Chapter 2

SIGMUND FREUD, THE FATHER OF

PSYCHOANALYSIS
PSYCHOANALYTIC APPROACH
Sigmund Freud (1856 –1939)
 Emphasized the unconscious processes of
the mind
 Developed therapeutic techniques such as
the use of free association
 The start of talk therapy.
Work with Josef Breuer
Patient Anna O
•Hypnosis
Trance-like state in which focus and
concentration are heightened
oIndividual is more suggestible
•Transference
Redirection of patient’s feelings
towards therapist
•Countertransference
Redirection of therapist’s feelings
towards patient
 WORK WITH JEAN-MARTIN CHARCOT
Hysteria
A mental disorder characterized by
emotional excitability, sometimes by
amnesia or a physical deficit, such as
paralysis, or a sensory deficit,
without an organic cause

Free Association
Technique in which person is encouraged to freely speak all
uncensored thoughts/feelings that come to mind
DREAM ANALYSIS
Manifest content Latent content
 What the dream is  the underlying hidden
apparently about meaning of a dream
 Description of the dream  What the dream is really
 the content of a dream that about
a person remembers  What it symbolizes

Wish Fulfillment – symbolic expression of a wish that could not

be expressed or satisfied directly without experiencing anxiety.
Condensation – symbolizes several things in waking life)
Displacement – dream is about something symbolically similar to
an anxiety-provoking event.
 THEORY OF PERSONALITY AND THE
UNCONSCIOUS
The portion of the mind of which a
person is not aware
Although Freud never used the analogy
himself, his levels of awareness are
often compared to an iceberg:
• The tip of the iceberg would be
analogous to the conscious mind,
which is above the water and open
to easy inspection.
• The preconscious mind (the area only
shallowly submerged) contains
information that can be viewed with
a little extra effort.
• The large base of the iceberg is
somewhat like the unconscious, *Psychoanalytic techniques to access the unconscious include
completely hidden from personal Hypnosis, Free Association, and Dream Analysis*
inspection.
 THEORY OF PERSONALITY
Structure Contents Principle of
Operation

Id (“it”) Primitive drives and Pleasure

emotions
Ego (“I”) Balances Id, Super- Reality
ego, and reality
Superego Internalized social Morality
(“Over-I”) norms
PSYCHOSEXUAL DEVELOPMENT
The development of the psyche
Progresses in stages as the libido (desire, sexual
energy) is redirected to different parts of the
body known as “erogenous zones”

Psychosexual Stages
Oral (0 – 1 yr)
Anal (1 – 3 yrs)
Phallic (3 – 6 yrs)
Latency (6 – 11 yrs)
Genital (12+ yrs)
PSYCHOSEXUAL DEVELOPMENT
OEDIPUS COMPLEX
Inspired by the Greek tragedy of
Oedipus Rex

Conflict within Phallic Stage in which

children experience an unconscious
feeling of desire for their opposite-
sex parent and jealousy and envy
toward their same-sex parent.

At this stage both boys and girls

experience either
 Castration Anxiety
 Penis Envy
DEFENSE MECHANISMS
The ego must balance the demands of the id, the super-ego, and reality
Defense Mechanisms
 Ego processes that distort reality to protect the individual from anxiety
 Prevent threatening unconscious material from reaching consciousness
DEFENSE MECHANISMS
 Repression
 Displacement
 Sublimation
 Projection
 Denial
 Regression
 Rationalization
 Reaction formation
DEFENSE MECHANISMS
Repression
Pushes threatening thoughts and ideas into the
unconscious
As an explanation for:
 Post-traumatic stress disorder
 Repressed memories
 False memories
DEFENSE MECHANISMS
Displacement
 Shifting one’s unconscious aggression or fears to a
safer target (hydraulic model)
 As an explanation for:
• “Kicking the dog” instead of parent/authority
DEFENSE MECHANISMS
Sublimation
 Dangerous urges are transformed into positive,
socially meaningful motivations
 As an explanation for:
• Artistic creativity
• Community leadership
 DEFENSE MECHANISMS
Projection
Attributing anxiety-provoking impulse or thoughts to
others
As an explanation for:
 Always being suspicious of others
 Extreme political opinions
DEFENSE MECHANISMS
Denial
Refusal to acknowledge anxiety- provoking stimuli
As an explanation for:
 Not acknowledging the sudden death of a loved one
 Interpreting a terrible fight with a spouse as just a “lovers
quarrel”
DEFENSE MECHANISMS
Regression
Protecting the individual by
returning to an earlier, “safer”
time of life
As an explanation for:
 A child with a new baby sibling
wanting a bottle again
 When an adult whimpers
 A distressed individual treating
his/her spouse as a parent
DEFENSE MECHANISMS
Rationalization
Creating logical, socially acceptable explanations for
behaviors which were actually driven by unconscious
impulses
As an explanation for:
 Lying and then claiming the lie was to protect the feelings of another
person
DEFENSE MECHANISMS
Reaction formation
 Hides threatening impulses by over-emphasizing their
opposite
 As an explanation for:
• Rabidly homophobic people turning out to be closeted gays
• Inappropriate sexual escapades by politicians and clergymen who
promote “family values”