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One of the fundamental concepts in psychoanalysis is that pathology is a response to and an expression of unconscious conflictual thoughts and their associated feelings. Beginning with Freud, psychoanalytic theory has developed from the astute observations of psychoanalysts based on clinical case studies of patients in treatment. In recent years exciting new laboratory procedures have added a new dimension, and enable us to explore through controlled experiments the influence of these unconscious factors in a wide variety of psychiatric conditions. The methodology was pioneered by Silverman (1971) and enables us now to test out and validate in the laboratory psychoanalytic theories of psychopathology. The method has been termed by Silverman “subliminal psychodynamic activation,” since subliminal messages presented by a tachistoscope to the subject bypass conscious awareness, are registered unconsciously, and activate psychodynamic processes. The psychological effects of this stimulation can then be accurately measured by tests to see if the “triggering” of specific unconscious thoughts and feelings does influence certain symptoms as psychoanalytic theory holds. It was found that only messages that were subliminal and not supraliminal were effective, and only