AMANDA, on May 19 1998 you wrote,

What is consciousness? How is it related to the subconscious? I am extremely curious about this subject, especially on how it relates to brainwashing and torture.
Then, is our mind controlled by the brain, or is our mind supreme?

Let me start with the mind. I expect that you have read my posts on brain, mind, thinking, and meta-thinking. The mind is one of the brain functions, as are the motor and sensory ones.
Mind's manifestation is thinking. In fact, the word "mind" could be eliminated altogether: "What's on your mind?" is actually, "What are you thinking about?"
I've described the different types of thinking. Meta-thinking is the summum of thinking, a quality exclusive to humans. Memory is essential for thinking. Memory is the soul, as I have explained elsewhere.

Mind cannot be "supreme," for it is a manifestation of specific brain neurons. In fact, the brain is a complex of highly specialized neurons. As these neurons become disabled, so does mind, i.e., thinking. Disregarding the orientation of your question, the mind, i.e., the ability to think, is indeed "supreme," for thinking is equivalent to significance in vertebrates, mainly in humans.
Everything is physics. What appears to be "spiritual" is just peculiar manifestations of physical entities.
Now, on your first question. We must start with semantics, definitions. Please refer to the posts on clarity of language, ambiguity, and the avoidance of the word "metaphysics." You'll realize that your main question has not been unambiguously posed.
The following are the terms I'll utilize, which derive from the Latin "To know." I'll be using the equivalents in Hebrew, as a way to show the confusion present in Latin languages, but not so in Hebrew, in this regard:

Consciousness, I suggest, ought to be used only in the senses, first, of being fully awake to our surroundings, and of realizing what is being said and done. In such a definition, the state of Unconsciousness is present in sleep, anesthesia, brain damage, and certain forms of hypnosis. The second meaning would be, 'to be knowledgeable about something.' In Hebrew, the respective terms refer to 'being awake,' and 'being in the state of having knowledge," and alternatively, 'being acquainted with.'

The Conscious (as a noun). This is the term that should be used in psychoanalytical discourse, which probably pertains to your question. The complementary terms are, the Subconscious, and the Unconscious. The latter one should be divided into the Normal Unconscious, and the Repressed Unconscious. There is also the Collective Unconscious, which is a class apart. In Hebrew, the terms derive from the root 'to know.'

Amanda, this will do for now. As for the implications in torture and brainwashing, I've not read about it. Still, I might be able to offer an explanation, but only after you comment about this post, telling us the gist of your knowledge on the matter.