4.4 & 4.5a: Intro + Psychodynamic & Humanistic Theories

Neo-Freudians - Psychodynamic

Overview of who they are:

  • Followers of Freud

  • Many of these thinkers agreed with Freud’s concept of the unconscious mind & the importance of childhood

What they maintain from Freud:

What they change/adapt from Freud:

  • More emphasis on the conscious mind

  • Diminish the role played by sex and aggression

Important Neo-Freudians:

Personality Structures (according to Freud)

Id (devil on the shoulder): a reservoir of unconscious psychic energy that strives to satisfy basic sexual and aggressive drives

  • operates on the pleasure principle, demanding immediate gratification

Ego (the mediator): the partly conscious “executive” part of personality that mediates among the demands of the id, the superego, and reality

  • operates on the reality principle, satisfying the id’s desires in ways that will realistically bring pleasure rather than pain

Superego (angel on the shoulder) : the partly conscious part of personality that represents internalized ideals and provides standards for judgement (the conscience) and for future aspirations

  • produces POSITIVE feelings of pride

  • produces NEGATIVE feelings of guilt

*Libido: a life energy force that fuels our pleasure-seeking

Video Resource:

Freud: Psychoanalysis Theories/Perspective

The importance of the UNCONSCIOUS:

Freud’s Techniques for “Uncovering the UNCONSCIOUS”

Free association: a method of exploring the unconscious in which the person relaxes and says what comes to mind (no matter how trivial/embarrassing) w/o fear of negative evaluation

  • Freud believed repressed impulses were trying to break free

Dream Interpretation/Analysis:

  • Manifest content: active plot of the dream

  • Latent content: hidden, symbolic meaning of the dream; could reveal unconscious conflicts

Slips of The Tongue (Freudian Slips): an unintentional error in speech, memory, or action, that according to Freud, reveals repressed, unconscious thoughts, motives, or desires

Freud’s Psychosexual Stages

Fixation: unresolved stage resolution; lingering focus of pleasure-seeking energies

What is happening during these stages?:

  • id directs behavior to erogenous zones

  • child associates pleasure w/ stimulation of specific body areas (erogenous zones)

*Oral-Anal: ego develops

*Phallic: superego develops

  • ⭐ Freud believed that during this stage, boys/girls develop both unconscious sexual desires for their mother/father & jealousy & hatred for their father/mother (rival)

    • Oedius complex (for boys)

    • Electra complex (for girls)

Projective Tests (Psychodynamic)

Projective test: a personality test that provides ambiguous images designed to trigger projection of one’s inner dynamics and explore the preconscious and unconscious mind

  • the client responds w/ whatever comes to mind

  • based on Freud’s DM of projection

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT): ppl express their inner feelings and interests through the stories they make up abt ambiguous scenes

  • provides a valid, reliable map of ppl’s implicit motives

    • responses show consistency over time

→ How the TAT usually goes:

  • generate a story

  • what are characters doing/thinking?

  • what led up to the event?

  • how will the situation end?

    • continue w/ questions & fill in until the story is fully made

→ Example picture:

Brief overview of TAT:

Rorschach Inkblot Test: designed by Hermann Rorschach; seeks to identify ppl’s inner feelings by analyzing how they interpret 10 inkblots

  • low reliability/validity

  • some clinicians value it as a source of suggestive leads, icebreaker, or a revealing interview technique

→ Example picture: