiatry and to the fascinating territory of our unconscious inner world. I highly recommend this extraordinary book to students, psychiatrists, psychologists, and other mental health professionals and to everybody else who wants to know more about their own and others' unconscious.' - Professor Klaus Schmeck, Universitare Psychiatrische Kliniken (UPK), Basel, Switzerland'Hans Steiner shows his deep understanding of the neurosciences while also demonstrating his strong theoretical basis in depth psychology. He shows the reader that to be open to one's unconscious is not just a threat, but results in an enormous expansion of our mental workspace. What makes Hans Steiner's new book so credible and accessible at the same time is the fact that he has skills in three areas. He manages the chapters with a light touch, trusting that in the final result the mosaic of presented facts will congeal to a whole. He is not afraid to use his own unconscious and his life experiences as material to teach and demonstrate, setting an example for the reader and student. He brings life to the cold world of facts. Finally, his language is full of passion, spoken with a clear voice, which ends up being very convincing. Combining poetry and science, he succeeds in meeting our expectations: he tells a scientific story.'- Dr Paulus Hochgatterer, MD, winner of the Literature Prize of the European Union 2009, and the Austrian State Prize for Literature 2010