ms4ed handout sample

Psychoanalytic Theory

“conscious becoming aware of the unconscious…”

EVAN POSTRADO
lhadieloccau@gmail.com
khinjin@rocketmail.com

PARTIDO STATE UNIVERSITY

History of Sigmund Freud     

·         Born in Moravia, on May 6, 1856

·         Age 10 entered high school

·         Age 17 entered medical school at the University of Vienna (as a student of neurology)

·         Lived 78 years practicing in Vienna, Austria and established a private practice for the treatment of nervous disorders.

·         Youngest daughter, Anna, became an important child psychoanalyst.

·         Died of cancer of the jaw on September 23, 1939, in London, England.

·         Father of the Psychoanalytic Theory/Legacy.

Definition of Psychoanalytic Theory

·         The whole of psychoanalytic theory is in fact built up on the perception of the resistance exerted by the patient when we try to make him conscious of his unconscious. (1950, Fodor and Gaynor, p.148)

·         Psychoanalytic personality theory emphasizes the roles of intrapsychic events (processes occurring in the mind), unconscious drives and early childhood development. (1990, Liebert and Spiegler, p. 43)

·         Childhood experiences, repressed erotic feelings, and unconscious conflicts can affect adult behavior. (1999, Friedman and Schustack, p. 62)

Freud’s View of the Person

·         Human nature is under the “dictatorship” of instinctual, unconscious, and irrational forces.

·         Human organisms are selfish beings, existing in a state of external and internal turmoil. (displaying aggressive and sexual excesses)

·         Dominated by forces outside of conscious control.

·         Humans are considered incapable of dealing with their own psychological problems.

Determinism VS Choice

·         All behavior is determined or caused by some force within the person.

·         Behavior has meaning (none occurs by chance).

·         Biological determinism vs. Psychological determinism - Freud emphasized psychological rather than biological “consciousness knows nothing of. . . neurons.”

·         Simplest examples of human behavior can be traced to psychological factors of which the person may be totally unaware. (Freudian Slips)

·         Structure of the id, ego and superego a am iceburg

Personality Structures

·         What lies beneath the surface of the unconscious mind. . .?

. . . Could it be the ID, EGO, and SUPEREGO (what all good psychoanalyst want to know)

The “ID”

·         According to Freud, we are born with our Id.  The id is an important part of our personality because as newborns, it allows us to get our basic needs met.  Freud believed that the id is based on our pleasure principle.  In other words, the id wants whatever feels good at the time, with no consideration for the reality of the situation. 

·         The id doesn't care about reality, about the needs of anyone else, only its own satisfaction. 

·         When the id wants something, nothing else is important.

·         The “ID” is the reservoir of instincts – powered by libido “sexual desire in the broadest sense.

o   Eros – represent energy for preserving one’s self             (love of self)

o   Thanatos  - towards destructiveness and death                 (aggressiveness is its most important function)

The “EGO”

·         Within the next three years, as the child interacts more and more with the world, the second part of the personality begins to develop.  Freud called this part the Ego.  The ego is based on the reality principle.  The ego understands that other people have needs and desires and that sometimes being impulsive or selfish can hurt us in the long run.  Its the ego's job to meet the needs of the id, while taking into consideration the reality of the situation

o   Reality principle – ego has the capacity to delay satisfaction of id’s demands that will allow gratification without harmful side effects.

o   Secondary process – intellectual operations (thinking, evaluating, planning, and decision making that test reality)

·         Ego serves as a bridge to reality (not totally conscious)

·         Considered the arm of the id rather than an entire entity.

·         The ego calls on various defense mechanisms in order to regain control over threatening id instincts.

The “Superego”

·         By the age of five, or the end of the phallic stage of development, the Superego develops.  The Superego is the moral part of us and develops due to the moral and ethical restraints placed on us by our caregivers.  Many equate the superego with the conscience as it dictates our belief of right and wrong.

·         Incorporates the norms and standards of society

·         Superego’s most important function – control id impulses, direct energy towards inhibiting id’s expression of sexual, aggressive and antisocial instincts.

·         Codes of right and wrong

o   Introjection – a process by which the personality incorporates the norms and standards of its culture

o   Morality principle -equivalent to conscience

o   Guilt – an intense feeling of regret over having done something wrong

o   Ego Ideal – pride and self respect through positive standards of internal representations of idealized parental figures.

www.freud-sigmund.com

5 STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT

·         ORAL STAGE

·         ANAL STAGE

·         PHALLIC STAGE

·         LATENCY STAGE

·         GENITAL STAGE

                               

·         Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) is probably the most well known theorist when it comes to the development of personality. Freud’s Stages of Psychosexual Development are, like other stage theories, completed in a predetermined sequence and can result in either successful completion or a healthy personality or can result in failure, leading to an unhealthy personality. This theory is probably the best known as well as the most controversial; as Freud believed that we develop through stages based upon a particular erogenous zone. During each stage, an unsuccessful completion means that a child becomes fixated on that particular erogenous zone and either over– or under-indulges once he or she becomes an adult.

Oral Stage

(Narcissistic – Self Centered)

·         Oral Stage (Birth to 18 months). During the oral stage, the child is focused on oral pleasures (sucking). Too much or too little gratification can result in an Oral Fixation or Oral Personality which is evidenced by a preoccupation with oral activities. This type of personality may have a stronger tendency to smoke, drink alcohol, over eat, or bite his or her nails. Personality wise, these individuals may become overly dependent upon others, gullible, and perpetual followers. On the other hand, they may also fight these urges and develop pessimism and aggression toward others.

o   oral receptive – interested in receiving information,        acquiring material goods, fond of sweets, smoking, and        oral sex. Obesity stems from oral receptiveness.

o   oral aggressive – pleasures associated with the mouth   with emphasis on chewing and biting. They may be put         down artist and the manner of speaking is sarcastic and                argumentative.

               

Anal Stage

·         Anal Stage (18 months to three years). The child’s focus of pleasure in this stage is on eliminating and retaining feces. Through society’s pressure, mainly via parents, the child has to learn to control anal stimulation. In terms of personality, after effects of an anal fixation during this stage can result in an obsession with cleanliness, perfection, and control (anal retentive). On the opposite end of the spectrum, they may become messy and disorganized (anal expulsive).

Phallic Stage

·         Phallic Stage (ages three to six). The pleasure zone switches to the genitals. Freud believed that during this stage boys develop unconscious sexual desires for their mother. Because of this, he becomes rivals with his father and sees him as competition for the mother’s affection. During this time, boys also develop a fear that their father will punish them for these feelings, such as by castrating them. This group of feelings is known as Oedipus Complex ( after the Greek Mythology figure who accidentally killed his father and married his mother).

Case Studies

·         Wolfman- followed up for over 60 years and died in 1979-suffered from recurrent attacks of depression and obsessional symptoms from early childhood onward-fear of wolves originated from a dream that he had when he was four years old where 6 white wolves were sitting on branches outside of his bedroom window-Freud concluded: that by witnessing his parents in a “primal scene” of intercourse at one and a half years old that this was the cause of his neurosis-Freud claimed that he was “splintered up” sexually by viewing this early experience-Wolfman in an interview when he was 87 years old didn’t think much of the interpretation of the dream and stated that he thought it was “somehow far-fetched” (Storr, 1994 p.104-106)

·         Anna O.-real name was Bertha Pappenheim and was the patient of Freud’s friend and colleague Josef Bruer-she was claimed to be distorted, disoriented, and twisted in many ways-displayed paralysis of the limbs as well as a refusal to drink, inability to eat, a nervous cough, and multiple personality-on occasion she communicated only in English even though her native language was German-vision was restricted and head posture unusual at times-Freud concluded: symptoms related to the circumstances of her sick father, whom she nursed and to whom she was devoted (Allen, 2003 p.31)-Freud surmised that cases such as Anna O.’s were examples of how symptoms were isolated from a patients consciousness and outside of a patients control

Headline News

                According to Freud, Lorena Bobbit was suffering from penis envy. She was forced to have an abortion, and was sexually abused by her husband regularly. In an effort to recapture the penis that denied her birth, she acted upon a female desire for feelings of strength and self worth that men have by virtue of their male anatomy.

Latency Stage

·         Latency Stage (age six to puberty). It’s during this stage that sexual urges remain repressed and children interact and play mostly with same sex peers.

·         Sexual energy is channeled into such activities as going to school and making friends.

·         According to Freud, latency involves massive repression of sexual, as well as, anal impulses.

Genital Stage

·         Genital Stage (puberty on).

·        The final stage of psychosexual development begins at the start of puberty when sexual urges are once again awakened. Through the lessons learned during the previous stages, adolescents direct their sexual urges onto opposite sex peers, with the primary focus of pleasure is the genitals.

Defense Mechanisms

From the onset the ego has to try to fulfill its task of acting as an intermediary between the id and the external world in the service of the pleasure principle, to protect the id from the dangers of the external world. .. In this battle on two fronts. . . The ego makes use of various methods of fulfilling its task, i.e. to put it in general terms, of avoiding danger, anxiety and displeasure.

Defense Mechanisms Terms

·         Repression –

o   pushes threatening thoughts back into the unconscious (i.e. Post traumatic stress)

·         Reaction Formation –

o    process of pushing threatening impulses by overemphasizing the opposite in one’s thoughts and actions (i.e. T.V. evangelist Jim Baker)

·         Denial –

o   refusing to acknowledge anxiety-provoking stimuli (Not usually seen in adults except in such of severe stress or pain)

·         Projection –

o    anxiety-arousing impulses are externalized by placing them, or projecting them, onto others (A person’s inner threats are attributed to those around them)

·         Displacement –

o    shifting of the target of one’s unconscious fears or desires (i.e. Man who when humiliated by his boss, goes home and beats his children and kicks the dog.)

·         Sublimation –

o    transforming of dangerous urges into positive, socially acceptable motivations (i.e. Freud argued that Leonardo Da Vinci’s genius arose from his sublimation of sexual energies into a passion for scientific creativity and discovery.)

·         Regression –

o    a return to an earlier safer stage of our lives (i.e. Anxious adult who begins whimpering like a child searching for maternal care or a distraught man may try to curl up to his wife’s breast)

·         Rationalization –

o   “After the fact” logical explanations for behaviors that were actually driven by internal unconscious motives (i.e. Rather than admit that we moved across the state to be near a sexy lover, we may explain to others or ourselves that we were looking for a better job opportunity)

Healthy vs Unhealthy Personality

·         In a healthy person, according to Freud, the ego is the strongest so that it can satisfy the needs of the id, not upset the superego, and still take into consideration the reality of every situation.  Not an easy job by any means, but if the id gets too strong, impulses and self gratification take over the person's life.  If the superego becomes too strong, the person would be driven by rigid morals, would be judgmental and unbending in his or her interactions with the world. 

Etiology of healthy vs. unhealthy personality

·         Freud's psychoanalytic theory, coming as it did at the turn of the century, provided a radically new approach to the analysis and treatment of "abnormal" adult behavior. Earlier views tended to ignore behavior and look for a physiological explanation of "abnormality". Novelty of Freud's approach was in recognizing that neurotic behavior is not random or meaningless but goal-directed. Thus, by looking for the purpose behind so-called "abnormal" behavioral patterns, the analyst was given a method for understanding behavior as meaningful and informative, without denying its physiological aspects.

·         What is happening in this process -- though the stages overlap, and should not be seen as a strict sequence -- is a gradual organization of the libidinal drives, but one still centered on the child's own body. The drives themselves are extremely flexible, in no sense fixed like biological instinct: their objects are contingent and replaceable, and one sexual drive can substitute for another. What we can imagine in the early years of the child's life, then, is not a unified subject confronting and desiring a stable object, but a complex, shifting field of force in which the subject (the child itself) is caught up and dispersed, in which it has as yet no centre of identity and in which the boundaries between itself and the external world are indeterminate. Within this field of libidinal force, objects and part-objects emerge and disappear again, shift places kaleidoscopically, and prominent among such objects is the child's body as the play of drives laps across it.

Psychoanalysis “The Process”

·         Personality change occurs through patients’ discovering and understanding the underlying cause of their behavior

·         Present behaviors and motives are based on early childhood adjustment problems and conflicts

·         Interpretations of “free association and dreams” are viewed as valuable sources of unconscious material

·         Patients must learn past problems and conflicts are not relevant to their lives and therefore unrealistic guides for their present behavior

Strengths Of the Psychoanalytic Approach

·         Emphasizes the effects of patterns established early in life on personality development.

·         Attempts to understand unconscious forces.

·         Considers defense mechanisms as an essential aspect of personality.

·         Assumes multiple levels are operations in the brain.

·         Limitations of the Psychoanalytic Approach

·         Pessimistic overemphasis on early experiences and destructive inner urges

·         Relatively unconcerned with interpersonal relations or with the individual’s identity and adaptation throughout life

·         Difficult to test empirically

·         Many ideas have been discredited by more modern research on the brain

·         Assumes any deviation from heterosexual relation is pathological

·         Focuses on male behavior as the norm and female behavior as a deviation

References

·         Allen, B.P. (2003). Personality Theories , 4^th edition. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

·         Breger, L. (2000). Freud: In the Midst of Darkness. New York:John Wiley and Sons, Inc.

·         Fodor, N. & Gaynor, F. (1950). Freud: Dictionary of Psychoanalysis. New York: The Philosophical Library, Inc.

Websites

·“The Psychoanalytic Theory (Terms and Concepts)” www.brocku.ca/english/courses/4f70/terms.html

·         “The Psychoanalytic Theory of Emotions” http://member.aol.com/donjohnr/sketch.html

· “Eddy M. Elmer Psychoanalytic Theory Personality Adjustment” www.3.telus.net/eddyelmer/Tools/freud3.html

· “Brief Introduction to Psychoanalysis” http://homepage.newschool.edu/~quiqleyt/vcs/psychoanalysis.html