@nostrademons, thank you for your perceptive and reasoned response. In my opinion, you don't have to bring the unconscious into your formulation. In fact, most of the therapists practicing today never utter the word "unconscious." To invoke the difficulty of understanding human behavior, one needs to go no "deeper" (for example) than the influence of events in early childhood (attachment theory), the imperfect thought processes of a human brain that has evolved over time (cognitive distortions), the fact that behaviors that are practiced over time become easier (neuroplasticity), or what we know about how traumatic experiences affect one's later life.

I would complete your "You go to a therapist..." sentence with "...because you're smart enough to understand that you don't know everything about your own complicated life, and you want to get the assistance of someone who is professionally trained in understanding human experience and helping people make and implement healthier choices in their lives." It's not voodoo--it's someone who knows the territory helping you get to your chosen destination faster.

And what does it mean to be professionally trained? Well, read my article for details. But I'll summarize: at minimum, a Masters degree in Counseling Psychology (3-4 years) and 3,000 hours of "supervised practice." In my case, that was 1,700 hours actually working as a therapist (seeing clients), maybe 1,500 hours of professional supervision while doing that work, over 100 hours of my own therapy, plus attending trainings, workshops, etc.

Who am I? I have an ancient Masters degree in computer science, I wrote for BYTE magazine (the first major computer magazine), I worked for Apple and a pre-IPO startup in Silicon Valley, and I program (badly) in Clojure. Because of my own therapy, I went from being a maladjusted, terminally shy young adult to being a therapist. I know that therapy can work wonders--if you're willing to do the work.

Thanks for listening.