Psychoanalysis . Sigmund Freud was a neurologist who noticed that people with psychological problems were not treated consistently or often compassionately . Psychoanalysis represents the first attempt to explore the depths of the human psyche and to find ways of helping those with problems .
Basic Assumptions Freud had a pessimistic and deterministic view of human nature , that is , humans are not naturally good and that there are all sorts of outside forces in our lives that are making us the way we are . The personality is divided into id , ego and superego . The unconscious is an important part of who we are .
Psychoanalysis is a big driver of how we react to the world , and much of psychoanalysis consists of looking to our past for clues of what's going on in our present . The therapeutic goal is to make the unconscious conscious so that we're able to see it , deal with it and move on with our lives .
The growth of the ego through analysis of resistance and transference allows the ego to solve these unconscious conflicts that are holding us back and that are causing problems in our lives . The therapeutic relationship classically was based on the therapist being almost anonymous , so that the client could project their feelings onto the therapist .
A more modern conception is that the therapist tries to relate objectively but warmly with the client with a measure of detachment . Both transference and counter-transference are central aspects of the relationship . The technique is based in helping repressed memories surface in the person's life .
This will take place as free association , dream analysis and interpretation of those dreams , analysis of resistance and transference . The goal is to foster awareness and insight that will lead to a reorganization of the personality so that the client is no longer at the mercy of those irrational forces .
The application is that psychoanalysis works best for people who have been helped by intensive therapy and wish to go on with their lives . This mode of therapy demands a sacrifice of time , money and personal commitment because it is often a years-long process . A major contribution of psychoanalysis is that it provides a detailed system of personality .
It emphasizes the place of the unconscious as one of the determinants of who we are , it highlights the profound effect of childhood developments on adult behavior and it provides a procedure for tapping into the unconscious so that it can be analyzed .
Some limitations are that psychoanalysis demands such a great amount of time and energy and money from the client that it's not really useful for a wide range of people . Another is that it's very limited in its use for crisis intervention due to its lengthy nature , there are some key terms that you need to know regarding psychoanalysis .
No-transcript this is the emotional release resulting from recalling and reliving painful experiences , also called catharsis . Counter-transference is the therapist's unconscious emotional response to a client that often results in a lack of objectivity .
Ego this is the part of the personality that's the mediator between the external reality and the demands that go on inside of us from the id . The electrocomplex is the unconscious sexual desire of the female child for her father . Fixation the condition of being stuck at one level of psychosexual development .
Id this is the blind-demanding , insistent part of our personality that wants its own way and that the ego has to moderate between it and the outside world . Libido describes the instinctual drive of the id , which is the source of our psychic energy . Narcissism is extreme and debilitating . Self-love Neurosis Any mental disorder caused by a past anxiety .
The Freudian stages of psychosexual development . First , the oral stage birth to one year , where we get pleasure from the mouth . The anal stage is ages one to three , when we get pleasure from expelling and retaining . Third is the phallic stage , from three to six years old , where we get pleasure through the genitals .
Fourth is the latency stage , from six to puberty , where sexual energy is repressed . So it's really the calm before the storm . Stage five is the genital stage , puberty through adulthood , where we experience sexual maturation .
The edopus complex describes the unconscious sexual desire of the male child for his mother and the resulting feelings of hostility towards the father . Repression is the ego defense mechanism where we put threatening or painful memories away from our awareness .
Superego is that aspect of the personality that represents the higher plane of existence where moral striving takes place . It is the part that provides the ego with the motivation to resist the demands of the id . Transferrence is the client's unconscious shifting to the therapist of feelings and fantasies , both positive and negative Unconscious .
This is the aspect of psychological functioning in our personality that has our experiences , our impulses and our memories . It is the place that is beyond our awareness but that needs to be gone through so that the repressed memories can be brought to consciousness and dealt with for the person to make progress .