Psychoanalytic Theory

1. Psychoanalytic Theory Basic Freudian Propositions

2. Clinical Experiences • Anna O. (Breuer) • Unexpressed emotion -> pathology • Unaware of emotion (unconscious) • Emotion expression reduces pathology

3. Fundamental Assumptions of Psychoanalytic Theory • The Basic Instincts • Unconscious Motivation • Psychic Determinism • Energy Model

4. Fundamental Assumptions of Psychoanalytic Theory The Basic Instincts: Sex and Aggression • Closely follows Darwin’s theory • Freud believed that everything humans do can be understood as manifestations of the life and death instincts • Later termed libido (life) and thanatos (death)

5. Fundamental Assumptions of Psychoanalytic Theory Unconscious Motivation • Individuals control their sexual and aggressive urges by placing them in the unconscious • These take on a life of their own and become the motivated unconscious

6. Fundamental Assumptions of Psychoanalytic Theory Psychic Determinism • Nothing happens by chance or accident • Everything we do, think, say, and feel is an expression of our mind

7. Fundamental Assumptions of Psychoanalytic Theory Energy Model • Humans are viewed as energy systems • Hydraulic model. Energy transformed but not destroyed

8. Levels of Consciousness Conscious - current awareness Preconscious - not aware of material but it’s retrievable (via ordinary retrieval) Unconscious - not aware of material but it’s not retrievable (via ordinary retrieval)

10. Issues Regarding the Unconscious • How can the existence of the unconscious be demonstrated? • Why do humans have an unconscious?

11. Personality and Psychoanalysis Techniques for Revealing the Unconscious • Free Association • Dream Analysis • Projective Techniques • Recovered Memories

12. The Structure of Personality ID EGO SUPEREGO

13. The Structure of Personality The Id – Reservoir of Psychic Energy • Most primitive part of the mind; what we are born with • Source of all drives and urges • Operates according to the pleasure principle and primary process thinking

14. The Structure of Personality The Ego- Executive of Personality • The part of the mind that constrains the id to reality • Develops around 2-3 years of age • Operates according to the reality principle and secondary process thinking • Mediates between id, superego, and environment

15. The Structure of Personality The Superego- Upholder of Values and Ideals • The part of the mind that internalizes the values, morals, and ideals of society • Develops around age 5 • Not bound by reality

16. Psychodynamics • Conflict model • Id vs. superego; Individual vs. society • Restrain expression of all drives • Surplus energy results in anxiety

17. Defense Mechanisms • Unconscious psychological processes designed to avoid or reduce the conscious experience of anxiety

18. Anxiety and the Mechanisms of Defense Repression • Unconscious • Motivated • Forgetting The process of preventing unacceptable thoughts, feelings, or urges from reaching conscious awareness

19. Anxiety and the Mechanisms of Defense Denial • Unconscious • Motivated • Not Perceiving Perceptual Defense Research

20. Anxiety and the Mechanisms of Defense Other Defense Mechanisms • Reaction Formation • Act opposite of impulse • Projection • Make impulse external

21. Anxiety and the Mechanisms of Defense Other Defense Mechanisms • Isolation/Intellectualization • Isolate emotional reaction • Process abstractly

22. Anxiety and the Mechanisms of Defense Other Defense Mechanisms Displacement Channel impulse to non-threatening target Sublimation Channel impulse into socially desired activity

23. Anxiety and the Mechanisms of Defense Defense Mechanisms in Everyday Life • Useful in coping with unexpected or disappointing events • Can also make circumstances worse

24. Personality and Psychoanalysis • Making the Unconscious Conscious • Techniques for Revealing the Unconscious • The Process of Psychoanalysis

25. Personality and Psychoanalysis The goal of psychoanalysis is to make the unconscious conscious • Identify unconscious thoughts and feelings • Enable the person to deal with the unconscious urges realistically and maturely • But how to penetrate the unconscious mind?

26. Personality and Psychoanalysis The Process of Psychoanalysis • The psychoanalyst offers the patient interpretations of the psychodynamic causes of the problems • The interpretations bring insight • Resistance may occur as a defense • Transference of feelings

27. Evaluating Freud’s Contributions • Proponents argue it is the first and perhaps only comprehensive theory of human nature • Psychoanalysis has had a major impact on Western thought • Critics maintain it is not contemporary • The nature of evidence upon which it was built can be criticized • Emphasis on sexual drives is inappropriate

28. Summary • There are 3 main forces in the psyche that constantly interact to tame the 2 motives • Defense mechanisms help keep urges, thoughts, and memories that cause anxiety in the unconscious • Psychoanalysis is a therapy used for making the patient's unconscious conscious

29. Anxiety and the Mechanisms of Defense • Types of Anxiety • Repression • Other Defense Mechanisms • Defense Mechanisms in Everyday Life

30. Anxiety and the Mechanisms of Defense Types of Anxiety • Objective Anxiety • Neurotic Anxiety • Moral Anxiety • Defense Mechanisms