Psychoanalytic Therapy

What is the core assumption of psychoanalytic therapy regarding human behavior?

is influenced by unconscious processes, with psychological distress arising from internal conflicts often rooted in early life experiences.

What is the aim of psychoanalytic therapy?

To make the unconscious conscious, strengthen the ego, and help clients gain insight into hidden motivations influencing their choices.

According to Freud, what are the three levels of awareness?

Conscious, preconscious, and unconscious.

What does the 'id' represent in Freud's structural model of personality?

the reservoir of instinctual drives and operates via the pleasure principle, seeking immediate gratification.

What role does the 'ego' play in the personality structure?

mediates between the id and the external world, operating via the reality principle to satisfy id impulses in socially acceptable ways.

What function does the 'superego' serve in personality according to Freud?

internalizes moral standards and ideals, often derived from parental and societal rules.

What are the two types of instincts discussed by Freud?

The life instinct (libido, Eros) and the death instinct (Thanatos).

What are defense mechanisms in the context of psychoanalytic therapy?

Unconscious strategies used by the ego to reduce anxiety by distorting or denying reality.

What are the stages of psychosexual development according to Freud?

Oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital stages.

What is transference in psychoanalytic therapy?

The client's unconscious redirection of feelings from important earlier relationships onto the therapist.

What is the main goal of therapeutic aims in psychoanalysis?

To make the unconscious conscious and help clients understand their hidden conflicts and desires.

What is free association in psychoanalytic therapy?

A technique where clients verbalize any thought, memory, or feeling without censorship.

What is resistance in the context of psychoanalytic therapy?

Behaviors or processes that prevent unconscious material from emerging.

What is the main criticism regarding the length and cost of classical psychoanalysis?

often long-term and expensive.

What evolution has occurred in modern psychodynamic approaches?

Contemporary work emphasizes relational or ego-psychology approaches, placing more weight on the therapeutic relationship and interpersonal patterns.