Psychoanalysis and Psychodynamic Theories in Clinical Psychology

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering key terms and concepts from psychoanalysis and psychodynamic clinical psychology as presented in the lecture notes.

Psychoanalysis

A field founded by Zygmunt Freud focused on the study of the subconscious and the conflict between biological drives of sex and aggression.

Id

The primitive and irrational part of the personality that is the seat of drives (sex and aggression) and operates strictly on the pleasure principle.

Ego

The part of the personality that operates on the reality principle, makes decisions, and maintains a balance between the id and superego to ensure health.

Superego

The internal commanding-controlling authority that functions as a conscience and is governed by moral norms.

Libido

Psychic energy associated with the drives for life and death, used in both sexual and aggressive contexts.

Oral Phase

A psychosexual stage from birth to about two years where the primary erogenous zone is the mouth and satisfaction comes from sucking and biting.

Anal Phase

A psychosexual stage from two to three years where the erogenous zone is the anus and pleasure is derived from defecation or retention.

Phallic Phase

A psychosexual stage lasting until about age five where the erogenous zones are the sex organs and the dominant activity is childhood masturbation.

Latency Phase

A period from age six to eleven characterized by a lack of interest in sexual impulses.

Genital Phase

A stage occurring during adolescence and adulthood marked by psychosexual maturity and the capacity for procreation and intimate contacts.

Fixation

A stoppage at the oral or anal phase of development caused by an insufficient or excessive amount of stimulation.

Early-oral Subtype

A personality type associated with sucking, characterized by individuals who are gullible, naive, talkative, and social.

Late-oral Subtype

A personality type associated with biting, characterized by individuals who are argumentative, verbally aggressive, and prone to gossip.

Early-anal Subtype

Characterized by prolonged excretion, resulting in individuals who are irritable, grumbling, stingy, and excessively precise.

Late-anal Subtype

Characterized by anal irritation during excretion, leading to aggressiveness, need for power, and Machiavellianism.

Phallic Type

Individuals who are enterprising, energetic, persistent, friendly, socially adapted, and internally harmonious.

Neurosis

According to psychoanalytic theory, this condition is born from a conflict between the id and the ego.

Depression

According to psychoanalytic theory, this condition results from a conflict between the ego and the superego.

Unconscious

A term referring to mental phenomena whose motives and causes are unknown and cannot be realized through ordinary methods.

Transference

The shifting of experiences from a past person onto a current person, such as shifting feelings from a mother to a spouse or a therapist.

Regression

The emotional retreat to developmentally earlier phases of childhood, often observed during psychoanalysis.

Resistance

The general tendency of the ego to avoid or forget unpleasant thoughts or memories to keep subconscious material from reaching awareness.

Insight

Gaining knowledge of hidden motives, causes, and mechanisms behind symptoms and emotions through intense emotional experience.

Incorporation

The individual's impression or fantasy of physically possessing someone inside themselves, such as an infant 'eating the breast.'

Introjection

Symbolically taking another person into oneself to gain their positive qualities, often used by adults to improve themselves through identification.

Free Association

A technique where the patient speaks everything that comes to mind to allow one image to lead to another and reveal the unconscious.

Dream Analysis

The therapist's examination of the manifest and latent (coded) content of dreams to reach the unconscious.

Psychodynamic Therapy

A method of treating mental disorders focused on personality dynamics, early childhood experiences, and unconscious conflicts.

Object Relations Theory

A theory focusing on the relationship with the primary attachment object and the transference of primary relational schemas into therapy.

Lacanian School

A linguistic school of psychoanalysis that emphasizes the analysis of language, words, slips of the tongue, and fantasies.

Klein School

An English school of psychoanalysis focused on object relations, projection, and introjection.

Ego Psychology

An American school focused on analyzing disordered ego functions and object relations.