Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)

“Psychoanalysis is my creation . . . No one can know better than I what psychoanalysis is.”

History

• Birth

  • 1856 in Moravia (Czech Republic); moved to Vienna at age 4

• Family

  • Spoiled by mother (Oedipal complex)

    • Her first son, Freud had 2 older half-brothers and 6 younger siblings

  • Father very strict (superiority)

• Education

  • Was a bookworm

    • Ate in room only (to study) and had only lamp; sister forced to stop playing piano

    • Learned 6 languages fluently and read Shakespeare by 8

• Chose to pursue medicine because of its scientific background

• Neurology: Studies with Ernest Brucke (fetal brains)

  • Idea: early structures persist and influence even long-term

• Goes into private practice, due to desire to marry

• Back to Vienna to wed and works with Joseph Breuer (conversion disorder)

  • Hypnosis —> talking cure —> free association

Freud: Life and Death

• At 41, ill health made him fear death

  • Dream analysis

• Daughter and sons lost in WWI

  • Thanatos: Death instinct; a destructive force which

leads to death

• Had 33 operations for cancer

  • Eros: Life instinct; motivates life-maintaining behavior

and love

• Went to London, and the Nazis burned his books: Attempted suicide using morphine

  • Died of cancer of mouth/jaw

Freud’s Early Contributions

• Topographical Theory

  • Repression

  • Neurosis

• The Motivated Unconscious

  • Dreams

    • dreamwork

  • Humor

Topographical Theory

• Conscious, Preconscious, Unconscious

• Keeping things unconscious requires much energy

  • “The Motivated Unconscious”: Keeping unacceptable ideas from the conscious mind

    • Threatening or aggressive

• “Neurosis”: An energy crisis

Dreams

• Dreams are illogical (“crazy”)

  • Why? The mind hides the true content of the dreams

• Dreamwork

  • Condensation: Two or more images are combined to form an image that merges their meanings and drives (used in jokes)

  • Displacement: Distorts the object of the drive

    • E.g., sex drive —> food drive

  • Symbolism: Masks content of impulse

Psychoanalysis of dreams (“Dreamwork”)

• Manifest content —> Latent content

Manifest Content

Latent Content

Freud’s Later Contributions

• Structural Theory of the Mind

  • Id

  • Ego

  • Superego

• Anxiety

  • Objective

  • Neurotic

  • Moral

Id

• Earliest to form: Represents need for “wish fulfillment”

• Storehouse for instincts and libido

  • Sexual and aggressive energy and impulses

• Conforms to the Pleasure Principle

  • All needs should be fulfilled immediately

Ego

• Next to Develop

• Secondary process that is more “rational”

• Follows the “Reality Principle”

  • Takes into account external forces as well as internal needs

• Helps reduce tensions but, if overly taxed, results in anxiety

Superego

• Last to form: By 5 or 6

• Initially consists of rules from others (parents)

  • Introjection: “Absorbing” parents’ values

  • Eventually, able to create our own morals/values

Objective Anxiety

• Fear of real things

• If extreme…called a “phobia”

Neurotic Anxiety

• Based on childhood conflicts between instinctual gratification and reality

• Being punished for id!

Moral Anxiety

• Shame and guilt originating from punishment for violating moral codes

What to do? (How can ego respond to anxiety)

• Remove oneself from conflict

• Try to inhibit the id impulse that is the source of danger

• Use defense mechanism!

Defense Mechanisms

• Repression

  • Involuntary removal from consciousness

    • Ego denies id . . . Want sex —> impotent

• Reaction formation

  • To express the opposite . . . Hate brother —> love brother

• Projection

  • Project feelings onto others . . .

  • “You can never trust anyone”

• Denial

  • “Lowest form” of defense mechanisms

• Rationalization

  • Disguise motives to be acceptable to superego

• Displacement

  • Put feelings onto another object, e.g. frustration with boss —> show frustration with less threatening other

• Sublimation

  • “Highest” defense mechanism

  • A form of compromise where id needs are filled in a socially acceptable way . . . Aggression: play football

• Regression

  • Movement back in psychological time when one is faced with stress

Psychosexual Development

• Sexuality is meant to be regarded as a drive or instinct that must be satisfied. Develops through stages corresponding to most sensitive body part at that time.

STAGES:

• Oral

  • Birth to 2 years

• Anal

  • 2-4 years

• Phallic

  • 4-5 years

• Latency

  • 5-6 years

• Genital

  • puberty

Potential Personality

Fixation: when one fails to effectively move through stages

Oral

• Erotic Personality: too much gratification (sucking, eating) . . . Excessive, optimistic, gullible, dependent

• Sadistic Personality: fixated, biting comments, pessimistic, aggressive

Anal

• Too harsh of toilet training experience

• Expulsive: Defies regulation, hostile aggressive, cruel, destructive, messy

• Retentive: stubborn, stingy, materialistic, neat

Phallic

• Genital exploration and questions about things like marriage/relationships

• Oedipus/Electra complexes arise here

  • Castration Anxiety: Father will punish via castration

  • Defensive Identification: Identify with father

  • For women

    • Penis envy

      • Sexual inhibition

      • Masculinity complex: Striving for achievement is inappropriate for women

      • Normal Femininity: passive and childrearing

Latency

• Work on same-sexed relationships

• If successful . . . one would have functional long-term relationships with same sex, with further refinement of identification

Genital

• Work on sexual desire, sexual relationships

• If successful . . . Socialization, genuine friendships, mature long-term relationships

Instincts

• Instincts are the basic unit of personality

  • Are the bridge between physical needs, wishes, and behavior

    • Food fills us with energy. Mental activity must also require “fuel” . . . The libido

    • Instincts are aimed at relieving tension in body: Hunger —> food —> eat; helps maintain homeostasis

• Goals of instincts are always the same, but the pathways taken to achieve these goals may differ

Instincts (SPAO)

• Source

  • All psychic energy is derived from biological processes in some organ of the body

• Pressure

  • Essentially, the strength of the impulse

• Aim

  • Maintains homeostasis

• Object

  • The person or thing in the world that is desired so that the instinct may be satisfied

Categories of Instincts

• Eros

  • Life instincts

    • Most important is sex, but also includes air, food, water

  • Driven by libido

• Thanatos

  • Death instincts: Unconscious wish to die

  • Suicide is wish to kill turned inward:

Mental Work (two forms)

ALL mental work is influenced by wishes or impulses. These can take 2 forms:

• Primary: Pleasure Principle

  • Present in infancy

  • Shows through in unguarded moments of adulthood

    • Also in dreams and times of fear

• Secondary: Reality Principle

  • Oriented toward the demands of the real world

Secondary (or “reality”) Principle

Primary impulses are often delayed so that the wishes may be adapted into the real world

Freudian Slips

• “My grandmother died [lied] last night.”

• Possible Freudian explanations:

  • Fabricated excuse

  • Feared others would think it’s a lie

  • Repressed guilt for lying to grandmother

  • Linguistic confusion

• DISMISSED:

  • No known mechanisms by which it might occur

  • Doesn’t seem to apply to all “slips”

  • UNTESTABLE!

Subliminal Advertising

• Idea hit peak in 1950s with the work of Vicary

  • Popcorn: Up 50%

  • Coke: Up 18%

• Less “devious” tactics still used

  • Embedding

  • See-Through Illusion

Embedding

See-Through Illusion

Research on Freudian Theory

Freudian Case Studies

• Anna O.

Keys to Psychotherapy

• A relaxed therapeutic atmosphere

  • Patient must be free to discuss the most intimate details of their lives

• Free association

  • Once relaxed, unconscious conflicts will become available for discussion

• Recognition of resistance

  • This is what the patient finds threatening

  • Many indicators of resistance (sleeping, tardiness, etc.)

• Transference

  • This is necessary! The therapist may act as the object of emotion towards important others

  • Counter-transference

• Catharsis

  • An outpouring of emotion when trauma is recalled

• Insight

  • Becoming aware of a trauma, or the source of recurrent difficulties (or even what the recurrent difficulties are)

    • Help client to get there, but do not say it yourself!

Freud’s Ideas Reverberate!

• Language

• Conception of abnormality

  • Developmental process

• Hysteria

  • From neurological to psychological

• Effective psychoanalytic techniques

  • Self-understanding

  • Creation of helping alliance between client and therapist

• Advertising!

  • Subliminal (why do we buy what we do?)

    • Agencies continue to use Freudian theory

Family resemblance between psychodynamic theories

• Energy Flow

  • Fixed amount of energy which motivates behavior

• Biological Emphasis

  • Drives and needs

• Conflicts

  • Between person and environment

• Developmental Perspective

  • Stages; explain problems with reference to past history

• Clinicians

  • Theories based on observation of people’s problems

“Projective Drawing”

• Figures were widely believed to represent self-perception and body image

  • Very commonly used

• But, drawing figures (e.g. families) can be very useful especially when working with . . . ???

Primary Interpretations (Person)

• Erasing

  • For improvement = Well-adjusted and flexible

  • Excessive = Anxious, indecisive

• Placement

  • Center = Secure (most common)

  • Right = Intellectualizing tendencies

  • Left = Impulsive, extravert, self-oriented

  • High = High aspirations, use of fantasy

  • Low = Defeatist attitude

• Pressure

  • Consistent = Well-adjusted, stable

  • Heavy = Tense

  • Light = Timid and low energy

• Size

  • Average = 7 in.

  • Large = Aggressive

  • Small = Anxious

Drawing a Person

• Head – Site of intellectual and fantasy activity

  • Control of impulses/emotions & socializing needs

• Hair

  • Sexual relationship

• Facial Features

  • Sensory satisfaction and dissatisfaction

• Eyes

  • View of self and others

• Nose

  • Displaced phallic symbol or associated with social attitudes

• Body

  • Associated with basic drives

  • Shoulders

    • Associated with need for power

  • Arms, hands, fingers

    • Social adjustment

  • Legs/feet

    • Feelings of security

Drawing a…

• Person

• Family

• House

• Tree