The social unconscious and issues of conflict and reconciliation in therapy*

The social unconscious (Hopper, 2003; Hopper & Weinberg, 2011, 2016, 2017; Weinberg, 2007) refers to the existence of the restraints and constraints of social, cultural, and communication arrangements of which people are “unaware” to varying degrees. It includes anxieties, fantasies, myths, defenses, and object relations, as well as various aspects of socio-cultural–economic–political factors and forces, many of which are also co-constructed unconsciously by the members of particular groupings.