Temporal Psychology and Psychotherapy. The Human Being in Time and Beyond

In Section 2 we move from the general picture of temporal psychology to concrete dimensions of time and their significance for life and the psyche. The reader is presented with five interconnected chapters:

– Chapter 6. The Past and the Memory of the Unconscious – about how the past is stored not only in recollections, but in bodily patterns, family scripts, cultural fonts and epigenetic imprints; about methods of reading this field and its significance for therapy.

– Chapter 7. The Present: Here and Now (the Temporal Language) – about the nature of the «here and now,» how the present is constituted in consciousness, and what practices help to strengthen contact with the present as a therapeutic anchor.

– Chapter 8. The Future: Precognition and the Condensate of Temporal Crystallisation (TTC) – about different layers of the future (probable, possible, desired, premonitory), about phenomena of premonition, and about how «temporal condensates» are formed that give life its direction.

– Chapter 9. Eternity as a Psychological Phenomenon – about resourceful experiences of connectedness and meaning, about distinguishing transcendent experience from clinical risks, and about methods of safely integrating experiences of eternity.

– Chapter 10. Timelessness and Atemporality – about the opposite of eternity: the experience of emptiness, loss of perspective, temporal disintegration; about mechanisms, clinical severity (including suicide risk) and intervention algorithms.

These chapters do not simply follow one after another – they intersect and complement each other, because the psyche never lives «in a single layer» of time: past, present and future are always intertwined, and between them there may be both resourceful and pathological exits beyond linear flow.

The Past – a Field Irreducible to Memory

In our model, the past is not just «what once happened.» It is a multilayered field: neural and somatic traces, family and cultural scripts, objects and rituals, myths and oral stories. Memory is one of the mechanisms through which this field manifests itself in consciousness; but the field itself sets the contexts and meanings in which recollections gain their power. That is why in clinical work with the past it is important to look beyond isolated episodes: where does the past «reside» – in the body, in language, in routine, in family scripts?

The Unconscious – a Multitemporal Space

The unconscious contains traces of the past and seeds of the future simultaneously. It is inhabited by motivations and premonitions, archetypal patterns and somatic impulses that guide behaviour before we become aware of them. To treat the unconscious only as a «source of the past» is correct but incomplete; its multi-temporal nature makes it a crucial arena for understanding how past and future interact in the present.

The Present – Not a Point, but a Process

The «here and now» is a node where the retention of the past and the protention of the future meet, where temporal handwriting is formed. The present is rarely a «pure» instant; more often it is a fluid integration of multiple temporal layers. It is precisely in the present that we measure meaning, make decisions and undergo transformations; both the stability of personality and its capacity for change depend on the quality of contact with the present.

The Future – a Multi-layered Field of Attraction

The future includes the probable (timetables, forecasts), the possible (alternatives), the desired (goals) and the premonitory – those unconscious attractions that may work more strongly than formal plans. Therapeutic work may be directed both toward structuring the future (planning, steps) and toward exploring the «proto-future» – those unmotivated yet significant pulls that shape choices here and now.

Eternity and Timelessness – Two Different Paths «Outside Time»

The section deliberately devotes attention to two different modalities of «out-of-time» experience. Eternity is a resourceful experience of wholeness, connectedness and meaning; it can support the personality. Timelessness (Bezvremenye) is a state of loss of perspective and meaning, emptiness and a «stoppage» of time; clinically, this phenomenon is particularly dangerous: the loss of a sense of future is one of the key factors increasing suicide risk. In the following section we analyse in detail the differences, mechanisms of emergence and intervention strategies.

Field Observations: Extreme Environments as a «Natural Laboratory»

Experience from work in capsule and extreme conditions (underwater projects such as NEEMO, long-term isolation in Antarctica, space analogs) provides important empirical support. Under prolonged sensory deprivation, sleep disruption and restricted stimuli, not only duration estimates change: the entire temporal perspective is transformed. Participants describe a pendulum movement – saturated past → stretched surreal present → intensified premonition of the future → episodes of «out-of-time,» when the sense of «I am here» dulls. The mechanisms are multifactorial: sleep and circadian disruption, monotony, physiological influences (pressure, gas composition), mental exhaustion and pre-existing vulnerabilities (dissociation, trauma). These observations reinforce our stance: changes in the experience of time are not mere poetic metaphors, but clinically relevant markers of adaptation/maladaptation.

Methodological Conclusion: Combine Subjective and Objective

When working with temporal dimensions, attention must be distributed between:

– the subjective map (temporal handwriting, narratives, diaries, questionnaires);

– behavioural metrics (actigraphy, sleep logs, EMA – ecological momentary assessment);

– physiological markers (HRV, sleep, and where necessary – short EEG recordings).

Only a combined approach allows us to distinguish adaptive temporal shifts from pathological ones – and to set clinical priorities correctly.

Practical Task of Section 2

Our task is to provide the reader with tools for reading the temporal field of personality: how to recognize where the past «resides,» to what extent the present constricts or loosens the personality, which levels of the future are active, and where the risk of Timelessness arises. This implies both diagnostic schemes and therapeutic strategies – from rhythm stabilisation to deep integration of meanings and work with altered states of consciousness.

Key Literature for Section 2

Droit-Volet, S., Meck, W. H., et al. – Reviews in Experimental Psychology of Time.

Contemporary work on quantitative measurement of subjective time and analysis of distortions in its perception (effects of compression and dilation of duration). These methods are applicable to clinical diagnosis of disorders of temporal experience and empirical testing of therapeutic hypotheses.

Freud, S. – The Interpretation of Dreams (1900).

A classic study of the role of the unconscious past in shaping dream symbolism. The work is important for narrative psychotherapy, as it reveals how hidden memories and repressed images continue to operate in present time.

Husserl, E. – The Phenomenology of Internal Time-Consciousness (lectures ca. 1905).

The philosophical foundation of all temporal psychology: analysis of retention, protention and the act of «now» as elements of the structure of consciousness. It provides a basic scheme for understanding how the psyche experiences duration and forms a sense of sequence.

Joiner, T. – Why People Die by Suicide (2005).

A monograph integrating cognitive, existential and interpersonal approaches to understanding suicidal behaviour. It is especially valuable for temporal psychotherapy as a model of loss of future and the experience of timelessness leading to a crisis of meaning.

Jung, C. G. – Selected essays on the collective unconscious and synchronicity (20th c.).

Classic texts introducing the concepts of archetype and synchronicity as mechanisms of connection between internal and external temporal events. They serve as a theoretical resource for working with archetypal layers of the psyche and building semantic «bridges» between temporal fields of personality.

Studies on NEEMO, Antarctic missions and space analogs – NASA and ESA reports and reviews.

Empirical materials describing transformations of time perception, sleep and interpersonal dynamics under conditions of long-term isolation and sensory deprivation. These data are useful for developing methodologies of observation and understanding external triggers of changes in temporal experience in extreme environments.

This section is a bridge between philosophical reflection on time and applied clinic: it offers both a map and tools. In the chapters that follow we will unpack each dimension step by step: from the past fabric of the unconscious to practices that help restore people’s sense of future and protect them from the danger that Timelessness carries.

Chapter 6. The Past and the Memory of the Unconscious

The past remains the past only until we remember it. At that moment it becomes part of the present.

(By analogy with the epigraph about the future: The future remains the future only until it is planned.)

Summary

The past is not a frozen layer; it lives within us as an active force. It manifests in subpersonalities, images, bodily reactions, cultural scripts and even in epigenetic predispositions. The memory of the unconscious is not only recollections but also recurring dreams, archetypes, bodily symptoms, family plots and cultural «fonts» that continue to rewrite the present. In psychotherapy, work with the past makes it possible to translate hidden influences into language and dialogue, and thus to change the present and open the future.

Key Concepts

– Primary past – that which is actively alive in the soul, influencing feelings, actions and meanings.

– Memory of the unconscious – manifestations of the past in dreams, images, bodily reactions and cultural scripts.

– Subpersonality – a part of the personality that carries the imprint of a particular temporal layer or role.

– Font of time – a system of symbols (personal, cultural, archetypal) through which a person perceives and expresses the past.

– Ancestral memory – epigenetic and cultural traces of the ancestors’ experience that influence their descendants.

Aims

– To show that the past is not only history but an active psychic reality.

– To examine the main mechanisms by which the past influences the present.

– To formulate methodological approaches for working with the memory of the unconscious.

– To provide clinical examples («cases») and demonstrate techniques for their therapeutic processing.

– To outline ethical boundaries and limitations in working with themes of the past and the family line.

Main Text

We begin with an axiom tested by practice and patient attention: the past does not necessarily remain «in the past». The past that is actively present in the soul – what we have called the primary past in this book – lives within us as an active force and rewrites the present on a daily basis. To become aware of this is to gain the possibility of entering into dialogue with it; to remain unaware is to allow the past to continue conducting our feelings, actions, meanings, perspectives and fate.

1. The Past as a Living Architecture of the Psyche

The past is not a warehouse of forgotten dates and facts; it is a multilayered structure: archives of memory, rhythms, portraits and ornaments that interact both with one another and with the living present. We imagine it as a «world of the past» – an ocean with currents and bays, in which some images are submerged deep, while others surface as dreams, bodily reactions or sudden feelings. These surfacings are what we call the memory of the unconscious.

2. Main Mechanisms of the Past’s Influence

Clinical work shows several reliable pathways by which the past takes hold of the present. For the therapist it is important to see them and know how to work with them.

Subpersonalities.

Inner «parts» – the child, the guardian, the aggressor, the ideal – often bear the imprint of specific temporal layers. A subpersonality may be the «carrier» of a biographical episode, a role prescription or a family script. Dialogue with a subpersonality is not a mere hypothesis but a working method: by giving each part a voice, we translate the uncontrollable into the conscious.

Imaginal memory (dreams, portraits, cultural images).

Recurring dreams, faces in portraits, «ideal images» from culture (idols, heroes) – all these form the «fonts» of meaning by which a person describes time and self-in-time. These images are bridges between individual experience and collective memory.

Bodily memory.

Rigidity, automatic reactions, somatic triggers – the body «remembers» differently from consciousness. Interventions that ignore the body leave the past functioning «in the body», i.e., they preserve symptoms.

Cultural and familial stereotypes and rituals.

Family scripts, religious rituals, social myths – they form the very «fonts» by which the personality writes its own story. The denser the familial or cultural field, the greater the risk that a person will replicate someone else’s meanings and present them as their own.

Epigenetic «ancestral memory.»

Contemporary research shows that severe stress events in ancestors can leave marks in the gene expression of descendants. This is not «fate» but a predisposition – a biological fabric upon which psychological and cultural scripts are laid. Clinically this may manifest as heightened reactivity, a tendency toward anxiety or reduced stress tolerance that easily «hooks onto» family subpersonality patterns. Mentioning epigenetics gives us another bridge – from biology to narrative – and requires careful, non-reductionist interpretation.

3. The Classics and Their Contribution: From Personal Unconscious to Collective Memory and Bodily Trauma

Work with the past in psychotherapy cannot rely on a single theoretical tradition. Each approach contributes its own layer of understanding – from the unconscious to collective structures, from cognitive processes to bodily memory.

Personal unconscious and trauma.

Freud showed that repressed childhood events return in dream symbols and neurotic symptoms (Freud, 1900). His discovery made the past a key field of analysis. Janet studied dissociation and demonstrated that fragments of memory can exist autonomously in the psyche, forming hysterical symptoms (Janet, 1907). Bowlby complemented this line with attachment theory, revealing how early relationships with parents shape stable models of experiencing self and others (Bowlby, 1969). Taken together, these approaches allow us to see the past not only as an archive of events but as a living force shaping personality structure.

Collective and cultural.

Jung broadened the horizon by introducing the concept of archetypes and the collective unconscious, where individual experiences are interwoven with universal myths and symbolic «fonts» (Jung, 1959). Halbwachs demonstrated that memory is always social and organised by cultural frameworks (Halbwachs, 1950). Ricoeur added a philosophical stratum: the past is never given directly; it always passes through interpretation, memory and forgetting (Ricoeur, 2000). In therapy this means that work with the past must take into account not only personal recollections but also the language of culture in which they are shaped.

Cognitive science of memory.

Tulving divided memory into episodic and semantic, which allowed a more precise grasp of the difference between «lived experience» and its narrative (Tulving, 1983). Schacter showed the reconstructive character of memory and described the «seven sins of memory» – distortions that a therapist must take into account (Schacter, 1996). Loftus demonstrated the existence of false memories, highlighting the ethical risks of uncritical suggestion (Loftus, 1993). These findings make work with the past more cautious: the therapist must differentiate a living recollection from a construct that may be created in the course of therapy.

Body and trauma.

Contemporary psychotherapy increasingly turns to bodily memory. Van der Kolk demonstrated that trauma is stored not only in words but also in bodily reactions (van der Kolk, 2014). Yehuda studied the epigenetics of stress and the intergenerational transmission of traumatic experience (Yehuda & Lehrner, 2018). These data remind us that the past may be inscribed in the body and even in biological inheritance, which requires specific methods from the therapist – work with breathing, movement and somatic awareness.

Integration of subpersonalities.

Assagioli proposed psychosynthesis as a practical technology of dialogue with parts of the personality (Assagioli, 1965). His approach helps integrate fragmented subpersonalities and rework traumatic experience. For temporal psychotherapy this is particularly important: parts of the «I» stuck in the past can be brought back into dialogue and included in the person’s wholeness.

Bringing the traditions together.

In our practice we combine these lines:

– we recognise personal trauma and mechanisms of dissociation (Freud, Janet, Bowlby),

– we take into account the collective background and cultural codes of memory (Jung, Halbwachs, Ricoeur),

– we rely on cognitive science to understand the reconstructive nature of memory (Tulving, Schacter, Loftus),

– we include work with the body and intergenerational transmission (van der Kolk, Yehuda),

– we use psychosynthesis techniques to integrate subpersonalities (Assagioli).

Such a multilayered approach allows the therapist to see the client’s past not as a «static archive» but as a living, multidimensional field where personal recollections, cultural myths, bodily traces and family history intersect.

4. Illustrations – Case Vignettes from the Author’s Book The Primary Past

Below are several examples from the author’s book The Primary Past, each with a brief plot and clinical annotation: what the case shows and how to work with it.

Case A. A Dream about Alexander Abdulov – a Cultural Ideal Within the Personality

Plot. In a dream the image of the actor Abdulov appears: he passes a «control check,» receives forgiveness and acts as an on-screen hero who permits or evaluates the behaviour of entrenched characters.

What this illustrates. A cultural image (a generational ideal) becomes an «embedded voice» that dictates standards and restrictions. For the client, this image may play the role of an internal critic or ideal to which they strive, losing their own face.

Clinical annotation. Work through: (1) exploring the «font» – what values and criteria the image brings; (2) mask-therapy/portrait work – materialising the image, discussing its demands; (3) dialogue with the «idol» subpersonality, separating «what is mine» from «what is adopted». Recommendation: carefully dose interventions – transference may intensify, so stabilisation prior to deep work is essential.

Case B. Dialogue with «Lenin» – a Historical Font Implanted in the Soul

Plot. In a dream/dialogue the author converses with the image of Lenin about culture, power and the fate of society. This image functions not as a historical fact but as an active moraliser and censor in his psyche.

What this illustrates. Political and ideological artefacts become subpersonalities: they judge, prohibit, prescribe. For many clients such «leader-figures» inside are sources of behavioural style and meaning.

Clinical annotation. Approaches: (1) systemic mapping – identifying the political-historical «fonts» that influence the request; (2) broadening context – bringing in family history and public rituals; (3) careful desacralisation – translating the «leader» into a part one can negotiate with. Ethical note: such interventions may provoke conflict with relatives/environment – prepare a safety plan.

Case C. «The Big Letter to a Woman» – Family Plots and Role Multiplicity

Plot. A series of sketches – the Cossack Woman, the Princess, the Concubine, the Muse – shows how these roles are «worn» by a modern woman, dictating feelings and scripts. The author observes that the image of an ancestor or role prototype can «invert» a family knot.

What this illustrates. Family scripts and archetypal roles are easily transplanted into modern life, creating identity conflicts.

Clinical annotation. Methods: (1) mapping family archetypes (who in the family is the «Cossack Woman,» the «Muse,» etc.); (2) the boundary of «mine/not mine» – exercises that return authorship of choice; (3) if needed – a family or systemic session to rework the script. Important: not to destroy the memory of the family line, but to restructure its meaning.

Case D. Experiment with a Portrait (the Leonardo da Vinci Effect) – Portrait as a Key to Access

Plot. Prolonged concentration on Leonardo da Vinci’s portrait led to a series of dreams and images that gave the author a felt sense of «temporality» and of the artist’s personality; the author calls this the «effect»: the portrait became an access code to temporal dimensions.

What this illustrates. A portrait or art object can function as a tool for activating deep memory; in mask-therapy a client’s portrait often evokes material from their past.

Clinical annotation. Recommendations: (1) use portraits as «triggers» within a safe frame; (2) document the material that arises (dreams, associations); (3) integrate via artistic actions and rituals of completion; (4) consider the risk of over-activation – stabilising techniques are mandatory.

5. Methods of Access and Working Protocols

We distinguish several methodological lines that are flexible and can be combined depending on the situation: