PSYCHOANALYTIC THERAPY
(SIGMUND FREUD)
A. Biography of Sigmund Freud
On May 6, 1856, Sigmund Freud was born in Freiburg, Moravia, a tiny town that
was then in Austria but is today a part of Czechoslovakia. His dad, wool trader Jakob was
raised by a woman who was half his father's age. Due to the fact that Freud's great
grandfather was a rabbi, he was brought up with Jewish customs and values. When Freud
was 4 years old, the family moved to Vienna, where they spent the majority of his life.
Sigmund was raised by his parents as a "golden child" despite being born into a lower-
class Jewish family. He was an honors high school graduate who spoke eight languages
fluently: German, French, English, Italian, Spanish, Hebrew, Latin, and.
Early in his career, Freud employed the standard therapies of the day, including as
baths, massages, electrotherapy, and rest cures. Subsequently, he developed a greater
interest in the psychological connections of the nervous system rather than its physical
features. He focused his full-time research on the psychological underpinnings of
neuroses. According to him, the root of neurosis is a sexual conflict between an
individual's natural impulses and the consequences of directly expressing those desires in
society.
In the beginning of his private practice, Freud helped clients with neuroses by
using hypnosis and his colleague Joseph Breuer's cathartic technique. Through client
conversation and the process of free association, the client expresses and releases feelings
using the cathartic approach. Breuer and Freud argued in their 1895 book Investigations
on Hysteria that the symptoms of hysteria resulted from a confluence of very distressing
memories and suppressed emotions. The client's role was to aid the psychiatrist help him
or her remember forgotten memories and the emotional expression of those occurrences.
Freud thought that the sexual tensions that the client experienced as a kid were what
created the traumatic experiences that led to hysteria.
Much of Freud's life was devoted to creating and improving his psychoanalytic
theory. He produced a ton of work; his complete works span 24 volumes. He frequently
worked 18-hour writing days. He received the Goethe Prize in 1932 in recognition of his
contributions to German literary culture and psychology. However, Freud's books were
destroyed by the Nazis when they took over Germany a year later. Freud's sisters were all
murdered by the Nazis. When Germany annexed Austria in March 1938, Freud fled to
London in June of the same year.
B. Theory of Personality
In light of Freud's theories on different levels of consciousness and his three-part
theory of the id, ego, and superego, one might examine his theory of personality. I start
with degrees of awareness since awareness comes first and personality structure develops
from one's awareness. The conscious level, the preconscious level, and the unconscious
level were the three levels of consciousness that Freud suggested. Consciousness is the
level at which our mental processes function. It's possible to compare the mind to an
iceberg. All we think, see, or comprehend is contained inside our level of conscious
consciousness. All of our mental processes function at the conscious level. Our conscious
is where everything that we are aware of is kept, yet it only makes up a very small
portion of who we are. We only experience a very small portion of our personality at any
given moment; the majority of who we are is hidden and out of our reach. Just 10% of an
iceberg is aware (visible), with the remaining 90% being submerged (preconscious and
unconscious).
Personality, according to Freud, is "the scaffold of the mind." He divided the
mind into three parts: the id, which represents one's biological self in their personality;
the ego, which serves as the psychological core of their identity; and the superego, which
serves as the social controller (typically their parents) and keeps behavior within
boundaries that are considered acceptable by society. Freud believed that Eros (life and
sex) and Thanatos were the two primary dynamic factors influencing personality (death
and aggression). Humans always seek to satisfy their violent and sexual urges
immediately.
The pleasure principle controls the id, which is irrational, immoral, and motivated
by the impulse to gratify its primal needs and desires. The person's id is mainly hidden
from conscious awareness. The infant or child concentrates their attention on things that
will meet their needs. When the id is in command, a person is more likely to overindulge
in food and alcohol, engage in excessive amounts of sex, and get into fights from around
6 to 8 months of age, the ego begins to emerge most obviously. The conscious,
preconscious, and unconscious domains are where the ego resides. The ego serves as a
mediator between the id and the superego and is logical, able to create realistic plans, and
rational.
The third element of a person's personality is their superego, which stands for
society norms and parental values. The values of the parents are incorporated as the kid
grows. As a result, the ego ideal develops, which includes traits that the parents find
acceptable. Freud asserted that the morality principle, which stands for society's standards
of good and evil, is the foundation upon which the superego functions. The superego is
oriented more toward the past than the present or the future and strives for perfection.
The superego requires stringent obedience to an ideal and attempts to restrain the id and
ego.
C. Psychosexual Phases of Development
1. Oral
The oral phase, according to Freud, is the first stage of development. From the time of
birth until around 18 months, this period occurs. During the oral phase, the infant's
primary source of libidinal enjoyment revolves upon eating and the physical parts
connected to this function—specifically, the mouth, lips, and tongue—as well as the
infant's emotions of security that emerge from being held. After the infant's oral
demands are met, he or she enters a state of fullness, which lowers tension and
encourages sleep.
2. Anal
Children's primary source of pleasure between the ages of 18 months and 3 years is
the anal region. Children may touch and play with feces as they study their
physiological functions. Children who experience adults' distaste during their play
with these activities may have low self-esteem as well as a stubborn assertiveness and
rebelliousness to be in charge. Power battles occur in the anal period and tend to get
worse throughout the "terrible twos." In the anal phase, children get preoccupied if
their caregivers are excessively strict or indulgent. An adult who displays an anal
personality, which is defined as one who is controlled by a need to hang onto or to
retain, is typically produced by an overbearing or over responsible parent who
imposes toilet training too early or too brutally. These anal personality types cling to
their possessions (tightfistedness), their emotions (restraint), and their own ways of
doing things (stubbornness). Children who are potty trained brutally learn that being
careful, tidy, and on time will result in consequences.
3. Phallic
The most significant sexual struggle in Freud's psychosexual phases of development
occur during the phallic phase. It lasts from around the age of three until five or six.
The anal region gives way to the genital region as the source of satisfaction. Children
engage in medical role-playing games throughout this stage to express their own
interest about the genitalia of males and girls.
4. Latency
The latency phase, during which the young child's sexual urge is inactive, follows the
resolution of the phallic phase. Freud thought that the inhibition of sexual urges
during latency was unsurpassed. During the ages of 6 to 12, there is a relatively calm
developmental stage known as the latency phase (or puberty). Children focus on the
outside world when they are in latency, suppressing their sexual energy and using it
instead for their education, their friends, their interests, and their participation in
sports. In order to develop an adult identity, this period involves significant
adjustments. The idea behind latency was that it served as a calm transition from the
turbulent pre-genital period to the impending storm of adolescent. Latency is a period
of ego growth and social norms education. This stage prepares a youngster for the
genital phase when they reach puberty.
5. Genital
By the age of 13, the genital phase, which marks the start of puberty, starts. Young
individuals direct their sexual desire (libido) either toward persons of the same sex or
toward people of the opposite sex (if they are straight) (if homosexual). The ability of
the kid to establish healthy connections with the other sex will increase in direct
proportion to the amount of energy put in resolving psychosexual processes.
According to Freud, no one can develop a mature genital character without going
through a fruitful analysis. The genital phase can be compared to the first three stages
since it is less self-centered and more selfless. According to psychoanalytic theory,
individuals who struggle to form psychological attachments while they are
adolescents and young adults will have deviant personality traits.
D. The Therapeutic Process
The goal of psychoanalysis is to alter a person's personality and underlying
character. Psychoanalysis, in Freud's opinion, offers the possibility of assisting people
who are willing and able to engage in a drawn-out and sometimes painful process in
resolving some intra psychic conflicts so that they may experience life with maturity. The
four phases of traditional psychoanalysis are the opening phase, the development of
transference, the working through of transference, and the resolution of transference.
1. Opening Phase
The opening phase, which lasts for three to six weeks, entails the therapist's
initial interaction with the patient. Everything the client says and does is
recorded by the therapist in case it's later used in therapy. The therapist
evaluates the nature of each client's issues, taking into account their current
circumstances, what motivated them to seek treatment, how they interact with
others, their family history, and the growth of their children. Psychoanalysts
dislike formal history-taking that follows a set format. They contend that
clients should choose the agenda for the psychoanalytic session instead the
therapist explains the duties of the client and the psychoanalytic procedure.
The next step in the opening phase is to introduce clients to the couch and
psychoanalytic procedures like free association.
2. Development of transference
All of the client's transference experiences become a part of the
psychoanalytic environment and can be studied and understood due to the
relationship the psychoanalyst and client develop. Also, clients experience the
power of their subconscious, childish fantasy wishes as a result of
transference. Moreover, transference analysis, used by therapists, aids clients
in understanding how they misunderstand, misinterpret, and relate to
individuals in the present based on their encounters with persons in the past—
typically their parents. Clients are able to assess the irrational nature of their
urges and fears, to make wise choices based on reality rather than on
exaggerated imaginations, and to restore the dynamic equilibrium between
their urge and conflict—a balance that will ultimately result in life fulfillment
and pleasure.
3. Working-through phase
Dealing repeatedly with the insights that have resulted from the therapist's
readings of resistance and transference could be referred to as "working
through" in this context. The working-through phase involves clients using
transference analysis to obtain understanding of their problems. By examining
how those forgotten or suppressed memories are influencing the client in the
present, the therapist assists the client in working through those memories.
Clients frequently become aware of their numerous coping mechanisms, the
urges they have attempted to control, and the various ways in which their
symptoms are currently expressing.
4. Resolution of transference
The end of the therapy period is marked by the resolution of transference. The
client and the analyst designate a date for stopping treatment as soon as they
feel that the main objectives of analysis have been accomplished and that the
transference is clearly understood. Any leftover attachment difficulties the
client has with the therapist must be resolved by the analyst and the client
together.
E. Therapy Techniques
Free association, dream analysis, analysis of resistance, and analysis of
transference were Freud's four main methods of analysis.
1. Free association
Free association is a fundamental psychoanalytic approach that enables clients to
express whatever that comes to mind, no matter how absurd, distressing, or senseless
it may seem. It is based on the idea that one association triggers another deeper in the
unconscious, and so forth. Clients are able to give up their customary methods of
thought censorship or editing when they engage in free association. Slips of the
tongue are examined to see what they can tell us about the clients' emotions.
2. Dream Analysis
The deeper, hidden, and symbolic meaning of a dream is included in its latent
content. Because the unconscious sexual and aggressive impulses that underlie the
dream are so dangerous, they are translated into the appropriate manifest content, or
what the dream appears to the dreamer to be on the surface. Dream work is the
process through which a dream's latent substance is changed into its manifest, less
dangerous content. When you delve deeper, you learn that the dream is trying to tell
you that you feel trapped by your circumstances and that you want to flee from your
obligations. By examining the symbolism contained in the manifest content of the
dream, the therapist's job is to assist the client in discovering hidden meanings.
3. Analysis of resistance
The goal of the therapist's analysis of resistance is to assist clients in identifying the
causes of their resistance so they can address them. It is crucial that therapists accept
client resistance since it acts as a line of defense for the client against worry. The goal
shouldn't be to entirely remove a client's resistances because doing so could leave
them without appropriate defenses. Clients may start to feel less threatened and more
competent of dealing with the difficult aspects that first made them refuse treatment
as analysis goes on. They start to get over their opposition.
4. Analysis of transference
The skewed displacements of important relationships that clients perceive when
transferring their experiences onto the therapist are interpreted by therapists.
Therapists interpret their patients' suppressed emotions, traumatic conflicts, and
unconsciously held early childhood fixations. Analysis of transference aids clients in
understanding how their history influences their present selves. The interpretation of
transference teaches clients how to resolve previous issues that prevented
psychological development.
