Freud, Early Relationships, and Unconscious Motivation n

Early Relationships in Therapy

• Childhood experiences with parents or caregivers shape later behavior.

• Therapeutic practice often asks about parental figures (e.g., tell me about your mother vs tell me about your father).

Freud and Unconscious Motivation

• Freud argued that the primary motivator of thoughts and behavior is based on sex (libido), operating at an unconscious level.

• We are often not aware of these unconscious motivators.

• He emphasized the influence of the opposite-gender parent in development.

Motivation and Brain (Upcoming Content)

• Next week: explore where motivation comes from in the brain and how it influences behavior.

Course Structure Note

• There is a chapter on motivation and emotion in the textbook, but it will not be covered in this course; it will be addressed in other chapters later.