Psychoanalytic Terms Flashcards
What is the anal stage?
The second stage of psychosexual development when pleasure is derived from retaining and expelling feces.
What is analytical psychology?
An elaborate explanation of human nature that combines ideas from history, mythology, anthropology, and religion.
What are anima and animus?
The biological and psychological aspects of masculinity and femininity, thought to coexist in both sexes.
What is anxiety?
A feeling of impending doom arising from repressed feelings, memories, desires, and experiences.
What are archetypes?
Universal, inherited images contained in the collective unconscious, representing shared ancestral experiences.
What is the blank screen technique?
A stance assumed by psychoanalysts to foster transference by remaining anonymous and neutral.
What is borderline personality disorder?
Characterized by instability, impulsivity, and extreme mood shifts, without a clear identity or understanding of others.
What is brief psychodynamic therapy (BPT)?
Adapts principles of psychodynamic theory to treat selective disorders within a preestablished time limit.
What is classical psychoanalysis?
Traditional Freudian therapy involving long-term exploration of unconscious conflicts and extensive process work.
What is the collective unconscious?
Deepest level of the psyche, containing inherited experiences.
What is compensation?
An ego-defense that masks perceived weaknesses or develops positive traits to offset limitations.
What is contemporary psychoanalysis?
New formulations that share core characteristics of classical theory but differ in technique application.
What is countertransference?
A therapist’s unconscious emotional responses to a client, affecting objectivity.
What is a crisis in psychological terms?
A critical turning point where an individual faces potential growth or regression.
What are death instincts?
Freudian concept referring to an unconscious wish for self-destruction or harm to others.
What is denial?
A defense mechanism where unpleasant realities are ignored to avoid anxiety.
What is dialectical behavior therapy (DBT)?
Combines cognitive behavioral and psychoanalytic techniques for a structured treatment.
What is displacement?
Redirecting emotions from their original source to a substitute target.
What is dream analysis?
Interpreting dreams to uncover unconscious material and provide insights.
What is dream work?
Transforming a dream’s latent content into the less threatening manifest content.
What is the ego?
The part of the psyche that mediates between external reality and inner desires.
What are ego-defense mechanisms?
Processes that protect the psyche from anxiety-producing thoughts or feelings.
What is ego psychology?
Focuses on the development of the ego at various life stages, often using Erikson’s theories.
What is fixation?
Being stuck at one developmental level, unable to move forward psychologically.
What is free association?
A psychoanalytic technique where the client speaks freely to reveal unconscious thoughts and feelings.
What is the genital stage?
The final stage of psychosexual development, marked by mature sexual interests.
What is the id?
The primitive part of the psyche that operates on the pleasure principle, seeking immediate gratification.
What is id psychology?
Focuses on instincts and internal conflicts as primary motivators of behavior.
What is identification?
A defense mechanism involving emulating and absorbing aspects of another person.
What is an identity crisis?
A period of significant personal questioning and identity formation, often during adolescence.
What is individuation?
The process of integrating various aspects of the self into a whole personality.
What is interpretation in psychoanalysis?
Offering insights into the unconscious meanings of a client’s words or behaviors.
What is introjection?
Internalizing the qualities or attributes of other people.
What is the latency stage?
A period of psychosexual development characterized by the sublimation of sexual impulses.
What are life instincts?
Drives associated with survival, reproduction, and creativity.
What does maintaining the analytic frame mean?
Ensuring consistent therapy conditions to support psychoanalytic work.
What is manifest content?
The apparent content of a dream, as recalled by the dreamer.
What is moral anxiety?
Anxiety resulting from conflicts between one’s actions and one’s moral standards.
What are multiple transferences?
The phenomenon where individuals in a group setting project feelings onto others as if they were significant figures from their past.
What is narcissism?
Extreme self-love and self-absorption, often hiding insecurity or a poor self-image.
What is a narcissistic personality?
Exhibits traits of grandiosity, need for admiration, and a lack of empathy.
What is neurotic anxiety?
Anxiety caused by fear of letting uncontrollable instincts gain control.
What are object relations?
Mental representations of relationships that guide interactions with others.
What is object-relations theory?
Focuses on relationships and their impact on psychological development.
What is the oral stage?
The first stage of psychosexual development, focusing on oral pleasures such as sucking and biting.
What is persona?
The outward face or role a person presents to the world, often used to mask the true self.
What is the phallic stage?
The psychosexual stage where the focus is on genital pleasures and the complexities of identifying with adult role models.
What is the pleasure principle?
The driving force of the id that seeks immediate gratification of all desires, wants, and needs.
What is projection?
Attributing one’s unacceptable desires, impulses, or thoughts to others instead of oneself.
What is rationalization?
Offering a reasonable explanation for irrational behaviors, thoughts, or feelings.
What is reaction formation?
Managing unacceptable feelings or impulses by expressing their opposites.
What is reality anxiety?
Fear caused by real-world events.
What is the reality principle?
The ego’s control over the pleasure-seeking activity of the id by considering real-world constraints.
What is regression?
Reverting to an earlier stage of development when faced with stress.
What is relational analysis?
Focuses on the dynamics between the client and therapist as a means of understanding and treating psychological issues.
What is the relational model?
Views therapy as a mutual, interactive process between the therapist and client.
What is repression?
Keeping distressing thoughts and feelings buried in the unconscious.
What is resistance?
The client’s attempts to avoid confronting disturbing truths or memories.
What is self psychology?
Emphasizes the formation of self through relationships with others who reflect back parts of oneself.
What is the shadow?
Represents the dark, unacceptable side of personality.
What is sublimation?
Channeling problematic impulses into socially acceptable actions.
What is the superego?
Represents the internalized ideals and morals imposed by caregivers and society; often counters the id.
What is time-limited dynamic psychotherapy?
A form of therapy that aims for significant therapeutic progress within a set timeframe.
What is transference?
The redirection of feelings and desires originally associated with one person to another, especially the therapist.
What is a transference relationship?
Ongoing patterns of transference that play out within the therapeutic relationship.
What is the unconscious?
The part of the psyche that contains thoughts, memories, and desires that are not currently in conscious awareness.
What is working through?
The psychoanalytic process of resolving earlier conflicts re-enacted in therapy.
