Psychoanalysis
Sigmund Freud
Chapter 2
The Case of Judy
47-year-old divorced Caucasian female
Complains of symptoms of depression
Relevant history
Mother left home at age 10
History of physical and sexual abuse
Married and divorced twice
Attempted suicide three times
Basic Philosophy
Pessimistic view of human nature
Dominant force is the innate sexual instinct
Emphasis on unconscious drives
Human Motivation
Primary motivation for humans:
Unconscious motives
Conflicts between genetically built-in
drives
Instincts of self-preservation
Sex
Destruction
Central Constructs
Instinct Theory
Types of Instincts Ways to express
Life Instinct
instincts
Eros
Satisfying the need
Turning the need into
Death Instinct the opposite
Thanatos
Turning back on the
person
Repression
Sublimation
Central Constructs
Topographic Model
Conscious Thought
Unconscious Thought
Preconscious Thought
Central Constructs
The Structural Model
Id
Ego
Superego
Central Constructs
Repression
Pushing “unacceptable” material to the
unconscious…and keeping it there!
Always involved in the formation of
symptoms
Can lead to a person becoming stuck or
“fixated” at a particular psychosocial
stage
Central Constructs
Symptoms as Symbols
Symptoms represent:
Psychic conflict
Unacceptable sexual impulses
Symptoms serve as a defense against
“unacceptable wishes”
Central Constructs
Defense Mechanisms
Identification
Displacement
Projection
Reaction Formation
Sublimation
Regression
Theory of the Person
Key Developmental Stages
Stage Age Erotogenic Behavior due to Fixation
Zone
Oral Birth – 1st year Mouth Nail biting, smoking, overeating
Anal 1 – 4 years Anus Anal retentive
Anal expulsive
Phallic 4 – 6 years Genitals Repression
Latent 8 years to Genitals Over-investment in foreplay
puberty
Psychological Health and
Dysfunction
Healthy Personality
Able to love and work
Demonstrates minimal levels of
repression
Able to bring unconscious conflicts to
the conscious and see them as
sources of current behavior
Psychological Health and
Dysfunction
Dysfunctional Personality
Unresolved unconscious conflicts
Due to unsuccessful resolution of 1
or more psychosexual stages
Psychological Health and
Dysfunction
Realistic Anxiety
An appropriate affective reaction to real
danger
Neurotic Anxiety
Fear that libidinal drives will be expressed and
danger could result
Moral Anxiety
Fear of punishment by the superego
Psychological Health and
Dysfunction
Types of Dysfunction
Hysteria (Conversion Disorder)
Phobias
Depression
Psychoses
Nature of Therapy
Assessment
Formal Assessment is used to gather
information about the nature of the client’s
defenses and unconscious conflicts
Clients project their unconscious material onto
an ambiguous stimuli
Nature of Therapy
Role of the client Role of the counselor
Reveals everything that Decides what is “real”
comes to mind vs. “not real”
Correctly interpret the
client’s unconscious
material
Nature of Therapy
Goals of Therapy
Help client uncover and resolve unconscious conflicts
Strengthen the ego
Psychoanalytic Constructs
Insight
Resistance
Transference
Countertransference
Process of Therapy
Opening Phase
Development of Transference
Working Through
Resolution of Transference
Therapeutic Techniques
Free Association
Interpretation
Analysis of the resistance
Dream analysis
Analysis of the transference
Evaluation
Qualities
Precise/Testable
Empirically valid
Stimulating
Research Support
Outcome research
Theory-testing research
Issues of Individual and
Cultural Diversity
Pros Cons
Modern offshoots Focus of change is on
appear to devalue the individual, not the
women less environment
Females are HIGHLY
motivated by penis
envy
Clearly rooted in
European values