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Freud: Psychoanalysis

Psychoanalytic Approaches
Prototypical psychoanalytic theories
unconscious process; conflicting mental processes; compromises among competing psychological tendencies; defense and self-deception; the influence of the past on current functioning; enduring effects of early interpersonal patterns; role of instincts, motives, wishes, and fears

Overview
Freuds life may be a classic example of psychoanalytic theory or perhaps, psychoanalytic theory is a classic metaphor for Freuds life. Grew up in Vienna Trained as a physician Grant to study hypnosis in Paris Developed first non-biological theory of hysteria with Breuer

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Breuer and Anna O

Breuers Influence
Freuds primary mentor in the application of hypnosis to hysteria. Argued that hysteria is the result of a traumatic experience that cannot be integrated into the persons understanding of the world.
Developed chimney sweeping/ the talking cure Theorized that repressed emotions manifest in symptoms of hysteria
Catharsis (cleansing)

Freud broke from Breuer by proposing that secret sexual desires caused hysteria
The sexual seduction hypothesis

Biography of Freud: 1856-1939

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Mother (Amalia, 20) & Father (Jakob, 40)

Jakobs stepsons were the age of his wife

Favorite child of his mother

Unavailable due to illness

Hostile/cold relationship with father Sibling rivalry

Life Continued:

Topographic Model of Mind

Unconscious
Repression Phylogenetic endowment

The Preconscious
The preconscious contains all elements that are not in awareness, but that can become conscious either easily or with some level of difficulty.
Conscious perception & unconscious

The Conscious
Perceptual conscious system & transformed material

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Structural Model of Mind

Id basic, primitive instincts & wishes
2 basic instincts: Libido (sexual) and Thanatos (aggression)
Freud viewed Libido as primary source of psychic energy

pleasure principle primary process (basic and instinctual)

Ego demands of reality

secondary process, brings the id into contact with reality. reality principle

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Id it
Innate survival mechanism Instincts, desires, wants focuses attention on meeting basic needs Pleasure Principle immediate & constant gratification (no regard for reality) Primary Process basic and instinctual
Translation from need to which

Features: Irrational, illogical, self-serving, amoral, driven by hedonism, provides motivation/energy

Ego
Arises as the infant interacts with the world
Differentiation of self and world/other

Reality Principle reconciles the demands of the id with reality

Later reconciles demands of superego with reality

Secondary process controls the id + engages in active problem solving

How can I meet my needs in this situation?

Key features: Control, delayed gratification, learning, driven by reason, problem solving!
Seek pleasure (meet needs) while avoiding pain/punishment

Superego
Moral standards of parents and society
Moral and ethical restraints/controls
Beliefs or right and wrong Develops by around age 5 (end of phallic stage)

Idealistic principle what we should and should not do (2 subsystems)

The conscience- avoid punishment
Guilt violate the standards/expectations of others

The ego-ideal- get praise and rewards

Shame violate own standards Inferiority personal standards of perfection

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Drive-Instinct and Energy Models

Mental processes must be powered by energy and that this energy must follow the same laws as other forms of energy.
Closed system model Dualistic instinct theory: (libido & aggression)

The Dynamics of Personality

Instincts- somatic demands on the mind that motivate the individual to fulfill needs Life-instincts- motivate survival of the species
Unmet needs produce tension!
Tension motivates action

The Sexual Instinct Libido (I desire) The destructive/death instinct- Thanatos

Can be directed inward or outward (aggression)

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Freuds Dynamic Forces

Dynamic forces motivate personality
Instincts- mental representations of needs
When unmet instincts produce tension!

Two primary instincts

The Sexual or Life Instinct Libido (I desire) The destructive/death instinct- Thanatos

Id wants immediate gratification of sexual and aggressive impulses Conflict with ego (and with society) Results in the formation of defense mechanisms
Push aversive instincts outside awareness.

Libido & Thanatos

Libido
Seeks pleasure through erogenous zones
Mouth, anus, genitals Object is anything that brings about pleasure

Thanatos/ death instinct

Return to inorganic state/nothingness Nirvana principle

Constant tension between these 2 instincts

Anxiety
Represents a signal to the ego 3 types:
Realistic (fear)- Ego Moral (shame & guilt)- Superego Neurotic fear of being overwhelmed by id impulses (losing control)

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Intrapsychic Conflict

Defense Mechanisms
unconscious mental strategies employed by the ego to protect the individual from the pain of anxiety by transforming the content of material as represented in conscious awareness

DEFENSE denial displacement intellectualization projection rationalization reaction formation regression repression sublimation suppression

DESCRIPTION arguing against an anxiety provoking stimuli by stating it doesn't exist taking out impulses on a less threatening target avoiding unacceptable emotions by focusing on the intellectual aspects placing unacceptable impulses in yourself onto someone else supplying a logical or rational reason as opposed to the real reason taking the opposite belief because the true belief causes anxiety returning to a previous stage of development pulling into the unconscious acting out unacceptable impulses in a socially acceptable way pushing into the unconscious

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Psychosexual Development
Each drive/instinct has:
a source (a body zone) An instinctual aim (discharge) An object (something with which to satisfy it).

Stages are metaphors for the childs evolving quest for pleasure and realization of the limitations of pleasure seeking.
As the twig is bent, so grows the tree

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The Oral Stage

First 18 months of life: Driven by pleasure principle Erogenous zone is the mouth
Infant receives pleasure from
Sucking, Swallowing, Biting

Frustration is weaning Successful resolution = trust and optimism Oral fixation = dependency

The Anal Stage

1 to 3 years of age Primary task is toilet training
ego reconciles id

Erogenous zone is the anus-buttocks region Psychological theme: self-control

Pleasure comes from
Bowel movements Holding it in

Anal-retentive character Anal-expulsive character

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The Phallic Stage

Age 3 5 Oedipal/Electra Complex (superego develops) Pleasure comes from penis/clitoris (focus) Theme: gender roles Oedipal Complex (Boys)
Castration anxiety Identification with the aggressor (father)

Electra Complex (Girls)

Penis envy Blames mother

Latency Period
6 to puberty: Oedipus complex repressed Sexual energy sublimated
repression of sexuality in favor of intellectual development

Genital Stage
Sexual interest begins to focus on members of opposite sex Aimed toward reproduction More investment of psychic energy in external object-choices rather than own body (theme)
Sexual partner Children, social interests

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Psychosexual Stages
Infantile Period Oral Phase Anal Phase Phallic Phase Latency Period Genital Period
0 5 yrs 0-18 mos 18m 3 yr

Conflict
weaning Toilet training Oedipus or Electra conflict Sublimation of libido

Result
trust Restraint/ self-control Superego development Learning/ socialization

3- 5

5 - puber Adol.

Reawakening of Romantic libido relationships

Abandoning the Seduction Hypothesis

Four Reasons
Theory didnt work for treatment Many men would be accused of sexual perversions Unconscious could not distinguish reality from fantasy
Oedipus & Electra complex

Unconscious memories failed to reveal childhood sexual experiences

Applications of Psychoanalytic Theory

Dream Analysis
Royal road to the unconscious
Reduced restraints during sleep Dreams are symbolic representations of unconscious conflicts or impulses

Freudian Slips (parapraxes)

Analyzed verbal content
Misstatements, slips of the tongue or pen, incorrect hearings, misplacing objects, temporary forgetting

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Application Continued
Projective Tests:
Designed to reveal unconscious material Patient interprets ambiguous stimuli

Projective Hypothesis:
Under conditions of assigning meaning to ambiguous stimuli a persons unconscious motives will become manifest.

Example: Rorschach Inkblot Test

Other Projective Tests

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) Rotter Incomplete Sentence Blank Kinetic House-Tree-Person Drawings Problems:
Highly subjective scoring Poor psychometrics (reliability & validity)

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Psychoanalytic Therapy
Goal is to make the unconscious conscious
Where id was, there shall be ego

To remove symptoms, often somatic, you must help the patient become conscious of their resistance to letting go of the symptoms
Gradually recognize that early life impulses as children are not as dangerous as initially thought.

Use conscious processes to release developmental fixations so that normal development may resume.
Working through conflict

Freud Museum: Analytic Chair

Therapeutic process
Patient free association looses defenses
Dreams, childhood memories,

Catharsis emergence of emotion associated with unconscious material. Treatment provides insight (insight oriented) Transference patient develops relationship with therapist based on unconscious projections from childhood
Father figure

Countertransference analysts emotional reactions to the patient

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Freud Museum: Waiting room

Therapeutic Themes
Key principles:
Symptoms caused by unconscious material Analyst must bring to light this material
Overcome patients resistance
Defense mechanisms and anxieties

Analyst is the expert Patient is unable to report on his or her experience

Criticisms of Psychoanalysis
Treats people as passive victims of pathological forces Undermines active effort and responsibility Places expertise over experience Insensitive to role of social factors in causing psychopathology

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Critique of the Theory

Falsifiability low Internal consistency low Organizing knowledge average Guiding action/treatment average Parsimony average Generating research - high

Concept of Humanity
Deterministic and pessimistic
Early experiences dictate

Causality over teleology Unconscious determinants Biology over culture

Vienna Circle

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