Lecture
Psychoanalytic theory is the most fundamental early psychological theory, one that exerted an extremely strong influence on the development of other psychological schools. Many concepts used in the practice of psychoanalytic counseling, such as free association, interpretation, transference, and resistance, deserve the attention of every counselor.
In the early 1880s, Freud grew close to the well-known Viennese physician Josef Breuer, who told Freud about the method he used to treat hysteria by immersing the patient in deep hypnosis and encouraging them to put into words their memories of emotionally charged and oppressive situations from the past. In the late 1880s, Freud began using Breuer's technique in his own work with patients. In 1893, Freud and Breuer published the materials they had gathered concerning the use of the cathartic method.
In the 1890s, Freud gradually moved from catharsis to psychoanalysis proper. As Nelson-Jones writes, Freud suffered from a pronounced psychoneurosis, and it was precisely in 1897-1900, when the state of his nervous system deteriorated significantly, that he created his most original theory – psychoanalysis40. Between 1897 and 1899, Freud wrote his major work, «The Interpretation of Dreams». Freud subjected his own unconscious to psychoanalysis, and the results of this self-analysis formed the basis of the book.
The pleasure principle. The pleasure principle is based on the constancy hypothesis, according to which the psychic apparatus makes efforts to keep excitation at as low a level as possible. Thus, anything that raises the level of excitation will be felt as unpleasant, while anything that lowers it will be experienced as pleasurable. Although there is a strong tendency in consciousness toward orientation to the pleasure principle, there are also other forces that oppose this tendency and govern behavior.
Instincts. Freud acknowledged that a person has many different instincts, but he proceeded from the premise that two basic instincts could be distinguished — the erotic and the destructive. Erotic instincts strive to combine as much living matter as possible into ever larger unities, while destructive instincts «oppose these efforts and lead all living things back to an inorganic state. Eros includes the instincts of self-preservation, preservation of the species, ego-love, and object-love (love of an object), and its energy is called libido.
Freud regarded the tendency toward aggression as an original instinctive tendency characteristic of all people. The development of civilization represents a struggle between the life instincts and the death instincts taking place within the human species.
The unconscious and consciousness. Freud asserted that there are two kinds of unconscious. First, there is the unconscious proper, which is material inaccessible to consciousness because of repression. The censorship of material seeking to enter awareness is very strict. The task of psychoanalysts is to help clients make part of this material accessible to awareness. It should be noted that a strong resistance reaction may develop in the process, in particular because much of what is repressed has a «forbidden» sexual coloring.
The second kind of unconscious is the preconscious, which consists of everything that can readily move from the unconscious into the conscious. Thus, the preconscious is latent and capable of becoming conscious, whereas the unconscious is repressed and can hardly be made conscious without a great effort. Material can remain in the preconscious, although it usually finds its way into consciousness even without psychoanalytic intervention. The preconscious can be regarded as a screen between the unconscious and the conscious.
Consciousness performs the function of a sense organ, perceiving psychic qualities. Unlike the two kinds of unconscious, consciousness has no memory of its own, and the state of being conscious is generally transient. What becomes conscious, or enters the sense organ of consciousness, is material originating from the external world as well as internal excitations. In addition, the function of speech allows internal factors, such as sequences of ideas and intellectual processes, to become conscious.
The structure of the psychic apparatus, according to Freud's theory, consists of three systems, or forces: the Id, the Ego, and the Superego. Psychological well-being depends on how effectively these three systems interact.
The Id, or the «It», is the oldest of the three systems, containing everything that is inherited and fixed in one's constitution. The Id is filled with instinctual energy and strives to satisfy instinctive needs on the basis of the pleasure principle. The activity of the Id is directed toward ensuring the free discharge of excitation. Freud regarded the Id as chaos; the Id contains no notions of any morality whatsoever. The Id is the individual's primary subjective reality, existing at the subconscious level.
The Ego, or "I," is formed, first and foremost, from bodily sensations. The Ego is a part of the Id that has undergone a special path of development and has been modified under the influence of the external world. The Ego acts as a mediator between the Id and the external world and is the ideal "representative" of reason and common sense. The Ego strives to impose upon the Id the reality principle in place of the pleasure principle. The processes of the Ego, which include perception, problem-solving, and suppression, are later developmental outcomes, or secondary processes. Nevertheless, the Ego also strives for pleasure and tries to avoid unpleasure, differing from the Id only in the means used to achieve their common goals. In considering internal events connected with the Id, the Ego attempts to manage instinctual demands by making decisions regarding the timing and manner of their fulfillment, or by suppressing the excitation conditioned by these demands.
The Super-Ego is formed within the Ego and is a reflection of residual parental influence. Parental influence includes cultural, racial, and family influences. As a person grows, the nature of parental influence may change.
The main function of the Super-ego, which is absorbed in self-observation, is to suppress the demands of the Id through moral influence on the Ego. Initially, the child instinctively resorts to self-renunciation out of fear of losing love or out of apprehension of aggression from an external, or parental, authority. Instinctive self-renunciation arises from fear of an internal authority, or the Super-ego. The Super-ego represents moral constraints and safeguards the striving for perfection. Conflicts may arise between the Ego and the Super-ego, and in such cases both forces remain largely unconscious.
Anxiety. Freud defined anxiety as a specific state of unpleasure characterized by a motor discharge occurring in a particular way. Freud regarded anxiety as a universal reaction to a situation involving danger, and considered the Ego to be the sole center of anxiety. Three types of anxiety can be distinguished: a) realistic anxiety, the source of which is dangers threatening from the external world; b) moral anxiety, conditioned by conflict with the Super-ego; c) neurotic anxiety, which is based on conflict with the instinctual impulses of the Id. Thus, anxiety is either a reaction to actual danger or a signal implying the perception of impending danger.
Psychic energy, cathexis, and anticathexis. In psychoanalysis there is a notion according to which psychic energy moves in a manner similar to electric charges. Cathexes are charges of instinctual energy that seek discharge, while anticathexes are charges of energy that make such discharge impossible. The Id has only instinctual "primary-process cathexes," which seek discharge. The Ego and the Super-ego, however, possess both impelling cathexes and restraining anticathexes. Throughout the individual's life, the Ego represents the pathway along which libidinal cathexes are transferred to objects and along which these cathexes can be "withdrawn." Two characteristic features of libidinal cathexes are mobility, the ease with which they move from one object to another, and, in contrast, a tendency toward fixation, or attachment to specific objects.
Bisexuality. Freud believed that all individuals are bisexual from birth, and that the sexual impulse is, in all likelihood, entirely independent of the sex of the object. In other words, there is only one libido, and it cannot be ascribed to a particular sex. Therefore, the choice of both a heterosexual and a homosexual object requires explanation.
Psychoanalytic studies conducted to investigate latent sexual arousal have shown that all men are capable of choosing a homosexual object and in fact make such a choice unconsciously. Homosexual libidinal feelings play a significant role in normal psychic life and in the development of illness. A certain degree of homosexuality is inherent from birth in every individual, while the ultimate determination of sexual behavior depends on the degree to which the constitutional predisposition is expressed, as well as on life experience and the nature of restrictive influences.
Infantile sexuality and amnesia. Freud drew a clear distinction between the concepts of "sexual" and "genital," holding that sexual life implies deriving pleasure from the stimulation of the erogenous zones of the body and that its aim is not necessarily reproduction. Sexual life includes tender and affectionate impulses, often referred to as "love." In a certain sense, the sexual behavior of an adult individual whose aims are not reproduction, possession of a heterosexual object, and sexual intercourse can be regarded as perverse.
Sexual life begins shortly after birth. The infant finds pleasure in its own body, and such infantile sexuality is autoerotic in nature. Freud believed that the normal sexual behavior pattern develops partly as a reaction to organic changes and partly as a result of psychic prohibitions and repression. People remain largely unaware of the origins of their sexuality. Nevertheless, infantile and childhood sexual experience leaves deep traces in the psychic life of the individual. Freud used the term «infantile amnesia» to describe the phenomenon whereby early sexual experience is forgotten.
Stages of sexual development. Freud distinguished two phases at the outset of sexual life. The first is the pregenital phase of sexual development, a process characterized by a stable course (up to age 5). This is followed by a lull, or latency period. The second is the genital phase, which begins with the revival of the sexual impulse at puberty.
The pregenital phase can be divided into three separate stages of sexual formation. The first erogenous zone is the mouth, and, accordingly, sexual development begins with the oral stage. The infant's act of sucking ceases to be necessary solely for feeding and can be regarded as the pursuit of a sexual pleasure independent of feeding.
The second organ that becomes an erogenous zone is the anus. In normal sexual development, the oral stage is followed by the anal stage. The active aspect of this stage consists in the emergence of an impulse toward mastery, the strengthening of the body's musculature, and increased control over the sphincters. Character traits such as neatness, thrift, and stubbornness are associated with this stage, which together define the so-called «anal character».
The third organ that becomes an erogenous zone is the genital apparatus. The period of sexual development in which the male sexual organ (the phallus) and the female clitoris become important is the phallic stage. This stage begins at around the third year of the child's life. During this time the child derives pleasure from masturbation. In the phallic stage, the sexuality of early childhood becomes most strongly expressed, and it is at this time that male and female sexual development become differentiated.
Part of the phallic stage of development in both sexes is the Oedipal phase. At an early age the little boy develops an object-cathexis toward his mother and identifies himself with his father. During the phallic stage the boy develops a wish to get rid of his father and take his place beside his mother. The threat of castration compels the boy to renounce and suppress his incestuous wishes. Resolution of the boy's Oedipus complex involves relinquishing his object-cathexis toward his mother, which more often leads to a strengthening of his identification with his father (the boy's character becoming more masculine), or sometimes may lead the son to identify with his mother instead.
For the girl, the mother is likewise the first object of love. During the phallic stage the girl's principal erogenous zone is the clitoris. Freud believed that, in the course of a girl's development into a woman, the vagina must become the principal erogenous zone, and the sex of the love object must also change. At this stage the girl develops an Oedipus complex - she begins to strive for possession of her father and for the removal of her mother. This situation may be complicated by the presence of a bisexual disposition in the girl. Over time, the intensity of the female Oedipus complex diminishes, partly as a result of inevitable disappointments in the father.
The latency period - the period beginning at around age six (possibly somewhat later in girls) and ending with the onset of menarche and puberty - is the period of sexual latency. During the latency period, sexual inhibitions develop. One of the mechanisms by which sexual energy is redirected is called sublimation, or the redirection of libido toward the achievement of new goals and toward various cultural pursuits. Moreover, as the individual develops, libidinal impulses can induce opposing anticathexes, or reactions, such as disgust, shame, and moral concerns.
The genital phase begins at puberty and involves the subordination of all sources of sexual feeling to the dominant genital zones. Libidinal cathexes that arose earlier can be preserved either by incorporating them into sexual activity or by suppressing them or redirecting them elsewhere. During puberty, libido intensifies in boys, while in girls repression intensifies. During puberty, the drive toward an incestuous choice of object is overcome, and there is a departure from parental authority. If the individual's prior sexual development has been adequate, he becomes ready to establish heterosexual relations.
+Identification - is an important concept that helps us understand how the Ego and Superego develop. Identification can be viewed from three perspectives: first, as the original form of emotional tie with an object; second, as a regressive substitute for a libidinal object-tie, by means of introjection of the object into the Ego, so that the Ego takes on characteristics of the object (for example, a woman may imitate her father's cough); and third, as a feeling that arises from the perception of a quality shared with another person who is not the object of libidinal cathexis. The development of the Superego can be viewed in light of identification with parental authority, through which young people, wishing to be like their parents and regarding them as worthy of imitation, form their Ego. Identification is part of the normal course of development. But the Ego may be either limited or strengthened, depending on the nature of the identification.
Defense mechanisms
The child's Ego is relatively weak in early childhood, yet it must deal with strong instinctual sexual impulses. At this stage, the loss of the love object can give rise to anxiety, which may persist into later stages. Later, anxiety may arise from fear of castration (at the phallic stage) and fear of the Superego (during the latency period and after its end).
In order to cope with the sources of anxiety, the Ego uses defense mechanisms. However, defense mechanisms limit the functioning of the Ego and expend psychic energy on anticathexes. Defense mechanisms operate unconsciously and can hinder realistic behavior. People generally do not use all defense mechanisms, but select only some of them.
Repression is the principal, concealed defense mechanism of the Ego, underlying all other forms of defense. Two modes of repression can be distinguished. First, material that is in the preconscious, and therefore accessible to consciousness, is pushed back into the unconscious. Second, through censorship, unconscious material can be prevented from entering the preconscious, so that this material remains unconscious. For example, any form of repression is applicable to latent sexually perverse impulses arising in the individual.
Sublimation – a defense mechanism that involves channeling instinctual sexual impulses into a more socially acceptable outlet. For example, painters may express their sexuality in the works of art they create. Sublimation is not necessarily pathological.
Reaction formation allows the acknowledgment of impulses that are the opposite of those threatening the Ego. For example, sexual impulses may be rejected through excessive modesty, disgust, and hatred of sexuality.
Denial – a defense mechanism in which the Ego rejects some demand of the external world, refusing to perceive that which would entail acknowledging an unpleasant real situation. For example, people may deny others' feedback regarding their aggressive behavior.
Fixation – a delay at an earlier stage due to strong anxiety when transitioning to the next stage of sexual development. For example, children may continue to be strongly dependent on their mother instead of forming new object-cathexes.
Regression - a return to an earlier stage in the presence of a threat.
Projection – a defense mechanism through which the Ego, dealing with the threat of an unacceptable instinctual impulse, turns it into an external impulse. For example, instead of adequately assessing the strength of their own aggressive impulses, a person may attribute these traits to others.
+Normal development implies passing through successive stages of sexual maturation without significant fixations and regressions, the development of an Ego that copes well with the influences of the external world, the development of a Superego based on identifications that are constructive rather than excessively rigid and moralistic, and the development of defense mechanisms that release part of the Id's energy without seriously limiting the functioning of the Ego. Normal development is a dynamic process in the course of which the distribution and redistribution of psychic energy among the Id, Ego, and Superego, the three systems of the psychic apparatus, continues.
Freud considered the emergence and development of neurosis in a person to be conditioned by several factors.
1) Biological factors. At birth, the human organism is helpless and dependent. Helplessness creates the preconditions for the emergence of an original sense of danger. This fear, in turn, gives rise to a need to be loved, which a person never abandons.
2) At the core of the phylogenetic factor lies a break in human sexual development during the latency period. Most of the instinctual demands characteristic of infantile sexuality are perceived by the Ego as dangers to be prevented. There is a danger that the sexual impulses of puberty will follow their infantile prototypes and thus will be repressed.
3) The psychological factor includes three elements: disturbance of the libidinal impulses, or suppression of the sexual instinct by the Ego system under the influence of anxiety caused by the fear that satisfaction of the arising sexual cathexis might cause harm; transformation of frustrated sexual impulses into neurotic symptoms; suppression, upon the renewed awakening of the sexual instincts during puberty, of these instincts (when this occurs, the individual may experience an intense neurotic conflict and suffer greatly as a result).
Freud believed that the foundations of neuroses are laid only in early childhood, before the age of six, although signs of neurotic conflict may not appear for a long time. Neurotic individuals, despite their suffering, are unable to heal their disturbed Egos, and so they continue to suffer. The reason for this is that the suppression carried out by their weak childhood Egos is unconscious. Thus, the Egos of these people pay for having engaged defense mechanisms in the past by having no conscious access to the material that could be used to resolve the neurotic conflict. The neurotic Egos of such people are weakened by suppression, and the normal functioning of their personality is hindered by the psychic energy expended on harmful defensive anticathexes. And as long as the suppression continues, the formation of neurotic symptoms through the recanalization of frustrated libidinal impulses remains just as much an obstacle.
A neurotic is a person who is unable to obtain pleasure and act effectively. In this connection, three main goals of psychoanalysis can be identified: a) release of the impulse; b) strengthening of the reality-based functioning of the Ego, including such an expansion of the Ego's perception as would allow it to appropriate a greater part of the Id; c) changing the content of the Superego so that the Superego represents humane rather than rigid moral standards. Psychoanalysis is a process of re-education and strengthening of the Ego.
Freud considered psychoanalytic treatment effective for a great many nervous illnesses, in particular hysteria, heightened anxiety, and obsessional neuroses. The client's Ego must retain a minimal degree of consistency or orientation to reality, which cannot be expected of psychotics, and therefore psychoanalysis is contraindicated for them.
Free association. The fundamental rule that clients must follow is the rule of free association. Clients must tell the analyst everything that comes into their mind, even if it is unpleasant and even if it seems meaningless. Analysts encourage clients to avoid self-criticism and to share all their thoughts, feelings, ideas, memories, and associations. The use of free associations helps lift suppression by converting material contained in the unconscious into conscious material.
Transference. Freud discovered that clients transfer onto analysts feelings and emotions that in the past were directed at persons who played an important role in their lives. Freud speaks of the transference of love and notes that this love is ambivalent, being a mixture of affection and its «reverse side» — hostility. At the beginning of counseling, transference can be positive. In this case the client's weak Ego can become stronger, and he can achieve success out of love for the analyst. Another advantage of transference in counseling is that clients place analysts in the position of their fathers or mothers and give counselors the opportunity, acting in the role of a new Superego, to use the power thus gained to re-educate the neurotic. At the same time, analysts must always respect their clients' need for independence. Through transference, clients can reproduce important moments of their lives and reveal their defensive reactions connected with their neuroses.
Over time, transference in counseling acquires a negative sign, turning into resistance. The ability to work with transference is essential for analysts, since they must constantly show clients the prototypes of feelings that the clients experienced in childhood.
Resistance. Clients tend to resist the reproduction of suppressed material. Freud described all the forces hindering clients' recovery as their resistance.
The stronger the threat posed by the suppressed material, the more stubbornly the Ego clings to its anticathexes.
The second type of resistance is transference-resistance.
The third type of resistance is resistance to giving up the secondary gains of the illness.
The fourth type of resistance is resistance from the Id, which may oppose change in the direction of its satisfaction.
The fifth type of resistance is an unconscious sense of guilt or an unconscious desire for punishment (arising in the Ego), which drives the individual to resist any success achieved in the course of analysis. Clients believe they must remain ill because they do not deserve anything better. This is the most powerful type of resistance, and the one analysts fear most.
The struggle to overcome resistance is the main work of psychoanalysts. The forces that help analysts overcome clients' resistance are the clients' need for recovery, interest in the analytic process, and clients' positive transference toward the analysts.
Interpretation – refers to ways of explaining what has happened to clients and been forgotten by them, as well as what is now happening to clients that they do not understand. Interpretation is the means by which suppressed and unconscious material is transformed into preconscious material and into consciousness. Analysts apply interpretation not only for the purpose of making Id impulses conscious, but also to help clients understand the defense and resistance mechanisms used by their Ego.
The purpose of interpretation is to help clients replace suppression with rational actions appropriate to the situation as it currently stands. The analyst works with the client's Ego, prompting this Ego to overcome resistance and take under its control the libidinal energy that has been suppressed until now.
Material for interpretation can include clients' free associations, slips of the tongue, dreams, and transference onto the analysts. The more details reflected in the interpretations that had been forgotten by clients, the easier it is for clients to accept these interpretations.
Freud believed that, ultimately, the effectiveness of psychoanalysis depends on the quantitative ratio between the energy that the analyst was able to mobilize in the client for the client's own benefit, and the energy of the forces working against the client
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