Psychodynamic Study Guide

Psychoanalysis

Freud's "second force in psychology" focusing on unresolved unconscious conflicts and psychic energy exchanges within the personality.

Psychic Determinism

Mental activity is not random but linked to previous thoughts and events, influenced by past experiences, internal drives, and external stimuli.

Dynamic Unconscious

The majority of mental activity occurs outside conscious awareness, determined by past experiences and internal drives.

Id, Ego, Superego

Structural model of the mind representing different motivational drives and the balance between primal instincts and societal norms.

Ego Defense Mechanisms

Strategies used to protect the ego from anxiety, including primitive defenses and mature defense mechanisms.

Parapraxes

Freudian slips, temporary forgetting, and bungled actions revealing unconscious desires or conflicts.

Dreams

Manifest and latent dream content distorted by unconscious wishful impulses, reflecting the interplay between conscious, preconscious, and unconscious systems.

Eros and Thanatos

Freud's drives representing life instincts (pleasure principle) and death instincts (aggressive impulses), influencing behavior beyond conscious awareness.

Splitting

Characterizing objects as all good or all bad, a defense mechanism common in borderline personalities.

Sublimation

Redirecting problematic impulses into creative and socially acceptable outlets, a mature defense mechanism in psychoanalytic theory.

Neurotic

Individuals at this level exhibit relative rigidity in their responses to stress, using a limited range of defenses and coping strategies focused on specific areas of suffering. They possess some insight into their recurrent difficulties and desire change.

Borderline

People with borderline organization struggle with affect regulation, emotional intimacy, work, impulse control, and are prone to extreme emotional states. They may engage in self-harm and have difficulties integrating their identity.

Psychotic

Individuals at this level display features like concrete or bizarre thinking, severe annihilation anxiety, fixed beliefs, poor reality testing, and reliance on primitive defenses. They may exhibit behaviors that defy external reality.

Depressive Personality

A personality style characterized by self-punitiveness, loss, and rejection, often seen in individuals at the neurotic level of organization.

Obsessive-Compulsive Personalities

Individuals with this personality style exhibit control issues and are prone to fixating on details, often seen at the neurotic level of organization.

Hysteric-Histrionic Personalities

Personality styles characterized by issues related to gender, sexuality, and power, commonly seen at the neurotic level of organization.