psykodynamiskt Flashcards
Brief biography of Sigmund Freud
Developed the idea that portions of the human mind were outside conscious awareness
Hypnosis with Charcot in Paris
what is the fundamental assumptions of psychoanalytic theory
basic notion is that psychic energy motivates all human activity
amount of individual’s psychic energy is constant
personality change was viewed as a redirection of a person’s psychic energy
what are the basic instincts
sex and agression
explain what libido and Thanatos is
libido-life instinct
thanatos- death instinct
what parts does the human mind consist of
conscious- contains thoughts, feelings and images about which you are presently aware
preconscious- contains information you are not presently thinking about, but can be easily retrieved and made conscious
unconscious- largest part of the human mind
unacceptable sexual and agressive urges, thoughts and feelings accumulate in the unconscious during childhood
chance?
freud argued that nothing happens by accident- instead, there is a reason behind every act, thought and feeling
everything we do, think, say, feel is an expression of our mind- either conscious, preconscious or unconscious
slips-of-the-tongue, forgetting names, being late as expressions of motivated unconscious
reasons for “accidents” could be discovered if the contents of the unconscious can be examined
Structure of personality
Psychoanalytic personality theory concerns how people cope with their sexual and aggressive instincts within the constraints of a civilized society
one part of the mind creates these urges, another part has a sense of what society expects and another part tries to satisfy urges within the bounds of reality and society
a metaphor of the mind is plumbing system, which contains water under pressure
pressure is a metaphor for energy from instincts which builds up and demands release
regarding this internal pressure, three different schools of plumbing:
one plumber (ID) suggest we open up all valves at the slightest pressure
another (EGO) offers ways to redirect pressure so that the stain is relieved without making a mess
another (SUPEREGO) wants to keep all the valves closed
explain id
most primitive part of the mind; source of all drives and urges
operates according to the pleasure principle, which is the desire for immediate gratification
functions according to primary process thinking, which is thinking without logical rules of conscious thought or an anchor in reality
wish fulfillment: something unavailable is conjured up and the image of it is temporarily satisfying
explain ego
constraints id to reality
develops within first 2 or 3 years of life
operates according to reality principle: Ego understand that urges of id are often in conflict with social and physical reality
engages in secondary process thinking, which is the development of strategies for problem solving and obtaining satisfaction
explain superego
internalizes ideals, values and moral of society
some people refer to this as “conscience”
main tool of the superego in enforcing right and wrong is the emotion of guilt
like id, superego is not bound by reality
explain interaction of the id, ego and superego
the id, ego and superego are in constant interaction; they have different goals and provoke internal conflicts
a person whose desires are in conflict with reality or internalized morals will appear more anxious
a well-balance mind, one that is free from anxiety, is achieved by having a strong ego
ego depletion: self-control as a “muscle”
what types of anxiety is there?
objective anxiety (responses to real, external threat) neurotic anxiety (conflict between id and ego) moral anxiety (conflict between ego and superego)
the function of ego is to cope with threats and to defend against dangers in order to reduce anxiety: this is accomplished through the use of defense mechanisms
describe defence mechanisms
repression- preventing unacceptable thoughts, feelings or urges from “entering” conscious awareness
can be either beneficial or pathogenic
denial- refusing to see the facts
displacement- a threatening or an unacceptable impulse is channeled or redirected from its original source to a non-threatening target
rationalization- generating acceptable reasons for outcomes that might otherwise appear socially unacceptable
projection- we attribute our own unacceptable qualities onto others
sublimation- channeling unacceptable sexual or aggressive instincts into socially desired activites
psychosexual stages of personality development
each successive stage represents a more mature mode of obtaining sexual gratification
oral stage (birth to 18 months)
main sources of pleasure and tension reduction are the mouth, lips and tongue
key conflict is weaning- withdrawing from the breast or bottle
people who are fixated at the oral stage may be overly dependent
overeating, smoking, drugs
anal stage (18 months to 3 years)
child obtains pleasure from first expelling feces and then during toilet training from retaining feces
many conflicts arise around the child’s ability to achieve self-control
compulsive, overly neat, rigid, stubborn, stingy
phallic stage (3 to 5 years)
child discovers he has (or that she doesn’t have) a penis
sexual desire directed towards the parent of opposite sex
produces oedipal or electra conflicts- unconscious wish to have opposite-sec parent all to self by eliminating the same-sex parent
boys: castration anxiety solves by identification with fathers
girls: penis envy
latency stage (6 years to puberty)
little psychological development occurs focus of child is on learning skills and abilities necessary to succeed as adult
genital stage (puberty through adult life)
libido is focused on the genitals, but not in manner of self-manipulation associated with the phallic stage
this stage is not accompanied by specific conflict
people reach this stage only if conflicts are resolved at previous stages
techniques for revealing the unconscious
goal of psychoanalysis is to make the unconscious conscious
first aim of psychoanalysis is to identify unconscious thoughts and feelings
once a patient is aware if this material, the second aim is to enable the person to deal with it realistically and maturely
standar set of techniques that can be used to dredge up material from the unconscious minds of patients:
free association
dream analysis: latent content, symbols
projective techniques
