4. Psychodynamic Approach Spiritual Structure, Ego & Defense Mechanisms Flashcards
….is the Father of Psychoanalysis & developed the psychoanalytic theory.
Sigmund Freud
Psychoanalytic theory supports the notion that…
….all human behavior is caused and can be explained.
- Freud believed that repressed (driven from conscious awareness) sexual impulses and desires motivate much human behavior.
- Freud concluded that many of problems resulted from childhood trauma or failure to complete tasks of psychosexual development.
Freud conceptualized personality structure as having three components:
- Id: is the part of one’s nature that reflects basic or innate desires such as pleasure-seeking behavior, aggression, and sexual impulses.
- Superego: is the part of a person’s nature that reflects moral and ethical concepts, values, and parental and social expectations. It is in direct opposition to the id.
- Ego: The ego is the balancing or mediating force between the id and the superego. The ego represents mature and adaptive behavior that allows a person to function successfully in the world.
- Freud believed that anxiety resulted from the ego’s attempts to balance the impulsive instincts of the id with the stringent rules of the superego.
Freud believed that the human personality functions at three levels of awareness:
- Conscious refers to the perceptions, thoughts, and emotions that exist in the person’s awareness, such as being aware of happy feelings or thinking about a loved one.
- Preconscious thoughts and emotions are not currently in the person’s awareness, but he or she can recall them with some effort - for example, an adult remembering what he or she did, thought, or felt as a child.
- The Unconscious is the realm of thoughts and feelings that motivate a person even though he or she is totally unaware of them.
This realm includes most defense mechanisms and some instinctual drives or motivations.
According to Freud’s theories, the person represses into the unconscious the memory of traumatic events that are too painful to remember.
Freud believed that much of what we do and say is motivated by our subconscious thoughts or feelings (those in the preconscious or unconscious level of awareness).
The Unconscious is the realm of thoughts and feelings that motivate a person even though he or she is totally unaware of them.
A primary technique used in psychoanalysis, involves discussing a client’s dreams to discover their true meaning and significance.
Dream analysis
- Freud believed that a person’s dreams reflect his or her subconscious and have significant meaning, although sometimes the meaning is hidden or symbolic.
- Another method used to gain access to subconscious thoughts and feelings is….in which the therapist tries to uncover the client’s true thoughts and feelings by saying a word and asking the client to respond quickly with the first thing that comes to mind.
- Freud believed that such quick responses would be likely to uncover subconscious or repressed thoughts or feelings.
Free association
Freud believed the self, or ego, uses ego Defense Mechanisms, which are….
…methods of attempting to protect the self and cope with basic drives or emotionally painful thoughts, feelings, or events.
- Most Defense Mechanisms operate at the unconscious level of awareness, so people are not aware of what they are doing and often need help to see the reality.
- Types of Defense Mechanisms:
- Reaction formation: continuously cheerful behavior to protect emotions.
- Denial: refusal to talk about an illness or refusal to accept the reality of the situation.
- Compensation: overachievement in one area to offset real or perceived deficiencies in another area.
- Napoleon complex: diminutive man becoming emperor.
- Conversion: Expression of an emotional conflict through the development of a physical symptom, usually sensorimotor in nature.
- Displacement: Ventilation of intense feelings toward persons less threatening than the one who aroused those feelings.
- Dissociation: Dealing with emotional conflict by a temporary alteration in consciousness or identity.
- Identification: Acting and behaving like someone else; taking on another’s personality characteristics.
- Intellectualization: Separation of the emotions of a painful event or situation from the facts involved; acknowledging the facts but not the emotions.
- Projection: Refusing to recognize behavior in oneself and instead “projecting” it or seeing it in someone else.
- Rationalization: Excusing own behavior to avoid guilt, responsibility, conflict, anxiety, or loss of self-respect.
- Reaction formation: Doing the opposite of one’s unconscious wishes.
- Regression: Going back to an earlier and happier time of development.
- Repression: Excluding emotionally painful or anxiety-provoking thoughts and feelings from conscious awareness.
- Resistance: Overt or covert antagonism toward remembering or processing anxiety-producing information.
- Sublimation: Taking repressed feelings and transforming them into positive and constructive pursuits.
- Suppression: Wishing to put something unpleasant out of awareness and voluntarily doing so.
- Undoing: Exhibiting acceptable behavior to make up for or negate unacceptable behavior.
Psychopathology results when:
A person has difficulty making the transition from one stage to the next or when a person remains stalled at a particular stage or regresses to an earlier stage.
- This theory of childhood development on the belief that sexual energy (libido) was the driving force of human behavior.
- The theory proposes that children progress through five stages of psychosexual development.
Freud’s Model of Psychosexual Development
Five stages of Psychosexual Development.
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Oral stage (Birth to 18 months): Major site of tension and gratification is the mouth, lips, and tongue; includes biting and sucking activities.
Id is present at birth. Ego develops gradually from rudimentary structure present at birth. -
Anal stage (18–36 months): Anus and surrounding area are major source of interest.
Voluntary sphincter control (toilet training) is acquired.
3.Phallic/oedipal (3–5 years): Genital is the focus of interest, stimulation, and excitement.
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Latency stage (5–11 or 13 years): Sexual drive channeled into socially appropriate activities such as school work and sports
Formation of the superego. - Genital stage(11–13 years): Begins with puberty, involves the capacity for true intimacy.
Freud developed the concepts of transference and countertransference.
- Transference refers to:
- Countertransference refers to:
- Feelings and thoughts that clients have toward the nurse, psychiatrist, or other service provider.
- In transference, the client is thought to project an imagined image about the provider, which may be positive or negative and may hamper or move forward the process of therapy.
- Feelings and thoughts that service providers have toward the client.
- In countertransference the provider may harbor certain images of the client that result in “blind spots,” which can be destructive or disruptive to therapy.
- Nurses can deal with countertransference by examining their own feelings and responses, using self-awareness, and talking with colleagues.
Transference is subconsciously associating a person in the present with a past relationship. For example, you meet a new client who reminds you of a former lover.
Countertransference is responding to them with all the thoughts and feelings attached to that past relationship.
It is costly and not covered by conventional health insurance programs; thus, it has become known as “therapy for the wealthy.”
Psychoanalysis
- It is still practiced today but on a very limited basis. Analysis is lengthy, with weekly or more frequent sessions for several years.
