Psychoanalysis Presentation notes for revision

lecture notes

1. Introduction Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) His family background influenced his theory Experienced severe emotional problems Explored meaning of his dreams, gave him insight to personality development Childhood hostility toward his father - authoritarian Childhood sexual feelings for his mother – attractive, loving, and protective His theory emerged from the clinical treatment of his patients Had little tolerance for people who did not agree with him Freud theorized that many of his patients’ problems arose from the unconscious mind.

2. Psychoanalytic theory focuses on the role of a person’s unconscious, as well as early childhood experiences, and this particular perspective dominated clinical psychology for several decades (Thorne & Henley

3. Key Concepts The view of human nature Structure of personality Consciousness and unconsciousness Anxiety Ego defense mechanisms Psychosexual stages of personality development

4. 1. View of Human Nature Deterministic Instincts – life (libido) and death (thanatos) Instincts are for survival of individual and human race (sexual?) Life goal – gaining pleasure and avoiding pain Death instincts – aggressiveness: hurting self and others; challenge to all Behavior determined by sexual and aggressive drives

5. Freud c oncluded that all instincts fall into one of two major classes: life instincts or death instincts LIFE INSTICTS (EROS) referred to as sexual instincts, the life instincts are those which deal with basic survival, pleasure, and reproduction. They are essential for sustaining the life of the individual as well as the continuation of the species. While we tend to think of life instincts in terms of sexual procreation, these drives also include such things as thirst, hunger, and pain avoidance. The energy created by the life instincts is known as libido DEATH INSTINCT (THANATOS)  Freud believed that people typically channel their death instincts outwards. Aggression E.G arises from the death instincts. Range of behaviors that can result in both physical and psychological harm to yourself, others, or objects in the environment.

6. 2. Structure of Personality

7. Structure of Personality Consists 3 energy systems that function as a whole: Id – biological component Ego - psychological Superego – social Behavior determined by how psychic energy is distributed either to the id, ego, or superego

8. ID Original – all id at birth It is primitive part of the mind that seek immediate gratification of instinctual needs ; the natural or unlearned needs, such as hunger, thirst, sex, that act instantaneously without giving much thought to what is right and what is wrong. Seat of instincts No organization, blind, demanding and insistent Operates on pleasure principle - increasing pleasure and avoiding pain Is selfish, pleasure-seeking, can’t tolerate tension, primitive, illogical, unprincipled etc Never matures, only wishes/acts Unconscious/out of awareness

9. Ego C.E.O. – governs, controls and regulate personality Mediates instincts and external world of reality Operates on reality principle – realistic and logical thinking Seat of intelligence and rationality – controls blind id It balances the demands of Id and super-ego in the context of real life situations. Ego is conscious and hence keep a check on Id through a proper reasoning of an external environment.

10. Superego Judicial system – moral codes: is action good or bad, right or wrong? It acts as an ethical constraint on behavior and helps an individual to develop his conscience Ideal rather than real; strives for perfection, not pleasure Represents internalization of parental and societal values and standards Rewards and punishment Can lead to moral anxiety (shame and guilt always) for failing to reach standards no human can meet

11. Conscious and Unconscious Consciousness and Unconscious are crucial in understanding behavior and personality problems. In consciousness one is aware of their feelings and emotions. Pre-conscious is the memory where one has material, which can be accessed if needed, unconscious stores all memories, experiences and repressed materials. The unconscious influences behaviors. The unconscious can not be studied directly but inferred from behavior. Clinical evidence for postulating the unconscious includes the following : (1) dreams which are symbolic representation of unconscious needs, wishes and conflicts (2) slips of the tongue, and forgetting e.g. a familiar name (3) posthypnotic suggestions (4) material derived from free association techniques (5) material derived from projective techniques

12. Anxiety Tension that motivate us to act, warns us about danger It develops out of a conflict among the id, ego, and superego over the control of available psychic energy. Feeling of dread due to repressed feelings, memories, desires and experiences 3 types of anxiety: Reality anxiety - fear of tangible dangers in the real world Neurotic anxiety - fear that instincts will get out of control and cause one to do something for which one will be punished Moral anxiety - fear of going against one’s conscience (guilt for going against own moral code) If ego can’t control anxiety logically and directly, it relies on indirect ones i.e. ego-defense mechanisms

13. Ego-Defense Mechanisms Defense mechanisms arise from anxiety when the Ego is out of control . Strategies the ego uses to defend itself against the anxiety provoked by the conflicts of everyday life Help individual cope with anxiety and prevent the ego from being overwhelmed  Involve denials or distortions of reality and operates on unconscious level Include: repression, denial, reaction formation, projection, displacement, rationalization, sublimation, regression, introjection, identification, and compensation

14. Defense Mechanisms Repression: It is the basis of many other defenses through which threatening or painful thoughts and feelings are excluded from awareness. Repression is an involuntary removal of something from consciousness. Denial: It is a way of distorting what the individual thinks feels or perceives in a traumatic situation. It consists of defending against anxiety by “closing one’s eyes” to the existence of threatening reality.

15. Defense Mechanisms Con’t Reaction Formation : one defense against a threatening impulse is to actively express the opposite impulse e.g. individuals may conceal hate with a facade of love. Projection: Another mechanism of self-deception consists of attributing to other people one’s own unacceptable attitudes, desires or impulses. Accusing others of what is in you

16. Defense Mechanisms Con’t Displacement: Redirecting impulses from a threatening object or person to a safer one e.g. relenting anger on one who has not wronged you, a meek man who feels intimidated by his boss comes home and unloads inappropriate hostility onto his children. Rationalization: False reasons are put to justify unacceptable attitude e.g. false belief that someone deserves punishment provides justification for hurting that person.

17. Defense Mechanisms Con’t Sublimation: Redirection of undesirable behavior to a constructive behavior e.g. sporting activates. Regression : involves going back to earlier phase of development when there were fewer demands. In the face of severe stress or challenge, individuals may attempt to cope with anxiety by clinging to immature and inappropriate behavior e.g. children who are frighten in school may indulge in infantile behavior such as weeping, excessive dependence, hiding, or clinging to the teacher.

18. Defense Mechanisms Con’t Introjections: Taking in and “swallowing” the values and standards of others e.g. in concentration camps some of the prisoners dealt with overwhelming anxiety by accepting the values of the enemy through identification with aggressor. Identification : identification can enhance self-worth and protect one from a sense of being a failure. Thus people who feel basically inferior may identify themselves with successful, organizations, or people in the hope that they will be perceived as worth.

19. Defense Mechanisms Con’t Compensation : compensation consists of masking perceived weakness or developing certain traits to make up for limitations. This mechanism can have direct adjustive value, and it can also be an attempt by the person to say “don’t see the ways in which I am inferior, but see me in my accomplishments”.

20. Psychosexual Stages of Personality Development Controversial contribution Argued that the adult personality is formed by experiences from the first 6 years of life Sometimes a person is reluctant or unable to move from one stage to the next due to unresolved conflict – brings about fixation at a particular stage of development Fixated individuals behave in psychologically immature ways later on in life According to Freud, the unresolved conflicts from the first 3 stages is what bring people to counseling 5 stages – oral, anal, phallic, latency and genital

21. PSYCHOSEXUAL STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT Oral Stage – (0 – 1 year) Anal Stage – (1 – 3 Years) Phallic Stage – (3 – 5 Years) Latency Stage – ( 5 to Puberty) Genital Stage – (Puberty on)

22. Oral Stage- first year of life Principal source of pleasure is the mouth Infant derives pleasure from sucking, biting, and swallowing Oral fixation is due to deprivation of oral gratification Problems that can arise include: mistrust of self and others, fear of loving and inability to form intimate relationships, low self-esteem

23. Anal Stage: 1 – 3 years Anal region becomes the most important erogenous zone during this period - stage of toilet training Child learning independence, personal power, expressing negative feelings like rage and aggression If not negotiated properly, an individual ends up with inability to recognize and express anger, leads to denial of own power and lack of a sense of autonomy

24. Phallic Stage: 3 – 6 years the penis/clitoris becomes the most important erogenous zone Pleasure is derived from the genital region not only through masturbation, but also through fantasies Oedipus and Electra complexes If not properly handled individual end up with inability to accept his sexuality and sexual feelings, and also difficulty in accepting oneself as a man or woman

25. Latency Stage: 6 – 12 years Relatively dormant stage Sexual interests replaced by interest is school, playmates, sports and other activities This is a time of socialization as child turns outward and forms friendship with mostly members of the same sex

26. Genital Stage: 12 years onwards if no major fixations have occurred at an earlier stage of development, the individual may be able to lead a normal life The sexual energy pressing for expression in the teenage years can be at least partially satisfied through the pursuit of socially acceptable substitutes like forming friends, engaging in art or sports, and preparing for career (sublimation)

27. Psychoanalytic Therapy Goals

28. Psychoanalytic Therapy Goals 1. Make unconscious conscious 2. Strengthen the ego so that behavior is based on reality and less on instincts or irrational guilt Deeper level probing of past to develop understanding of one self in order to change one’s character Childhood experiences are discussed, reconstructed, interpreted, and analyzed Therapist – blank-screen approach Transference – projection/transfer of feelings to therapist

29. Therapist Role and Function Classical analysts typically assume an anonymous stance, which is sometimes called “the blank screen” approach. They engage in very little disclosure and maintain a sense of neutrality(not taking sides), because they are attempting to foster a transference relationship, in which their clients will make projections onto them. These projections have their origins in unfinished and repressed situations, are considered “grist for the mill” and their analysis is the very essence of therapeutic work.

30. Therapeutic Techniques and Procedures

31. Maintaining Analytical Framework: (contract) anonymity, regular and consistent meetings, starting and ending sessions on time etc Interpretation: pointing out, explaining, and teaching the client the meanings of behavior manifested in dreams, free association, resistances, and in therapy relationship. The therapist must be guided by a sense of the client’s readiness to consider the interpretation. The therapist uses the client’s reactions as a gauge when the material is close to conscious awareness.

32. Free association – say whatever comes in mind regardless of how painful, silly, insignificant, illogical, or irrelevant it may be; door to unconscious, motivation that leads to release of intense feelings (catharsis) that have been blocked off.

33. Dream Analysis : During sleep defenses are lowered and repressed feelings surface. Dreams are the “royal road to the unconscious” for in them one’s unconscious wishes, needs and fears are expressed. Interpreting the meaning of dream elements by the therapist helps clients unlock the repression that has kept the material from consciousness and relate the new insight to the present struggles.

34. Contributions of Psychoanalytic Approach The psychoanalytic approach provides practitioners conceptual framework for looking at behavior and for understanding the origins and functions of symptoms. In addition, applying psychoanalytic point of view to therapy practice is particularly useful in; Understanding resistances that take the form of canceling appointments, fleeing from therapy prematurely, and refusing to look at oneself.

35. Limitations The anonymous role of the therapist is restrictive. Lack of trained analysts because of the time involved in their training. Many analytic techniques are limited in their application. The majority of the clients with symptoms of mental disturbance lack the level of ego strength needed for “transference-neurosis” treatment; The approach manipulates clients so as to bring about transference.