Chapter 09 - Basics of Psychoanalysis

Sigmund Freud

Neuroscientist/psychiatrist who founded psychoanalysis

Free association

Patient says whatever comes to mind - the talking cure

Freuds Topographical Model of the Mind

Includes 3 levels (conscious, unconscious, preconscious) and 3 actors (id, ego, superego)

Conscious mind

Part of the mind which you can easily turn your attention to when you focus inward

Preconscious

Consists of ideas you aren’t thinking about in the moment, but you can bring into consciousness easily

Unconscious

Consists of the id, nearly all of the superego, and the ego, a layer of the mind in which the person is not aware of it

Id

Repository of the drives, emotions, and the primitive, unconscious part of the mind that wants everything now

Ego

The relatively rational part of the mind that balances the id, superego, and reality

Superego

Part of the mind that includes the conscience and the individuals internalized sense of morality and conduct

Parapraxes

Leaks from the unconscious mind, such as mistake, accidents, omissions, or memory lapses

Freudian slip

Unintended actions

Anxiety

Pressure (psychic conflict + outside world)

Defense mechanisms

Used to cope with anxiety - ego’s tricks to keep certain thoughts and impulses hidden

Basic drives

We are motivated to seek pleasure and reduce tension

Libido (eros)

Life or sexual drive

Thanatos

Aggression/destructive drive

Psychic determinism

Everything (including everything a person thinks and does) has a
specific cause that can be identified - necessary to argue for the unconscious

Psychoanalysis

Bring unconscious conflicts into conscious awareness - depends on therapeutic alliance and power determined by transference

Therapeutic alliance

Emotional bond between therapist and client

Transference

Therapist’s positive and negative reactions to the client

Free association

Therapist instructing patient to say whatever came to mind

Dream analysis

Like an archaeologist, unearth latent content from manifest content

Psychosexual development

The story of how life energy, libido, becomes invested and then redirected over an individual’s early years

Psychic energy

Fixed, finite - is absolutely necessary and absolutely limited

Stage theory of development

Aspects of stages include a physical focus, psychological theme, and adult character type

Oral stage

• age: birth - 18mo

• physical focus: mouth, lips, tongue

• relevant mental structure: id

• psychological theme: dependence, passivity

• adult character types: dependent or overly independent

Anal stage

• age: 18mo - 3.5 yrs

• physical focus: anus and organs of elimination

• relevant mental structure: ego

• psychological theme: obedience and self-control

• adult character types: obedient and obsessed w/ order or anti-authority and chaotic

Phallic stage

• age: 3.5 - 7 yrs

• physical focus: sexual organs

• relevant mental structure: superego

• psychological theme: gender identity and sexuality

• adult character types: over- or under-sexualized

Genital stage

• age: puberty thru adulthood

• physical focus: sexuality in the context of a mature relationship

• relevant mental structure: id, ego, and superego are well balanced

• psychological theme: creation and enhancement of life

• adult character types: a mature adult (seldom achieved)

Oedipal complex

Boys see father as a rival for mom’s love

Electra

Girls have penis envy & blame Mom for lack of penis

Fixation

In psychoanalytic theory, leaving a disproportionate share of one’s libido behind at an earlier stage of development

Regression

In psychoanalytic theory, retreating to an earlier, more immature stage of psychosexual development, usually because of stress but sometimes in the service of play and creativity