Psychoanalysis & Theory Basics

How psychoanalysis conceptualizes client problems

As the result of unconscious conflicts, repressed material, and unmet instinctual drives causing suffering.

Freudian deterministic view of human behavior

Behavior is driven heavily by unconscious factors, irrational forces, and instinctual drives (such as life and death instincts).

The Id (Es)

The psychic structure that is the home of instinctual drives and operates entirely in the unconscious.

The Ego (Ich)

The executive function of the mind that mediates among the id, the superego, and the outside world.

The Superego (Uber-Ich)

Our moral conscience, comprising internalized standards and prohibitions from parents, society, and culture.

Role of the unconscious

Contains innate impulses and repressed memories that drive behavior, which cannot be studied directly but are inferred through dreams, slips of the tongue, and free association.

Purpose of defense mechanisms

Used unconsciously by the ego to reduce or delay anxiety caused by overwhelming internal conflicts.

Projection (Defense Mechanism)

Attributing one's own unacceptable thoughts, feelings, or motives onto another person.

Regression (Defense Mechanism)

Reverting back to an earlier, more infantile stage of development when faced with unacceptable stress or anxiety.

Sublimation (Defense Mechanism)

Channeling unacceptable impulses or energy into socially acceptable, productive activities.

Transference

The client's unconscious shifting onto the therapist of feelings, attitudes, and fantasies rooted in reactions to significant childhood figures.

Countertransference

The therapist's unconscious emotional responses and distortions toward a client based on the therapist's own past and unresolved conflicts.

Interpretation

A technique where the analyst points out, explains, or teaches the meaning of behavior seen in dreams, free associations, defenses, and the therapeutic relationship to enable the ego to integrate new material.