Imagine standing at the base of a vast, formidable mountain. At its peak lies a breathtaking vista: clarity, peace, a deep understanding of yourself. You desperately want to reach it.
You could try to climb straight up the rock face—a direct, Sisyphus-like ascent, brutal and seemingly efficient. You’d expend immense energy, hit countless dead ends, and likely tumble back down, exhausted and defeated. This feeling of being stuck is why so many people end up hesitating to start therapy.
This direct climb is how many of us try to solve our deepest emotional problems. We grapple with conscious willpower, trying to “just fix” anxiety, or “just stop” a destructive pattern. But the mountain we’re trying to scale isn’t a simple slope; it’s our own mind, and a significant portion of its terrain—the most treacherous, yet also the most foundational—lies hidden in the unconscious.
This is where therapy, much like a well-designed switchback hiking trail, offers a profoundly different, and ultimately more effective, path.
The Unconscious Mountain: What Lies Beneath
From a psychodynamic perspective, our unconscious mind is like the vast, unseen bulk of that mountain. It’s the repository of our earliest experiences, forgotten memories, repressed emotions, and the defense mechanisms forged in childhood to protect us. It shapes our perceptions, drives our habits, and influences our relationships, all without our conscious awareness.
Trying to address issues stemming from the unconscious through sheer conscious effort is like trying to move a landslide with a spoon. The resistance is too great, the forces too powerful. If you push directly, your defenses (the thick brush and sheer rock faces of our metaphorical mountain) will push back harder.
The Art of the Switchback: Indirect Access
A switchback trail doesn’t tackle the mountain head-on. It recognizes the impossibility of a direct assault and instead takes a series of deliberate, gentle turns across the slope. It works with the terrain, rather than against it.
This is precisely how therapy, particularly psychodynamic or mindfulness-based approaches, helps us access the unconscious:
- The Gentle Ascent: Instead of directly asking, “What’s in your unconscious?”, a therapist helps you talk about your conscious concerns: a recurring conflict with your partner, a sense of aimlessness, persistent anxiety. These are the immediate, visible parts of the mountain.
- The Lateral Movement (Exploring the “Now”): As you talk, the therapist listens for patterns, repetitions, and inconsistencies—the smaller rocks and roots that hint at deeper structures. They might gently bring your attention to:
- Emotional Reactions: “You seem to get very angry when we talk about your father.”
- Body Sensations: “Notice what happens in your stomach when you mention that.”
- Relationship Dynamics in the Room (Transference): How you interact with the therapist might mirror how you interact in other key relationships, providing a safe, live laboratory for exploring old patterns.
- The Turn (Making Connections): These lateral movements are the “switchbacks.” Instead of pushing straight up to a painful insight, you gain perspective by moving around it. You might discuss a dream, a childhood memory, a seemingly insignificant slip of the tongue. Each “turn” isn’t directly the “unconscious,” but it offers a new vantage point, a slightly higher elevation, revealing a bit more of the landscape.
- Integrating the Vista (Insight): Slowly, through these repeated turns, things become clearer. You begin to see connections you couldn’t before. “Oh, my avoidance of conflict isn’t just because I hate arguing; it’s because it reminds me of feeling helpless as a child.” The unconscious material doesn’t burst forth fully formed; it emerges in fragments, hints, and eventually, coherent insights. It’s like finding a small clearing on the switchback where you can look back and see how far you’ve come, and how the landscape below is connected to where you are now.
Why Switchbacks Work Better
- Respects Resistance: Direct confrontation triggers defenses. The switchback honors them by not forcing a direct assault. It allows the unconscious material to emerge when it feels safe enough to do so.
- Builds Trust: Each gentle turn with a supportive therapist builds trust, reducing the need for rigid defenses. You learn that the mountain isn’t trying to defeat you; it’s just waiting to be understood.
- Sustainable Progress: It’s a slower, more deliberate path, but it’s sustainable. You gain strength and perspective with each step, rather than collapsing from exhaustion.
The unconscious mind holds both our deepest wounds and our greatest resources. We often fear what lies hidden in its depths, imagining monsters. But often, what we find is simply a younger version of ourselves, waiting to be understood and integrated. Therapy, like that wise switchback trail, doesn’t rush you there. It guides you, one deliberate step at a time, towards a fuller, more complete understanding of the mountain that is you.
About the Author: Jonah Taylor, LCSW, is a psychotherapist and the founder of The Center for Mind & Relationship in Pittsburgh, PA. He holds a Certification in Psychodynamic Therapy from the Pittsburgh Psychoanalytic Center, and his work is dedicated to helping individuals and couples explore the deeper narratives and unconscious patterns that shape their lives. With a contemplative and integrative approach, Jonah guides clients in moving beyond surface-level symptoms to heal from past wounds and cultivate a life of greater authenticity and meaning. Learn more about his approach to individual therapy.
