Psychoanalysis Developed by Freud

Basic Concepts Determinism encompasses the idea that psychological events are causally related to each other and to the individual’s past. The elements that occur in consciousness are not random and unrelated.

Basic Concepts Dynamics There is an interplay of forces in the mind which act in unison or opposition. These elements ultimately express themselves through compromise.

Basic Concepts Topography Individual psychic elements are layered in consciousness. A sort of layering of mental contents according to the criterion of accessibility to awareness.

Basic Concepts Genetics – There is an enduring influence of the past on our present mental activity. It recognizes the extent to which the past is embedded in the present and shapes current thoughts, behavior and feelings. In accordance with psychoanalytic theory the genetic principle asserts that the past influences the present

Basic Concepts The pleasure principle The idea that human psychology is governed by a tendency to seek pleasure and avoid pain. According to Freud the behavior of a newborn is dominantly controlled by the pleasure principle

Basic Concepts An instinct is a stereotyped response (e.g., animal instinct) while a drive is a state of central excitation in response to a stimuli

Other Systems Alfred Adler believed that Freud overemphasized sexual drive (the libido) and underestimated the role of social and political pressures shaping personality.

Other Systems As part of the psychoanalytic situation, the analyst listens patiently, emphatically, uncritically, and receptively. This technique forms the core of Carl Roger’s Person-Centered Therapy.

History The Interpretation of Dreams (1900) Freud's view of the individual psychic elements of the mind as layered in consciousness is known as topography Freud's earliest theory of mental functioning described it in layers referred to as conscious, preconscious, and unconscious and was called topographic theory

Topographical Model Freud's topographical model of the mind proposed conscious, preconscious, and unconscious.

Conscious, Preconscious, and Unconscious

Topography of the psyche (unconscious, pre-conscious, conscious) Using an iceberg metaphor, The unconscious is understood to be the large part of the mind, which is hidden from view.  The pre-conscious is represented by the waterline - but it is the zone in which there are fleeting glimpses of the unconscious, "flickering" across the screen of consciousness.  Finally, the relatively small part of the iceberg which sticks of the water is seen as equivalent to the small amount of conscious awareness that the human experiences. 

Freud also believed that if there was information that was too painful for the conscious part to bear, that defense mechanisms would act to push it down it into the unconscious part of the mind.

The process by which mental elements are barred from consciousness is termed repression

Freud’s Topographical Model

Id, Ego, Superego Freud described a structural model of mental functioning consisting of the id, ego and superego. These structures were repetitive, organized mental functions serving separate roles in intrapsychic conflict

Id, Ego, Superego Id – Instinctual Pressures (e.g., aggression and sexual) Ego – Orients us toward the external world (Mediates the internal and external) Superego – Individual’s moral voice

Id, Ego, Superego THE ID — The Demanding Child (biological component, unconsciousness) Ruled by the pleasure principle THE EGO — The Traffic Cop (psychological component) Ruled by the reality principle THE SUPEREGO — The Judge (social component) Ruled by the moral principle

The ego is a psychic apparatus which balances internal and external realities

Personality Development 1. ORAL STAGE Birth – 18 months Gratification - Feeding, reduces tension and induces sleep 2. ANAL STAGE 18 mths – 3 years Gratification - Toilet training, reaction formation may lead to compulsive meticulousness 3. PHALLIC STAGE Ages 3-6 Gratification – Genitals, Males -Oedipus Complex and Females - Electra Complex 4. LATENCY STAGE Ages 6-12 A time of socialization 5. GENITAL STAGE Ages 12 on Gratification - sex Puberty and continues into adulthood

Example Tommy was toilet trained by age 3. During the training his parents would often make him feel shameful if he accidentally soiled himself. Tommy's apartment is now meticulously clean and he is quite rigid in his views and a perfectionist. This represents reaction formation

Example A male child's erotic impulses for his mother and feelings of hostility toward his father constitute what Freud called the Oedipus complex

Onset of Neuroses Unable to cope/develop Disappointment, defeat, loss, physical illness Current reality is misperceived in terms of childhood conflict, and the individual responds as he or she did in childhood, by forming symptoms. Intrapsychic conflicts occur when the mental components of the mind are incongruent

Onset of Neurosis Psychoanalytic theorists would hypothesize that neurosis occurs due to an imbalance between drives and defenses

Ego-Defense Mechanisms Are normal behaviors which operate on an unconscious level and tend to deny or distort reality Help the individual cope with anxiety and prevent the ego from being overwhelmed Have adaptive value if they do not become a style of life to avoid facing reality

Ego-Defense Mechanisms Repression Regression Denial Introjection Reaction formation Identification Projection Compensation Displacement Rationalization Sublimation

Psychotherapy Three Types of Anxiety Reality – fear of danger from external world Neurotic – fear of instincts overthrowing ego (punishment) Moral – fear of one’s own conscious (guilt)

Process of Psychotherapy Transference – Patient responds to therapist based on past experience Countertransference – Therapist responds to patient based on past experience

Process of Psychotherapy The major portion of the therapeutic work in psychoanalysis is thought to occur in a phase called development of transference

Process of Psychotherapy Goals Tactical goals involve analysis of the immediate presenting material in terms of some conflict, usually involving the analyst Strategic goal is to explain the unconscious fantasy and demonstrate many ways in which it affects the patient’s current life.

Example A therapist points out the similarities between her female patient's current anger at a female boss and the childhood anger she felt towards her mother when she was ignored by her father. The goal of psychoanalysis this illustrates is: tactical

Process of Psychotherapy Freud viewed the main task of therapy as catharsis, which he referred to as a release of emotion connected with painful experiences which had not been naturally discharged.

Process of Psychotherapy The principle goal was to make conscious the content of the unconscious The goal of therapy is to make the unconscious conscious, for only then can the individual exercise choice

Process of Psychotherapy The unconscious cannot be studied directly but is inferred from behavior

Process of Psychotherapy In utilizing hypnosis, free association, and other techniques Freud's therapeutic goal centered primarily on making unconscious events conscious

Process of Psychotherapy Clinical evidence for postulating the unconscious: Dreams Slips of the tongue Posthypnotic suggestions Material derived from free-association Material derived from projective techniques Symbolic content of psychotic symptoms NOTE: consciousness is only a thin slice of the total mind

Process of Psychotherapy The most significant difference between traditional psychoanalysis and current psychoanalysis is … One-person psychology – understanding the patient exclusively Two-person psychology – understanding the interaction between the two (patient and analyst)

Process of Psychotherapy Distractions by the patient which impede psychoanalytic progress are referred to as resistance

Process of Psychotherapy The Psychoanalytic Situation The patient lies down on a couch, facing away from the analyst, and is asked to report, without criticism as far as possible, the thoughts that come to his or her mind. Basic premise – bring the unconscious conflicts into awareness

Process of Psychotherapy The Psychoanalytic Situation In free association there are various levels of relevance of the data obtained within the psychoanalytic situation. Observation (the order of material) Interpretation (relationship to behavior) Generalization (accumulated data is generalized) Theory (clinical theory is formulated)

References Dr. Jeffrey Arnow, Phd