Psychoanalysis Theory

Sigmund Freud’s development of psychoanalysis was followed on the heels of the work of Breuer, and
others who came before him. Freud reasoned that if hysterical symptoms could be made disappear or
appear through hypnosis, they must be psychological in origin. He concluded that whatever
psychological give rise to hysteria, they must lie outside the range of conscious awareness. Freud’s
theoretical model was the first major model of psychological model of abnormal behavior. Freud
believed that consciousness had three levels –

consciousness which was the seat of our awareness,

preconscious that included all of our sensations, thoughts, memories, and feelings, and

the unconscious which was not available to us.

Structure of Personality

According to Freud, our personality has three parts – the id, superego, and ego, and from these, our
behavior arises.

First, the id is the impulsive part that expresses our sexual and aggressive instincts. It is present at
birth, completely unconscious, and operates on the pleasure principle, resulting in our selfishly
seeking immediate gratification of our needs no matter what the cost. Freud saw the id’s energy as
biological, and he called that energy libido.

The second part of personality emerges after birth with early formative experiences and is called
the ego. The ego attempts to mediate the desires of the id against the demands of reality, and
eventually the moral limitations or guidelines of the superego. It operates on the reality principle, or
an awareness of the need to adjust behavior to meet the demands of our environment.

The last part of personality to develop is the superego which represents society’s expectations, moral
standards, rules, and represents our conscience. It leads us to adopt our parent’s values as we come
to realize that many of the id’s impulses are unacceptable. Still, we violate these values at times which
lead to feelings of guilt. The superego is partly conscious but mostly unconscious.

The three parts of personality generally work together well and compromise, leading to a healthy
personality, but if conflicts among these components are not resolved, intrapsychic conflicts can arise
and lead to mental disorders.

Defense Mechanisms

The ego has a challenging job to fulfill, balancing both the will of the id and the superego, and the
overwhelming anxiety and panic this creates. Defense mechanisms are in place to protect us from this
pain but are considered maladaptive if they are misused and become our primary way of dealing with
stress. They protect us from anxiety and operate unconsciously, also distorting reality. Defense
mechanisms include the following:

Repression – when unacceptable ideas, wishes, desires, or memories are blocked from consciousness
such as forgetting a horrific car accident that you caused. Eventually, though, it must be dealt with or
else the repressed memory can cause problems later in life.
Denial – Sometimes life is so hard all we can do is deny how bad it is. An example is denying a
diagnosis of lung cancer given by your doctor.

Projection – When we attribute threatening desires or unacceptable motives to others. An example is

when we do not have the skills necessary to complete a task but we blame the other members of our
group for being incompetent and unreliable. Another example is projecting your feelings of love
toward your therapist onto your therapist, believing he/she is in love with you.

Displacement – When we satisfy an impulse with a different object because focusing on the primary
object may get us in trouble. A classic example is taking out your frustration with your boss on your
wife and/or kids when you get home. If we lash out at our boss we could be fired. The substitute
target is less dangerous than the primary target.

Reaction formation – When an impulse is repressed and then expressed by its opposite. As an
example, if we are angry with our boss but cannot lash out at him/her, we may be overly friendly
instead. Another example is having lustful thoughts about a coworker that you cannot express
because you are married, and so you are mean to this person.

Regression – When we move from a mature behavior to one that is infantile in nature. If your
significant other is nagging you, you might regress and point your hands over your ears and say, “La la
la la la la la la…”

Rationalization – When we offer well thought out reasons for why we did what we did but in reality,
these are not the real reason. Students sometimes rationalize not doing well in a class by stating that
they really are not interested in the subject or saying the instructor writes impossible to pass tests
when in reality they are not putting enough effort into learning the material.

Sublimation – When we find a socially acceptable way to express a desire. If we are stressed out or
upset, we may go to the gym and box or lift weights. A person who desires to cut things may become
a surgeon.

Psychosocial Development

Freud’s psychosexual stages of personality development are listed below. Freud proposed that a
person may become fixated at any stage, meaning they become stuck, thereby affecting later
development and possibly leading to abnormal functioning, or psychopathology.

Oral Stage – Beginning at birth and lasting to 24 months, the libido is focused on the mouth and sexual
tension is relieved by sucking and swallowing at first, and then later by chewing and biting as baby
teeth come in. Fixation is linked to a lack of confidence, argumentativeness, and sarcasm.

Anal Stage – Lasting from 2-3 years, the libido is focused on the anus as toilet training occurs. If
parents are too lenient children may become messy or unorganized. If parents are too strict, children
may become obstinate, stingy, or orderly.

Phallic Stage – Occurring from about age 3 to 5-6 years, the libido is focused on the genitals. The
Oedipus complex develops in boys and results in the son falling in love with his mother while fearing
that his father will find out and castrate him. Meanwhile, girls fall in love with the father and fear that
their mother will find out, called the Electra complex. A fixation at this stage may result in low self-
esteem, feelings of worthlessness, and shyness.

Latency Stage – From 6-12 years of age, children lose interest in sexual behavior and boys play with
boys and girls with girls. Neither sex pays much attention to the opposite sex.

Genital Stage – Beginning at puberty, sexual impulses reawaken and unfulfilled desires from infancy
and childhood can be satisfied with sex.

Psychodynamic Techniques.

Freud used three primary assessment techniques as part of psychoanalysis, or psychoanalytic therapy,
to understand the personalities of his patients and to expose repressed material, which included free
association, transference, and dream analysis.

First, free association involves the patient describing whatever comes to mind during the session. The
patient continues but always reaches a point when he/she cannot or will not proceed any further. The
patient might change the subject, stop talking, or lose his/her train of thought. Freud said this
was resistance and revealed where issues were.

Second, transference is the process through which patients transfer to the therapist attitudes he/she
held during childhood. They may be positive and include friendly, affectionate feelings, or negative,
and include hostile and angry feelings. The goal of therapy is to wean patients from their childlike
dependency on the therapist.

Finally, Freud used dream analysis to understand a person’s innermost wishes. The content of dreams
include the person’s actual retelling of the dreams called manifest content, and the hidden or
symbolic meaning called latent content. In terms of the latter, some symbols are linked to the person
specifically while others are common to all people.

Neo-Freudian Psychodynamic Perspective

Neo-Freudian psychologists were thinkers who agreed with many of the fundamental tenets of
Freud's psychoanalytic theory but changed and adapted the approach to incorporate their own
beliefs, ideas, and opinions. Some of these individuals were initially part of Freud's inner circle
including Carl Jung and Alfred Adler.

Carl Jung (1875-1961)

Freud and Jung once had a close friendship, but Jung broke away to form his own ideas. Jung referred
to his theory of personality as analytical psychology, and he introduced the concept of the collective
unconscious. He described this as a universal structure shared by all members of the same species
containing all of the instincts and archetypes that influence human behavior. Jung still placed great
emphasis on the unconscious, but his theory placed a higher emphasis on his concept of the collective
unconscious rather than the personal unconscious. Like many of the other neo-Freudians, Jung also
focused less on sex than did Freud.

Alfred Adler (1870-1937)

Adler believed that Freud's theories focused too heavily on sex as the primary motivator for human
behavior. Instead, Adler placed a lesser emphasis on the role of the unconscious and a greater focus
on interpersonal and social influences. His approach, known as individual psychology, was centered
on the drive that all people have to compensate for their feelings of inferiority. The inferiority
complex, he suggested, was a person's feelings and doubts that they do not measure up to other
people or to society's expectations.

Continuing Influences of Freud and His Followers

Freud’s original ideas and methods have been heavily criticized over years. Though perhaps not as
influential as it was before, Freud and his followers continues to have an impact on the field of
psychopathology. This influence is most evident in the following three commonly held asssumptions:

What happens to us as kids affects us as adults.

Some influences on behavior are outside of our awareness.

Often the cause and purpose of human behavior not obvious