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@Jeroen said:
Yes, there are some good comments by @federica, @bunks, @how and @david (now @QuangKsanti). I was going through a more questioning phase at the time.

Hey! Feels like I’ve been away forever and I got a mention today. Hope you’re all doing well?

I am 95% sure that in one of his podcasts, Ajahn Sonna, abott of a Canadian Theravada Forrest Monastery, answers this very question and says the Buddha does not consider there is any 'unseen' unconcious beyond the concious workings od the mind (thoughts) and heart (feelings).

Even so, as @Shoshin1 has so eloquently stated, the Buddha clearly does take into account our various difficult-to-see conditionings, which we might be unaware of.

So maybe the difference is that western psychology posits a can-never-unearth unconcious, while the Buddha posits a can-unearth but with difficulty, practice and training unconconcious.

But I very well might be wrong on both counts.

You might enjoy this discussion from five years ago when I was reading In the Buddha’s Words by Bhikkhu Bodhi. I enjoyed the book very much, next to Buddhist Scriptures by Edward Conze it was my favourite sutra anthology.

https://newbuddhist.com/discussion/comment/553301#Comment_553301

I am taking my Buddhism more seriously as of late. It is clear to me I must make determined and right efforts. Apply various 'medicines' and remedies, take responsibily and quit complaining. Changing the inputs will change the outputs, as I know for sure from a previous determined phase.
Strictly 'Buddhist' I am:
Slowly and contemplatively reading 'In the Buddhas Words' by Bhikhu Boddhi. It is a Pali canon sutta structured compilation with contextual introductions to chapters. Very good.
Listening to Ajahn Sonna. I resonate a lot and find a lot of benefit.
Restarted meditating. Some samatha, some loving kindness, some contemplation.
Trying to uphold and practice sila in a practical way.

I'm also doing and trying to habitualise a few other 'supporting' practices and dehabitualise a few negative behaviors but will write above those another day to keep this shorter.
Already feeling better: calmer, more grounded, more optimistic... so far so very good.

Did the Buddha, in his own terms, ever talk about the unconscious ?

Bearing in mind (pun intended) that the term “unconscious” is a modern psychological idea, one could say yes, the Buddha did speak about what we would now call the unconscious, because his understanding of the mind included every layer of mental activity, from what we’re clearly aware of to what lies deeply conditioned and unseen.

He may not have used the word “unconscious,” but he spoke of latent tendencies (anusaya) that stay hidden until they are stirred, mental formations (saṅkhāra) that shape how we think and act without our awareness, and ignorance (avijjā) as the root that keeps these patterns alive. In this way, the Buddha recognised both the seen and unseen workings of the mind, showing that liberation comes through understanding the whole of it, not just the surface.