z

Psychoanalysis
 z

Psychoanalysis
 is a type of therapy that aims to release pent-up or
repressed emotions and memories in or to lead the
client to catharsis, or healing (McLeod, 2014)

 In other words, the goal of psychoanalysis is to

bring what exists at the unconscious or
subconscious level up to consciousness
z

This goal is accomplished through

talking to another person about
the big questions in life, the things
that matter, and diving into the
complexities that lie beneath the
simple-seeming surface.
 z
The Founder of Psychoanalysis:
Sigmund Freud and His Concepts

Talk Therapy

One of Freud's greatest contributions to psychology was talk therapy, the

notion that simply talking about problems can help alleviate them. It was
through his association with his close friend and colleague Josef Breuer that
Freud became aware of a woman known in the case history as Anna O

The young woman's real name was Bertha Pappenheim. She became a
patient of Breuer's after suffering a bout of what was then known as hysteria.
Symptoms included blurred vision, hallucinations, and partial paralysis.
 z

 Freud concluded that her hysteria was the result of childhood sexual
abuse, a view that ended up leading to a rift in Freud and Breuer's
professional and personal relationship. Anna O. may not have actually
been Freud's patient, but her case informed much of Freud's work and
later theories on therapy and psychoanalysis

Personality Driving Forces

 According to Freud's theory, there are a few different factors that affect
personality. They include cathexis and anticathexis, along with life and
death instincts.
 z
Cathexis and Anticathexis

 According to Freud's psychoanalytic theory, all psychic energy is generated by libido.

Freud suggested that our mental states were influenced by two competing forces:
cathexis and anticathexis.

 Cathexis was described as an investment of mental energy in a person, idea, or object.4

If you are hungry, for example, you might create a mental image of a delicious meal that
you have been craving.

 In other cases, the ego might harness some energy from the id (the primitive mind) to
seek out activities related to the desire in order to disperse excess energy from the id.
Sticking with the same example, if you can't actually seek out food to appease your
hunger, you might instead thumb through a cookbook or browse through your favorite
recipe blog.
 z

 Anticathexis involves the ego blocking the socially

unacceptable needs of the id. Repressing urges and desires
is one common form of anticathexis, but this involves a
significant investment of energy.

 According to Freud's theory, there is only so much libidinal

energy available. When a lot of energy is devoted to
suppressing urges via anticathexis, there is less energy for
other processes.
 z
Life Instincts and Death Instincts

 Freud also believed that much of human behavior was motivated by two
driving instincts: life instincts and death instincts. The life instincts (Eros) are
those that relate to a basic need for survival, reproduction, and pleasure. They
include such things as the need for food, shelter, love, and sex.

 Freud also suggested that all humans have an unconscious wish for death,
which he referred to as the death instinct (Thanatos)

 Self-destructive behavior, he believed, was one expression of the death drive.

However, he believed that these death instincts were largely tempered by life
instincts.
 z
Psyche

 In Freudian theory, the human mind is structured into two

main parts: the conscious and unconscious mind. The
conscious mind includes all the things we are aware of or can
easily bring into awareness. The unconscious mind, on the
other hand, includes all of the things outside of our
awareness—all of the wishes, desires, hopes, urges, and
memories that we aren't aware of, yet continue to influence
behavior
 z
Models of the Mind Freud’s Model of the
Mind/ provinces of the mind

 Perhaps the most impactful idea put forth by Freud was his model of the
human mind. His model divides the mind into three layers, or regions

 1.Conscious: This is where our current thoughts, feelings, and focus live

 2.Preconscious (sometimes called the subconscious): This is the home of

everything we can recall or retrieve from our memory;

 3.Unconscious: At the deepest level of our minds resides a repository of the

processes that drive our behavior, including primitive and instinctual desires
(McLeod, 2013).
 z
Three metaphorical parts to the mind:

Id
 operates at an unconscious level and focuses solely on instinctual drives and
desires
 unconscious source of primitive sexual, dependency, and aggressive impulses

 Two biological instincts make up the id, according to Freud

 eros, or the instinct to survive that drives us to engage in life-sustaining activities

thanatos, or the death instinct that drives destructive, aggressive, and violent
behavior.
 z

Ego
 The ego acts as both a conduit for and a check on the id, working
to meet the id’s needs in a socially appropriate way. It is the
most tied to reality and begins to develop in infancy
 operates according to the reality principle, working out realistic ways of
satisfying the id’s demands, often compromising or postponing
satisfaction to avoid negative consequences of society

 considers social realities and norms, etiquette and rules in

deciding how to behave.
 It is the decision-making component of personality
 z

Superego
The superego is the portion of the mind in which morality and
higher principles reside, encouraging us to act in socially and morally
acceptable ways (McLeod, 2013).
incorporates the values and morals of society which are learned
from one's parents and others
part of the unconscious that is the voice of conscience (doing what
is right) and the source of self-criticism
 z

The 5 Psychosexual Stages of

Development
Finally, one of the most enduring concepts associated with Freud is his psychosexual
stages. Freud proposed that children develop in five distinct stages, each focused on a
different source of pleasure

 First Stage: Oral—first 18 months of life

 Source of sensual pleasure is feeding
 the child seeks pleasure from the mouth (e.g., sucking)
 When fixated they become nail biters, smokers and develop “ bitingly” critical
personality
z

Second Stage: Anal

 18 months to 3 years

 The source of sensual pleasure is bowel movement

 the child seeks pleasure from the anus (e.g.,

withholding and expelling feces);

 When fixated they can become obsessively clean

rigidly tied to schedules and routines defiantly messy
z
Third stage: PHALLIC STAGE

 3 to 6 years

 Children develop aggressive sexual urges to their parents

( Oedipus and electra complex)

 Eventually resolve their anxiety and identify with same sex

z

Fourth Stage: Latent

 6 years to puberty

 A period of relative calm and intellectual and

social exploration
 Redirect their energies to school to school
work and hobbies
 the child has little or no sexual motivation
z

Fifth Stage: Genital

 Puberty to adulthood

 The sexual urges resurface but towards

heterosexual relations outside the family or
origin
 the child seeks pleasure from the penis or
vagina (e.g., sexual intercourse; McLeod, 2013).
 z

Defense Mechanisms

Freud believed these three parts of the mind are in

constant conflict because each part has a different
primary goal. Sometimes, when the conflict is too
much for a person to handle, his or her ego may
engage in one or many defense mechanisms to
protect the individual.
 z
Defense mechanisms include
Repression: The ego pushes disturbing or threatening thoughts out of
one’s consciousness;
which Anna Freud also called "motivated forgetting," is just that: not being
able to recall a threatening situation, person, or event. Thoughts that are
often repressed are those that would result in feelings of guilt from the
superego
Example :
the oedipus complex, aggressive thoughts about the same sex parents are
repressed and pushed down into the unconscious.
 z

Denial
 The ego blocks upsetting or overwhelming experiences from
awareness, causing the individual to refuse to acknowledge or believe
what is happening
 a defense mechanism proposed by Anna Freud which involves a
refusal to accept reality, thus blocking external events from awareness
 Example

 A student may refuse to recognise their obvious lack of preparedness

for an exam
 z
Projection
 The ego attempts to solve discomfort by attributing the individual’s
unacceptable thoughts, feelings, and motives to another person

 a psychological defense mechanism proposed by Anna Freud in which an

individual attributes unwanted thoughts, feelings and motives onto another
person

 Example;

 For instance, you might hate someone, but your superego tells you that
such hatred is unacceptable. You can 'solve' the problem by believing that
they hate you.
 z Displacement
 The individual satisfies an impulse by acting on a substitute object or person in
a socially unacceptable way (e.g., releasing frustration directed toward your
boss on your spouse instead)

 Turning against the self is a very special form of displacement, where the
person becomes their own substitute target. It is normally used in reference to
hatred, anger, and aggression, rather than more positive impulses, and it is the
Freudian explanation for many of our feelings of inferiority, guilt, and
depression.

 Example

 Someone who is frustrated by his or her superiours may go home and kick the
dog, beat up a family member, or engage in cross-burnings.
 z
Regression

 As a defense mechanism, the individual moves backward in development in

order to cope with stress (e.g., an overwhelmed adult acting like a child)

 a defense mechanism proposed by Anna Freud whereby the the ego reverts
to an earlier stage of development usually in response to stressful situations

Example

Teenagers may giggle uncontrollably when introduced into a social situation

involving the opposite sex.
 z
Sublimation

 Similar to displacement, this defense mechanism involves satisfying an

impulse by acting on a substitute but in a socially acceptable way (e.g.,
channeling energy into work or a constructive hobby) (McLeod, 2013)

Example

fixation at the oral stage of development may later lead to seeking oral
pleasure as an adult through sucking one's thumb, pen or cigarette
z
Rationalization

 a defense mechanism proposed by Anna Freud involving a

cognitive distortion of "the facts" to make an event or an impulse
less threatening. We do it often enough on a fairly conscious
level when we provide ourselves with excuses.

 Example

 When a person finds a situation difficult to accept, they will make

up a logical reason why it has happened. For example, a person
may explain a natural disaster as 'God's will'.
z
Reaction Formation

 Reaction formation, which Anna Freud called "believing the

opposite," is a psychological defense mechanism in which a
person goes beyond denial and behaves in the opposite way to
which he or she thinks or feels.

Example

 reaction formation includes the dutiful daughter who loves her

mother is reacting to her Oedipus hatred of her mother.
 z
Introjection
 sometimes called identification, involves taking into your own personality
characteristics of someone else, because doing so solves some emotional
difficulty

Example

A child who is left alone frequently, may in some way try to become "mom" in
order to lessen his or her fears. You can sometimes catch them telling their
dolls or animals not to be afraid.

the older child or teenager imitating his or her favorite star, musician, or sports
hero in an effort to establish an identity.
 z
Identification with the Aggressor

 Identification with the aggressor is a defense mechanism proposed by

Sandor Ferenczi and later developed by Anna Freud. It involves the victim
adopting the behavior of a person who is more powerful and hostile
towards them

Example

Identification with the aggressor is a version of introjection that focuses on

the adoption, not of general or positive traits, but of negative or feared traits.
If you are afraid of someone, you can partially conquer that fear by becoming
more like them
 z
Role of the counselor

 To encourage the development of transference, giving the

 client a sense of safety and acceptance. The client freely explores

difficult material

 and experiences from their past, gaining insight and working through
unresolved

 issues. The counselor is an expert, who interprets for the client

 z
Goals of Therapy

 Helping the client bring into the conscious the unconscious.

 Helping the client work through a developmental stage that was not resolved or

 where the client became fixated.

 To reconstruct the basic personality.

 To assist clients in reliving earlier experiences and working through repressed

 conflicts.

 To achieve intellectual awareness.

 Help the client adjustment to the demands of work, intimacy, and society
 z
Therapeutic Relationship
 The analyst remains anonymous, and clients develop

 projections toward him/her. Focus is on reducing the resistances that

develop in

 working with transference and on establishing more rational control.

Clients undergo

 long-term analysis, engage in free association, to uncover conflicts,

and gain insight

 by talking. The analyst makes interpretations to teach them the

meaning of current

 behavior as related to the past.

z
Techniques of Therapy

 Interpretation, dream analysis, free association, analysis of

 resistance, analysis of transference. All are designed to help clients

gain access to

 their unconscious conflicts, which leads to insight and eventual

assimilation of new

 material by the ego. Diagnosis and testing are often used. Questions
are used to
 z
Psychoanalytic technique

Free Association
 This involves encouraging the individual in therapy to talk freely about
whatever comes to mind without any form of censorship or judgment
from the analyst. The therapist pays sharp attention to the individual's
free associations, listening for hidden meanings and slips of the tongue

 commonly known as Freudian slips, which may reveal unconscious

conflicts.

 The therapist also notes any interruptions in free association that could
signal the emergence of repressed, anxiety-arousing material
 z

 By identifying and interpreting unconscious material as it

emerges, the therapist helps the individual achieve deeper
insight

 In classical psychoanalysis, the individual would engage in free

association while lying on a couch with the analyst sitting
behind them, out of sight

 In recent approaches to psychoanalysis, the couch is no

longer considered an essential component of therapy
 z
Dream analysis

 Freud considered dreams to be “The royal road to the unconscious” and

a means for individuals to express unconscious desires and feelings too
threatening to bring up in conscious life.

 therefore, features prominently in psychoanalytic therapy. The person in

therapy is asked to report their dreams, saying whatever comes to mind
as they do. The therapist may then help them look beyond the obvious
meaning of the dream (manifest content), to the hidden and symbolic
meanings (latent content).
 z

 to reveal unconscious thoughts and intentions

 is a process where the client relates their dreams to

the counselor. The counselor
 interprets the obvious or manifest content and the
hidden meanings or latent content
 z
Resistance Analysis

 In psychoanalysis, resistance refers to unconscious attempts by

individuals to prevent anxiety-provoking material from entering
consciousness

 Examples of resistance include refusing to speak during therapy or

being habitually late for appointments. Although this resistance can
obstruct the therapeutic process, it can also provide valuable insight
into conflicts particularly troubling to the person in therapy. The therapist
can assist with identifying and overcoming resistance to help people
access and work through their unconscious conflicts
 z

 is a process where the client is encouraged to

attribute to counselor those
 issues that have caused difficulties with significant
authority figures in their lives. The counselor helps
 the client to gain insight by the conflicts and
feelings expressed
 z
Transference Analysis

 In psychoanalysis, the therapist functions as a "blank screen," allowing

individuals to transfer unconscious feelings that may have been directed
toward a significant person in their past, like a parent, onto the analyst

 the individual in therapy begins relating to the therapist in the same way
they related to people in their past, re-experiencing repressed emotions
associated with previous relationships

 The analyst does not try to prevent transference from occurring but can
interpret the meaning of these reactions to help the individual become
more aware of how past relationships could influence how they function in
the present.