Psychoanalytic

Sigmund Freud

founder of psychoanalytic therapy/psychoanalysis

Eros

life drive, sexual instincts/impulses (libido)

Thanatos

death drive, aggressive instincts/impulses

Id

Operates according to the 'pleasure principle', component of personality that contains instinctual drives, Latin for 'it'

Ego

Operates according to the 'reality principle', mediates between instinctual impulses and external rules and demands, Latin 'I'

Superego

Operates according to the 'moral principle', shaped by parental and societal standards, in Latin 'Above-I'

Defense Mechanisms

'an unconscious reaction pattern employed by the ego to protect itself from the anxiety that arises from psychic conflict'

Psychosexual Stages of Development

'the step-by-step growth of sexual life as it affects personality development…the different stages leave their mark on the individual's character and personality, especially if sexual development is arrested in a fixation at one particular stage'

Manifest Content

aspects of our experience we are conscious of

Latent Content

aspects of our experience we are not conscious of

Problems reflect unconscious conflicts from our childhood

Definition of the problem according to psychoanalytic therapy

Oral

First psychosexual stage of development (0-1 yo), infant's interest and pleasure centers on sucking and biting

Anal

Second psychosexual stage of development (1-3 yo), 'the child's interest and sexual pleasure are focused on the expulsion and retention of feces'

Phallic

Third psychosexual stage of development (3-6 yo), 'discovery and manipulation of the body become a major source of pleasure. During this period, boys are posited to experience castration anxiety, girls to experience penis envy, and both to experience the Oedipus complex.'

Latency

Fourth psychosexual stage of development (6-11 yo), 'overt sexual interest is sublimated and the child's attention is focused on skills and peer activities with members of their own sex'

Genital

Fifth psychosexual stage of development (12 yo), 'sexual reawakening', 'erotic interest and activity are focused on intercourse with a sexual partner'

Repression

defense mechanism, 'excludes painful experiences and unacceptable impulses from consciousness'

Denial

defense mechanism, 'the refusal to accept an external reality or fact because it is too threatening'

Displacement

defense mechanism, discharging tension by transferring 'feelings or behavior from their original object [more threatening, less available] to another person or thing [less threatening, more available]'

Introjection

defense mechanism, 'a process in which an individual unconsciously incorporates aspects of external reality into the self, particularly the attitudes, values, and qualities of another person'

Undoing

defense mechanism, 'individuals avoid conscious awareness of disturbing impulses by thinking or acting in a way intended to revert ("make un-happen") those impulses'

Intellectualization

defense mechanism, 'the process of neutralizing affect-laden experiences by talking in…logical terms'

Suppression

defense mechanism, 'the intentional avoidance of difficult inner thoughts, feelings, and desires'

Projection

defense mechanism, 'falsely attributing one's own unacceptable feelings, impulses, or wishes onto another'

Sublimation

defense mechanism, 'unacceptable sexual or aggressive drives are unconsciously channeled into socially acceptable modes of expression'

Reaction Formation

defense mechanism, 'behaving the opposite of what one truly desires'; 'unacceptable or threatening unconscious impulses are denied and are replaced in consciousness with their opposite'

Rationalization

defense mechanism, 'apparently logical reasons are given to justify unacceptable behavior that is motivated by unconscious instinctual impulses'

Regression

defense mechanism, 'the individual reverts to immature behavior…when threatened with overwhelming external problems or internal conflicts'

Analytic neutrality

counselor seeks to take a more removed, reserved stance in order to facilitate transference, analysis, and interpretation

Transference

'when a client projects on the counselor attributes that stem from unresolved issues with primary caregivers'

Countertransference

'when counselors project back onto clients, losing their therapeutic neutrality and having strong emotional reactions to the client'

Free Association

'the patient is encouraged to verbalize without censorship or selection whatever thoughts come to mind, no matter how embarrassing, illogical, or irrelevant'