The overarching goal of this paper is to suggest alternatives for energistic explanations (1) of consciousness and unconsciousness, and (2) of conscious primary process products. As a means to this end I attempt to revise an outdated psychoanalytic conceptualization and taxonomy of representation. I argue that consciousness is a function of the form of representation and that there are schemata devoted to such transformations. Finally I argue that conscious primary process products can be explained in terms of defenses responsible for modifying content and without recourse to energistic explanations.