The unconscious in a new guise: Latent processes in two theories of the third wave of cognitive behavioral therapy

The concept of the unconscious is associated mainly with the psychodynamic approaches, as well as with research on latent processes in cognitive and social psychology. The aim of this article is to determine the status of this concept in Hayes’s relational frame theory (RFT) and in the interacting cognitive subsystems (ICS) theory by Teasdale and Barnard. These two theories serve as the theoretical basis for therapies that underscore aspects associated with acceptance and mindfulness. The mindfulness movement is an interesting phenomenon at the interface of science and spirituality. We believe that ICS and RFT are two different examples of how psychology can use the concept of the unconscious. ICS, adopting a cognitive model, relies on a computer metaphor of the unconscious. What it lacks is a conceptualization of the conflict of representations or needs. RFT, adopting a behavioral model, has a greater potential for explaining conflict.

Could a Unified Theory of Cognition and Emotion Further the Transdiagnostic Perspective? A Critical Analysis Using Interacting Cognitive Subsystems as a Case Example

There is evidence that common processes underlie psychological disorders transdiagnostically. A challenge for the transdiagnostic movement is accounting for such processes theoretically. Theories of psychological disorders are traditionally restricted in scope, often explaining specific aspects of a disorder. The alternative to such ‘micro-theories’ is developing frameworks which explain general human cognition, so called ‘macro-theories’, and applying these systematically to clinical phenomena. Interacting Cognitive Subsystems (ICS) [Teasdale, J.D., & Barnard, P.J. (1993). Affect, cognition and change: Re-modelling depressive thought, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Hove] is a macro-theory which aims to explain aspects of information processing. The aim of this review is to examine whether ICS provides a useful platform for understanding common processes which maintain psychological disorders. The core principles of ICS are explained and theoretical papers adopting ICS to explain a particular psychological disorder or symptom are considered. Dysfunctional schematic mental models, reciprocal interactions between emotional and intellectual beliefs, as well as attention and memory processes, are identified as being important to the maintenance of psychological disorders. Concrete examples of how such variables can be translated into novel therapeutic strategies are given. The review concludes that unified theories of cognition and emotion have the potential to drive forward developments in transdiagnostic thinking, research and treatment.

Dysphoria: self-devaluative and affective components in recovered depressed patients and never depressed controls

Background. The Interacting Cognitive Subsystems analysis of cognitive vulnerability to depression predicts that subjective experiences of dysphoria in recovered depressed patients will be qualitatively different from those of controls. This study tested this prediction using a new instrument, the Depressed States Checklist.Methods. Twenty-three recovered recurrently depressed patients and 54 never depressed controls rated the affective and self-devaluative components of a dysphoric experience.Results. Groups reported similar levels of affective component but recovered depressed patients reported higher self-devaluative dysphoric experience. At zero affective component of dysphoria neither group reported any self-devaluative feelings. With increasing affective component of dysphoria, the self-devaluative component increased significantly more in recovered patients than in controls. The ratio of self-devaluative to affective components of dysphoria significantly differentiated recovered depressed patients from controls.Conclusions. As predicted, dysphoria in recovered depressed patients is qualitatively different from controls in ways that increase vulnerability to major depression. The Depressed States Checklist is a new, brief, measure of cognitive vulnerability to depression that may be particularly useful in large, prospective, epidemiological studies.