Psychoanalytic Perspective

Page 2: Psychoanalysis and Psychodynamic Psychology

• Psychoanalytic approach:

  • Based on Sigmund Freud's writings

  • Emphasizes unconscious mind processes

• Psychodynamic psychology:

  • Focuses on psychological forces underlying human behavior

  • Considers early experiences

  • Examines conscious and unconscious relationship

Page 3: The "talking cure"

• Importance of "Disciples":

  • Freud's followers became influential

• The unconscious:

  • Central to psychoanalytic theory

Page 4: Key Ideas of Psychoanalysis

• Psychic determinism:

  • Everything in the mind has a specific cause

• Libido:

  • Mental energy related to life enhancement

• Catharsis:

  • Emotional release

Page 5: Key Ideas Continued

• Topographical model of the mind:

  • Conscious, preconscious, unconscious

• Unconscious as primary motivator:

  • Contains desires, urges, memories

• Therapy:

  • Involves accessing the unconscious

Structural Model of Personality

Page 6: Key Ideas of Psychoanalysis

• Id, Ego, Superego:

  • Three parts of personality

• Conflict:

  • Parts can function independently causing conflict

Page 7: The Id

• Primitive structure:

  • Operates on pleasure principle

Page 8: The Ego

• Balances impulses:

  • Develops from the id

• Reality principle:

  • Considers external constraints

Page 9: The Superego

• Final structure:

  • Absorbs parental values

• Ego ideal and Conscience:

  • Components of the superego

Page 10: Ego Strength

• Balancing act:

  • Ego's ability to manage impulses

• Compromise formation:

  • Balancing pleasure, reality, and societal expectations

Psychosexual Development

Page 12: Psychosexual Development

• Libido investment:

  • Focuses on erogenous zones

• Adult character types:

  • Shaped by early stages

Page 13-17: Stages of Development

• Oral, Anal, Phallic, Latency, Genital:

  • Each stage has unique characteristics

• Adult character types:

  • Reflect experiences in each stage

Thinking and Consciousness

Page 20: Thinking Processes

• Secondary vs. Primary process thinking:

  • Shift in thinking styles during development

• Primary process thinking:

  • Unconscious operations

Defense Mechanisms

Page 22-23: Defense Mechanisms

• Anxiety and Defense:

  • Coping mechanisms to protect from anxiety

• Examples:

  • Denial, Repression, Reaction formation, Projection, Rationalization, Intellectualization, Displacement, Sublimation

Page 24: Psychoanalysis as a Therapy and as a Route Toward Understanding

• Freud's belief: Anxiety and unhappiness stem from unconscious conflicts

  • Resolution through bringing conflicts to light for rational addressing

• Psychoanalytic therapy involves:

  • Lengthy process and the concept of "the flight from health"

  • Transference: Patient's feelings towards others projected onto therapist

  • Countertransference and the role of insight in therapy

Page 25: Effectiveness of Psychoanalysis as a Therapy

• Effectiveness for complex mental disorders

• Not universally successful, not scientifically tested by Freud

• Valuable for understanding human nature and culture

Page 26: Shortcomings of the Psychoanalytic Perspective

• Excessive complexity, reliance on case studies, vague definitions

• Lack of testability and presence of sexism in the perspective

Page 27: Importance of Studying Freud

• Historical significance and correctness on certain aspects

• Relevance in therapy even for non-Freudians

• Comprehensive theory of personality by Freud

• Broad coverage of topics by Freud in his writings

• Influence