In 1971, New York psychiatrist Robert Langs discovered the language of the “blink mind.” He consistently observed that his patients’ unconscious intuitively guided them to wise decisions by an unconscious “repeat the idea/story code”—as though our mind is telling us a parable by repeating the same hidden story.
Consciously on the surface they would have one plan, yet deep down their “blink mind” had a far better plan. For example, consciously a patient wanted to stop therapy thinking he’s finished, but his “blink” mind would subtly (unconsciously) deliver stories of “unfinished business” to show him that he had more therapy work to do. (e.g. Stories of “his daughter needing to continue college and not drop out—or needing to continue working on an addition to his house. His “blink mind” spoke in “casual” stories which really were anything but by chance.)
In a nutshell Langs observed that his patients “blink mind” possessed a deeper intelligence that guided them in numerous ways. Patients who needed more stability would consciously propose changing appointments but by subtly patterning stories of “don’t change the plan,” their “blink mind” would advise against any disrupting appointment changes. (e.g. “My boss never sticks to a schedule and keeps us all disrupted.”)
Langs would see the following scenario repeatedly played out. While the conscious mind had plan A, the “blink mind” had a far better and totally opposite plan B which it communicated by expressing the same idea—seemingly unrelated at first—over and over. He saw that using a hidden communication pattern—the same the story repeated five different ways—patients could communicate any central message. The “blink mind” could tell someone they really didn’t need the medication they thought they did by telling repeat stories of people who had abused or become too dependent on medication. The “blink mind” was far more concerned about autonomy than the conscious mind.
The “blink mind” could advise someone not to bring a third party into her therapy though a “disruptive threesome code.” (e.g. “You know two kids play together well, but when a third kid comes in he disrupts them.”) The “blink mind” consistently was concerned about keeping the strong one-to-one boundary of therapy—equating it with other important one-to-one’s: marriage, parent-child relationship, or friend-friend. As we will see, all of these issues had to do with maintaining strong boundaries.