Counselling Modalities: Psychoanalytic Therapy

A collection of vocabulary flashcards designed to review key concepts in Psychoanalytic Therapy as presented in the lecture notes.

Psychoanalytic Therapy

A psychotherapy approach developed by Sigmund Freud focusing on the unconscious mind's influence on behavior.

Unconscious

A level of consciousness that includes repressed memories and desires not accessible to conscious awareness.

Ego

The personality structure that mediates between the reality of the external world and the inner demands of the id and superego.

Id

The part of personality present at birth that contains our basic instincts and operates on the pleasure principle.

Superego

The part of personality that represents morality and societal rules, often acting as a counterbalance to the id.

Eros

The life instinct, associated with sexual and self-preserving drives.

Thanatos

The death instinct, associated with aggression and risky behavior.

Dream Analysis

A technique in psychoanalysis where the clinician interprets the manifest and latent content of dreams.

Free Association

A method where clients verbalize any thoughts in an uncensored manner to uncover unconscious material.

Defense Mechanisms

Unconscious processes that protect the ego by distorting reality to reduce anxiety.

Anxiety

A feeling that arises from the perception of danger or threat, categorized as realistic, neurotic, or moral.

Fixation

A defense mechanism where an individual becomes stuck at a certain psychosexual stage of development.

Transference

The process in therapy where clients project feelings associated with significant people in their lives onto the therapist.

Therapeutic Goals

Objectives of psychoanalytic therapy that include making the unconscious conscious and strengthening the ego.

Slips of the Tongue

Verbal mistakes that reveal underlying thoughts or feelings, often analyzed in psychoanalysis.

Ego-Defence Mechanisms: Repression

The mechanism by which unwanted thoughts or memories are blocked from conscious awareness.

Psychosexual Stages of Development

Freud's theory outlining stages in childhood development, each characterized by conflicts and potential fixations.