*Psychoanalysis

Psychoanalysis and Psychological Disorders

Historical Views on Psychological Disorders

  • Different approaches to understanding psychological disorders include:

    • Psychoanalysis

    • Humanistic Therapy

    • Behaviorism

Psychoanalysis

  • Founder: Sigmund Freud

    • Lifespan: 1856-1939 (Austria)

  • Key Contributions of Freud:

    1. Structure of the Mind

    2. Defense Mechanisms

    3. Stages of Early Psychosexual Development

Structure of the Mind

  • Components:

    • ID: Represents the sexual drives and instinctual energy, governed by the pleasure principle.

    • EGO: Involves logic, reasoning, and the reality principle, mediating between the id and superego.

    • SUPEREGO: Represents conscience and moral principles.

  • Intrapsychic Conflicts:

    • The ego must maintain a balance between the id and superego.

    • Failure to do so may lead to psychological disorders.

Levels of Awareness in the Mind

  • Conscious:

    • The reservoir of thoughts and information of which we are aware.

  • Preconscious:

    • Holds information that can be accessed but is not actively in awareness.

  • Unconscious:

    • Contains memories, drives, and information that are difficult to bring to consciousness.

Defense Mechanisms

  • Definition: Unconscious processes that manipulate, deny, or distort reality to protect the individual from anxiety and unacceptable impulses.

  • Examples of Defense Mechanisms:

    • Denial: Ignoring distressing thoughts, feelings, or aspects of reality.

    • Repression: Pushing disturbing thoughts and memories out of consciousness or forgetting them.

    • Rationalization: Justifying negative instinctual drives using logical reasons, often unconsciously.

Stages of Early Psychosexual Development

  • Importance: These stages represent distinct patterns used to gratify physical pleasure.

  • Freud's Hypothesis: Failure to receive appropriate gratification can affect adult personality corresponding to each stage.

    1. Oral Stage (0-2 years):

    • Gratification is achieved through oral activities like thumb sucking.

    1. Anal Stage (2-3 years):

    • Child learns to respond to societal demands (e.g., bowel and bladder control).

    1. Phallic Stage (3-7 years):

    • Differentiation between male and female; awareness of sexuality develops.

    1. Latency Stage (7-11 years):

    • Sexual urges are relatively dormant; child focuses on other development.

    1. Genital Stage (11 years to adulthood):

    • Rejection of old dependencies; maturity in handling relationships with the opposite sex.

Psychoanalysis Treatment Principles

  • Methods:

    • Techniques such as the talking cure, hypnosis, free association, and dream analysis are utilized.

    • The relationship between patient and analyst is crucial in the therapeutic process.

    • Transference is a critical concept where feelings are unconsciously transferred from significant others in the patient’s life to the therapist, aiding in understanding the client's conflicts.

Psychoanalysis Today

  • Duration: Treatment generally requires multiple sessions (3-5 times a week) over a long term, typically 2-5 years.

    • Mean length of treatment in Canada is approximately 4.8 years.

  • Psychodynamic Psychotherapy:

    • Continues to emphasize conflicts and the unconscious.

    • Focuses on identifying trauma and defense mechanisms while utilizing various tactical approaches with social and interpersonal dimensions.

    • Generally shorter in duration (e.g., short-term therapy may last around 20 sessions).

    • The primary goal is not to reconstruct personality but to relieve suffering.