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Gensler is a practical/applied framework of Freud, whose influence continues to grow in the humanities (outside of the psychology department, wherever that chimera sits). Most of the commentary above would benefit from a basic understanding of primary Freud (Interpretation of Dreams, Ego and Id, Basic Introduction, Civilization and its Discontents). The key to Freud is his dogged insistence on the importance of non-empirical structures (metaphor, analogy) to human thought. My personal belief is that these are incidental artifacts of the development of language ~200-300kya, but on the other hand they have come both to define and to enable the entire consciousness system.
Not only can you talk to these "agents," you should. You must--it's the only tool you have available.
The water that "science of mind" swims in is Freud's, like it or not. It's not particularly clean or clear, but a swimmer can't ignore it. In short, a lot of the work has been done a long time ago, and we are living in a world that is the direct result of that work. For this issue, there's no greater What/How/Why.