The Psychoanalytic Unconscious (L5)

dynamic unconscious,

The dynamic unconscious refers to the part of the mind that contains thoughts, desires, and memories that are not immediately accessible to conscious awareness. It is believed to exert a significant influence on an individual's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.

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The dynamic unconscious is called "dynamic" because it involves a constant interplay of conflicting and competing forces. First, it is dynamic in that unconscious wishes seek to express themselves all of the time, affecting all that we experience and do. Second, it is dynamic in that unconscious wishes are repressed, or held outside of awareness, because we do not want to know about them, having judged them to be unacceptable

Motivational point of view:

The unconscious mind consists of wishes that continually strive for expression. The conscious/preconscious mind has the capacity for repression of these wishes when they are judged to be unacceptable.

What processes is the unconscious mind associated with?

The unconscious mind is characterized by primary process (pleasure principle); the conscious/preconscious mind is characterized by a secondary process. The unconscious mind and the conscious/preconscious mind are separated by a censor that has the task of judging wishes to be either acceptable or unacceptable.

When do primary/secondary processes appearß

Primary process develops before secondary process. Wishes come from childhood and form the basis of infantile sexuality. Over time, they are judged to be increasingly unacceptable. Meanwhile, the capacity for repression (i.e., the censoring capacity) grows. The end result is an adult mind that is forever split between conscious/preconscious and unconscious domains

Where does neurosis come from according to psychoanalytic theory?

Neurosis-inflexible, maladaptive patterns of thought, emotion, or behavior-results frorn unconscious conflict between the conscious/preconscious domains and the unconscious domain.

What is neurosis characterised by according to psychoanalytic theory?

Neurosis is characterized by the return of the repressed (in which unacceptable wishes that have been repressed reappear in the form of symptoms) and often by the repetition compulsion (a tendency to reenact specific scenarios without awareness of their relationship to early repressed wishes or fantasies).

how does psychodynamic therapy work?

The goal of psychodynamic psychotherapy is for the patient to acquire more insight into the unconscious mind-to "make the unconscious conscious." Through the technique of free association (which operates according to the fundamental rule that the patient will say whatever comes to mind as candidly as possible to the therapist), the unconscious determinants of the patient's \n subjective experience gradually come to light.

here’s a summary

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Why did the Structural model of Id, Ego and Superego develop?

Freud offered his revised model of the mind in response to his growing awareness that the Topographic Model of the mind had many theoretical inconsistencies, and most importantly, that it failed to help him explain the ever-wider range of clinical problems with which he was confronted.

What were the 3 core problems of the Topographic Model?

1. Can’t make defence mechanisms and censor of the unconscious conscious
2. Unconscious can include morality (self-punitive tendencies)
3. The unconscious also contains stories and fantasies, not just wishes and desires

what does the ego seek?

The ego seeks both homeostasis (self-reg- \n ulation) and adaptation.

What is included in “ego functions”?

censorship and defense, as well as cognition, perception, memory, evaluation (encompassing reality testing), af-fect and impulse tolerance, and the ability to form mental representations.

What other capacities does the ego function have?

The ego also has capacities for internalization (an organism's \n tendency to take in aspects of the external world), identification (modification of the self-image that results from internalizing the traits of others), and the formation of ego identity (the consolidation of a stable sense of oneself as a unique individual in society

When does the ego develop?

The ego develops throughout the life \n cycle, especially during childhood. In Erikson's eight-stage theory of human development, each stage represents a specific psychological capacity that must be acquired for the ego to develop successfully: trust/mistrust, autonomy/shame and doubt, initiative/guilt, industry/injeriority, identity/role confusion (or diffusion), intimacy/isolation, generativity/stagnation, and ego integrity/despair

How is psychopathology assessed according to the structural model?

In the Structural Model, mental health \n is assessed in terms of ego strength, and psychopathology in terms of ego weakness.

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This can be solved with the strategies by which \n the ego maintains homeostasis and adaptation in the face of conflict is part of every psychodynamic psychotherapy-hence the phrase "Where id was, there ego shall be.”

Psychosexuality

A way of describing the way a child relates to the world

* Every stage has a different meaning (oral, anal, phallic, etc)

What two drives exist according to psychoanalytic theory?

* Libido (life/love drive)


* Death drive

Consciousness

Consciousness lies on the surface of

the mind and includes mental experience that is within awareness at

any given moment.

Pre-conscious

Includes mental contents that are in the **descriptive unconscious** meaning that although they are not within awareness at any given moment, they can easily be brought to awareness if attention is applied to them.

unconscious

the unconscious is dynamically unconscious, meaning that its contents cannot be brought to awareness by a simple act of attention but are actively denied access to consciousness by the force of repression

To what degree are ID, ego and superego conscious?

ID is only unconscious, ego and superego are unconscious, preconscious and conscious

Conscious vs latent content of dreams

Consciousness in dreams refers to being aware that you are dreaming, while latent content refers to the hidden or symbolic meanings behind the manifest content of dreams according to Freudian theory.

What 7 things do psychoanalytic therapies focus on?

1. Focus on affect and expression of emotion


1. Explore way in which experience is altered and avoided
2. Identify repeating patterns and themes
3. Focus on interpersonal inner relations
4. The here-and-now (transference)
5. Early experience as it is in the now (transference)
6. Fantasy and dreams as a means to explore the inner world

What were the contributions of Anna Freud?

Understanding the ego and its defense mechanisms, as well as normal and pathological ego defense