Psychoanalysis is a methodology based on the study, identification, analysis of the anxieties of the individual repressed from consciousness, hidden or suppressed, which obviously traumatized his psyche.

For the first time, the term psychoanalysis in psychology was introduced by Sigmund Freud, who worked on the study of unconscious processes occurring in the human psyche and on motivations deeply hidden in the human subconscious.

Based on the foundations of the methodology, human nature is considered from the point of view of the confrontation of the tendencies of the antipodes. It is psychoanalysis that makes it possible to see how unconscious confrontation affects not only personal self-esteem, but also the emotionality of a person, his connections with his immediate environment, individual social institutions.

Usually the source of the conflict is localized in the conditions of the individual's experience, and since people are both social and biological beings, their main biological aspiration is the search for pleasure while avoiding any form of pain.

A closer examination of the theory of psychoanalysis reveals the presence of three elementary, interdependent and complementary parts: conscious, preconscious and unconscious.

It is in the preconscious that a significant number of fantasy impulses and desires of the individual are concentrated. At the same time, if it is enough to focus on the goal, then it is quite possible to redirect such desires into the conscious. Those events that, due to the existing moral and moral guidelines of the individual, are denied by him as permissible, and perhaps, are regarded as painful and therefore move to the unconscious part.

It is this part of the acquired experience that is separated from the other two by a wall, in connection with which it is useful to understand that psychoanalysis is precisely focused on the existing relationships between parts of the conscious and the unconscious.

It is worth noting that psychoanalysis in psychology operates with deep analytical mechanisms, such as:

• the study of spontaneous actions performed in everyday life;
• research using independent associations, through the interpretation of dreams.

Psychoanalysis of Sigmund Freud

Human behavior is primarily regulated by his consciousness. Freud found out that behind the signboard of consciousness there is a certain layer of it, which is unconscious of the individual, but induces him to many lusts and inclinations. Due to the specifics of his activities, he was a medical practitioner, stumbled upon a whole layer of unconscious motives.

In many cases, it was they who became the source of nervous and mental illnesses. The discovery made contributed to the search for means that could help the patient get rid of the confrontation between the obvious and hidden in the depths of consciousness. The result was the psychoanalysis of Sigmund Freud - a means of spiritual release.

Not stopping at the treatment of neuropathic disorders, Freud, striving for the maximum revival of the mental health of patients, developed the theoretical principles of psychoanalysis and put them into practice.

Due to its uniqueness, the proposed technology for the restoration of mental health has gained wide popularity and popularity over time. In the classical version, psychoanalysis declared the birth of a completely new system psychology and often this event is called a psychoanalytic revolution.

Theory of psychoanalysis

The main idea of ​​the theory of psychoanalysis by Z. Freud is that the motives of a person's behavior are mostly not realized by him and therefore are completely unobvious. The beginning of the twentieth century was marked by the emergence of a new mental model, which made it possible to look at the manifestation of internal psychological tension from a completely different angle.

Within the framework of the created model, three key components were identified, named: "It", "I", "Super-I". The object of gravity of each individual is "It", and all the processes occurring in it are completely unconscious. "It" is the germ of "I", which is molded from it under the influence of the environment surrounding the individual. At the same time, the “I” is a very complex set of identification with other “Selves”, which operates in the planes of the conscious, preconscious and unconscious, playing the role of psychological protection at all these levels.

The existing defense mechanisms are already initially prepared for the adaptation of subjects to the demands of the external environment, as well as to the internal reality. However, due to the wrong development of the psyche, the natural forms of adaptation within the family suddenly turn into the center of the emergence of serious problems. Any protection applied in parallel with the weakening of the influence of reality turns out to be an additional distorting factor. Due to extremely significant distortions, adaptive defense methods are transformed into a phenomenon of psychopathology.

Psychoanalytic direction

Modern psychology is characterized a large number vectors of application of the efforts of working psychologists, one of the main among them is the psychoanalytic direction, determined by the roots that go back to the primary studies of S. Freud. After them, Alfred Adler's work on individual psychoanalysis and Carl Jung's analytical psychoanalysis are best known.

Both supported the idea of ​​the unconscious in their work, but were inclined to limit the significance of sexual urges. As a result, the unconscious was painted with new colors. In particular, Adler spoke of lust for power as a compensatory tool for feeling inferiority.

At the same time, Jung consolidated the concept of the collective unconscious, his ideas were not at all in the personified saturation of the psyche of the individual with the unconscious, but due to the influence of ancestors on him. Moreover, Freud assumed that the unconscious psyche of each subject is filled with phenomena that were pushed out of consciousness for one reason or another.

Methods of psychoanalysis

At its core, the concept of psychoanalysis is divided into three key stages that hide the methods of psychoanalysis. At the first of them, analytical material is developed, at the second it is researched and analyzed, the third involves working interaction based on the results of the study. When working out the material, the methods of free associations, reactions of transfer and confrontation are used.

The methodological principle of free associations is based on the ability to transfer one situation to another in order to identify and understand certain processes that occur at the deep levels of the psyche, and to a greater extent unconsciously. In the future, the extracted data is used to correct the mental disorders of the client through his awareness of the existing problems and their causes. An important point in the application of this technique is the joint purposeful activity of the psychologist and the client in the direction of combating the latter's feelings of psychological discomfort.

The technique is based on the patient voicing the thoughts that come into his head, even if these thoughts border on complete absurdity and obscenity. The effectiveness of the technique lies in the relationship that arises between the patient and the psychotherapist. It is based on the phenomenon of transfer, which consists in the unconscious transfer of the qualities of the patient's parents to the therapist. That is, a transfer is made in relation to the psychologist of those feelings that the client experienced at his early age to the subjects who were in his immediate environment, a projection of early childhood desires is performed on the substitute person.

The course of understanding the existing cause-and-effect relationships, the fruitful transformation of the accumulated personal views and principles with the rejection of the old and the formation of new behavioral norms, is usually accompanied by significant internal opposition from the patient. Resistance is an actual phenomenon that accompanies any psychotherapeutic intervention, regardless of its form. The essence of such confrontation is that there is a strong desire for unwillingness to touch the unconscious internal conflict with the parallel emergence of significant obstacles to identifying the real causes of personal problems.

At the stage of research and analysis, four consecutive steps are performed, which can be carried out in different order, these are: opposition, interpretation, clarification, working out.

The next stage is a working interaction, which is based on a strong relationship between the client and the psychiatrist, which makes it possible to achieve a purposeful coordination of actions within the framework of the analytical situation formed as a result of the analysis. As for the methodology of interpreting dreams, it lies within the framework of the search for the deformed unconscious truths hidden behind every dream.

Modern psychoanalysis

The conceptual research of Sigmund Freud formed the basis of modern psychoanalysis, which at the moment is a dynamically progressing technology for revealing the innermost properties of the human essence.

Over a period of more than a hundred years, a significant number of changes have occurred that have radically changed the principles of the approach to psychoanalysis, as a result, a multi-tiered system has been built that embraces a variety of views and approaches.

As a result, an analytical tool has appeared that combines a number of complex approaches that are conducive to the study of aspects of a person's mental existence that are unconscious to man. Among the priority goals of psychoanalytic work is the release of individuals from unconsciously built restrictions that are the cause of the lack of progress in development.

At the present stage of development, there are three main directions in which the further development of psychoanalysis takes place, which exist as complements to each other, and not as separate unrelated branches.

Stand out:

• psychoanalytic ideas that build the basis for building factual approaches;
• applied psychoanalysis, aimed at analyzing and discovering general cultural phenomena, at resolving certain social problems;
• clinical psychoanalysis used for personalized support for those who are faced with a complex of personal barriers of a psychological nature, with neuropsychiatric disorders.

During the period of the formation of psychoanalysis, the concept of sexual drives, underdeveloped sexuality seemed to be the main one, but at the current stage of the development of methodology, the main preference is given to ego psychology, the idea of ​​object relations, and this happens against the background of the ongoing transformation of the very technique of psychoanalysis.

Far from being the only treatment of neurotic states is the goal of psychoanalytic practices. Despite the use of psychoanalysis techniques to eliminate neuroses, its modern technologies make it possible to successfully cope with more complex problems from everyday psychological difficulties to the most complex psychological disorders.

And in the end, it is worth noting that the most widespread branches of psychoanalysis, which include neo-Freudianism and structural psychoanalysis.

Academic psychology and psychoanalysis

Psychoanalysis developed mainly outside the mainstream of academic psychology. This situation persisted for a long time. American academic psychology did not accept the psychoanalytic doctrine. An unsigned editorial in the Journal of Anomalous Psychology in 1924 expressed obvious annoyance at this "endless stream of work on the unconscious by European psychologists". In this article, they were barely mentioned as completely unworthy of attention.

It is clear that in such a situation very few psychoanalytic works have been awarded publication in professional journals. Such discrimination continued for at least 20 years. Many academic psychologists have denounced psychoanalysis with vehement criticism. In 1916, Christina Ladd-Franklin wrote that psychoanalysis is the product of "an underdeveloped ... German mind." It should be noted that this judgment was made at a time when everything German was perceived with great suspicion against the backdrop of German aggression in the First World War.

Robert Woodworth of Columbia University called psychoanalysis a "terrible religion" that leads even sane people to utterly absurd conclusions. John B. Watson generally defined the Freudian position as shamanism, voodoo. Despite all these caustic attacks on psychoanalysis by the leaders of academic psychology and the attitude towards it as just another “crazy” theory, nevertheless, some Freudian ideas made their way into American psychology textbooks in the early 1920s. The problem of psychological defense mechanisms, as well as the explicit and latent (latent) content of dreams, was quite seriously discussed in psychological circles. However, since behaviorism remained by far the dominant school, psychoanalysis as a whole was simply ignored.

Psychology of psychoanalysis

However, in the 1930s and 1940s, psychoanalysis gained unexpected wide acceptance among the public. The combination of sex, violence and ulterior motives, and the promise of a cure for a wide variety of emotional disorders, is very attractive, almost irresistible. Official psychology is furious because, from its point of view, people can confuse psychoanalysis and psychology assuming they are doing the same thing. Official psychologists were disgusted by the very idea that someone might think that sex, dreams and neurotic behavior is all that psychology is concerned with. “In the 1930s, it became clear to many psychologists that psychoanalysis was not just another crazy idea, but a serious competitor that threatened the very foundations of scientific psychology at least in the minds of the general reading public."

To deal with this threat, psychologists have decided to test psychoanalysis against the strict criteria of being scientific. They conducted "hundreds of studies whose ingenuity was matched only by the futility of the results." This flurry of research, though mostly poorly executed, has shown that psychoanalysis is far behind the level of experimental psychology, at least from the point of view of the adherents of experimental psychology themselves. As a result, this allowed them to once again take the position of "arbitrators and guardians of psychological truth." In addition, these studies have shown that academic psychology may also be of interest to the general public, since it deals with essentially the same issues as psychoanalysis.

In the 50s and 60s of the last century, many behaviorists were engaged in translating psychoanalytic terminology into the language of their concept. We can say that the beginning of this trend was laid by Watson himself, when he defined emotions as just a set of habits, and neuroses as the result of an unfortunate combination of circumstances. Skinner also referred to Freud's idea of ​​defense mechanisms of the psyche, describing them as a form of operant conditioning. Eventually, psychologists adopted many of Freud's ideas, which even over time became part of the main body of psychological theories. Recognition of the role of unconscious processes, the importance of referring to childhood experience, the study of the action of defense mechanisms - this is a far from complete list of psychoanalytic ideas that have become widespread in modern psychology.

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One of the most important directions for the development of modern psychology was psychoanalysis. First of all, it is associated with the name of the Austrian psychologist and psychiatrist Sigmund Freud (1856-1940). Having developed initially as a method of treating neuroses, it then turned into psychological theory, and later - in one of the important areas of philosophy of the XX century. Psychoanalysis is based on the idea that a person's behavior is determined not only and not so much by his consciousness, but by the unconscious, which includes those desires, drives, experiences that a person cannot admit to himself and which are therefore either not allowed to consciousness or are forced out. from it, as it were, they disappear, are forgotten, but in reality they remain in the spiritual life and strive for realization, inducing a person to certain actions, manifesting themselves in a distorted form (for example, in dreams, creativity, neurotic disorders, fantasies, reservations, etc.). ).

Why does this kind of censorship arise, forbidding awareness of certain desires and experiences? First of all, due to the fact that they do not correspond to the rules, prohibitions, ideals that a person develops under the influence of interaction with the environment - primarily relationships with parents in childhood. These desires, experiences are, as it were, immoral, but, according to 3. Freud, they are natural for a person. Suppressed desires, the conflict of attraction and prohibition (internal conflict) are the cause of the difficulties and suffering that a person experiences psychologically, up to neurotic diseases. Striving for realization, the unconscious, as it were, finds ways to circumvent censorship. Dreams, fantasies, reservations, etc. - all this is a kind of symbolic language that can be read and deciphered. The task of a psychoanalyst is to help a suffering person understand the true cause of his suffering, hidden in the unconscious, remember those traumatic experiences that were forgotten (i.e., were repressed), transfer them to consciousness and, as it were, live anew - this, according to Freud, leads to the effect catharsis, i.e. purification and liberation.

What are these experiences, what is their nature? 3. Freud claimed that there are two principles in a person, two drives - the desire for love and the desire for death and destruction. The main place in Freud's original concept is occupied by erotic attraction, which he associates with a specific energy called "libido. It, in fact, drives a person; all life, starting from birth, is permeated with eroticism. In the development of a child, this energy is initially distributed in himself, he enjoys experiences associated with the oral cavity, for example, from eating, from experiences associated with the administration of natural needs - according to Freud, all these are erotic experiences, and the oral cavity, later, the excretory organs, initially act as the main erogenous zones. But in life the child enters an important stage - about 4 years - when his erotic interest is taken outward and directed to his parents, mainly to the parent of the opposite sex.The child becomes very attached to him, strives for communication, tries, as it were, to "own" the parent, without dividing him In this situation, a parent of the same sex is perceived as a rival, "selecting" a loved one; the child unconsciously desires his "departure", i.e., death (it is this moment - in fact, the recognition of the initial sexual depravity of the child - that was the most shocking in classical psychoanalysis). But attraction to a parent of the opposite sex and wishing the death of a parent of the same sex are forbidden; experiences associated with this are repressed, they are unconscious. The situation of the boy is described as an Oedipus complex (named after the hero of ancient mythology, Oedipus, who unknowingly killed his own father and married his own mother, from whom he was separated in early childhood); the girl's experiences are defined as the Electra complex ^ (Electra is the daughter of the hero of the Trojan War Agamemnon, who was killed by his wife and her lover upon his return; Electra takes revenge on the killers for the death of her father). The child finds himself in a situation of internal conflict: he depends on the parent of his gender and at the same time is aggressive towards him, fearing punishment for forbidden desires and actions.

Freud describes the picture as follows.

At the beginning of life, the child is led by a special mental instance called "It" - his desires and inclinations; guided by "It", the child would act in accordance with the "principle of pleasure", doing what he wants. "It" is entirely unconscious. However, desires must find realistic forms of satisfaction; for this, from the “It” (and this happens quite quickly in childhood development) a structure called the “I” is allocated, the task of which is to find such paths, that is, according to Freud, the “I” acts as a servant of the “It”. The "I" is oriented towards the reality principle. But in the period under discussion, starting from the age of 4, the child is forced to orient himself on the system of prohibitions that oppose the impulses of the "It"; another" instance is formed, called the "Super-I" and acting in the direction opposite to "It" and "I", acting, in particular, as the voice of conscience; suppressing drives. ("I" and "Super-I" are partially unconscious From this moment on, the main internal conflict of the child - and later on the adult - is the conflict between desires and internal prohibitions, i.e. between "It" and "Super-I". "I" becomes a kind of battlefield between them, its the task is to help fulfill desires without offending prohibitions.In a traumatic situation of internal conflict, the "I" develops psychological defenses, special forms of unconscious mental activity that would at least temporarily alleviate the conflict, relieve tension, and in specific life situations distort the meaning events and experiences, so as not to damage the idea of ​​\u200b\u200bhimself as corresponding to some ideal.One form of psychological protection allows the child to "cope" with the oedipal situation (this happens by 5- 6 years old): the child seems to solve the problem, identifying with the parent of his gender (identification form of protection): unable to change the situation and realize dislike for his father, the boy tries to accept his position and become like him (thus, in the structure of "Over -I", along with the prohibition-m1!, the ideal-image is included). According to Freud, echoes of the experience of this period of a child's life (and other periods, too, but this one is especially important) can be heard throughout a person's life, and unrealized sexual aspirations can be seen behind a huge number of suffering and neurotic manifestations of an adult. The idea of ​​unconscious sexuality underlying human behavior, including those of its forms that we consider the highest (creativity, religion) is the central idea of ​​Freud, on which he insisted and about which he was subjected to severe criticism, including from his own students. , many of whom left him without sharing "pansexualism", i.e. e. the desire to explain everything through sexual issues.

In addition to identification, there are many more forms of psychological defense of various types and levels:

Projection - that is, attributing to others their own hidden properties and experiences; regression - a temporary transition to an earlier, primitive level of mental development, as if retreating into that psychological period when a person felt most protected (for example, a child's crying in an adult); rationalization - attributing to one's behavior wrong, but convenient reasons that do not harm self-esteem, etc. Most psychological defenses, however, do not remove the problem; in essence, only sublimation, that is, the transfer of unrealized energy to other areas, work, creativity, acts as an adequate way of protection.

We have already said that psychoanalysis was born as a method of psychotherapy of neuroses, in particular, hysteria - a disease in which, as has been shown, it is psychological reasons, internal conflict causes symptoms of physical disorders (paralysis, blindness, pain, etc.) *. As you understand, all people, according to Freud, are inevitably internally conflicted (he even used the term "normal neurotic"). Behind many manifestations of fantasy, creativity, etc. lies, first of all, hidden sexual problems, all this is, as it were, a symbolic embodiment of unfulfilled desires. (Contrary to the rage among non-psychologists, Freud did not propose to expect a sexual background behind each image - it may not be there - but in the general case it is undeniable.) Reveal the hidden, make the unconscious content conscious - and therefore accessible to comprehension and partly control - the task of psychoanalysis as a therapeutic method.

* For a long time - especially before Freud - physicians considered such manifestations to be simulations, since they could not find their organic cause.

Freud's teaching, which we have outlined in an extremely incomplete and schematic way - and it was also transformed in the process of its development - has always caused the most opposite opinions, from admiration to absolute rejection. At the same time, regarding a number of Freud's discoveries, the vast majority of modern psychologists pay tribute to him.

First of all, in psychoanalysis, the dynamics of the relationship between the unconscious and consciousness became the subject of study. The existence of the unconscious itself was recognized by a number of authors even before Freud; however, the dynamics of the influence of the unconscious on consciousness, the mutually moving contents, its mechanisms were first put in the center of attention precisely by Freud. This meant a change in the subject of psychology: consciousness ceased to be a cognitive space closed in itself, but became part of a living, emotional, motivated human life.

The sexual sphere of human life, the significance of which it would be strange to deny now, entered the circle of psychological study also thanks to Freud (by the way, who did not immediately come to the idea of ​​the sexual conditioning of neuroses and resisted it for a long time. Contrary to opinions and rumors, Freud himself was very strict in sexual life). Another question is what significance to attach to sexuality, for example, whether to reduce love to it or not, whether to correlate the highest ethical problems of a person with it, etc.

Further, Freud drew special attention to the role of childhood, especially family experience in the development of personality; a significant number of psychotherapists, including non-psychoanalysts, include its study in the process of helping those with whom they work.

Finally, the idea of ​​psychological defense is one of the central ideas in modern psychotherapy. Not everyone shares the theoretical explanations proposed by Freud, but, as a rule, it is recognized that it was his method that formed the basis of most therapeutic systems, including those that have gone far from him; the leaders of most of the major psychotherapeutic trends have passed through the sheet of Freudian psychoanalysis.

Freudian psychoanalysis indeed introduced a completely new psychological system: one can come across the term "psychoanalytic revolution" in the literature. He had a tremendous influence on art; it manifests itself, sometimes quite directly, through the transfer of symbols - in the films of F. Fellini and I. Bergman, the prose of A. Murdoch, the painting of S. Dali, etc.

But, of course, psychoanalysis is not associated only with the name of its founder. Freud's students, for the most part not sharing the pansexualism of their teacher, developed their own teachings about the content and role of the unconscious in mental life, developed their own approaches to psychotherapy.

Among the closest students of Freud, A. Adler and K.-G. Jung.

The direction founded by the Austrian psychologist Alfred Adler (1870-1937, who emigrated to the USA with the advent of fascism to power) is called "Individual Psychology". Its central idea is the idea of ​​a person's unconscious striving for perfection; this desire is determined, according to Adler, by the initial and inevitable experience of a sense of one's own inferiority and the need to compensate for it.

The experience of inferiority (besides the experience of actual physical or intellectual defects) is natural because each child sees those around him as stronger, more intelligent, more competent; these experiences can be aggravated by non-democratic relations of the child with parents (the main task of which, Adler believed, is to provide the child with a sense of security; the role of the mother is especially great in this) and siblings, i.e. brothers and sisters (Adler considered the order of birth and proposed various developmental models for an only child, an older child, one of the "middle" children, a younger child). The experience of relationships that a child gets before the age of 5 is decisive for the development of a child's character, and moreover, it is this period that determines the character of a person in general.

So, the initial feeling is the feeling of inferiority. Initially, Adler believed that compensation should go along the line of self-affirmation, the satisfaction of the "will to power"; later, however, he began to speak of self-affirmation through gaining a sense of superiority. At the same time, there are two ways - constructive and destructive (the formation of character, in fact, is associated with the emerging strategy of self-affirmation). The constructive path means self-affirmation in activities for the benefit of others and in cooperation with them;

Destructive - by humiliating others and exploiting. The choice of the path of self-affirmation depends on the development and "preservation" of social interest; under it, Adler understood the feeling of belonging to humanity, readiness for cooperation; it is apparently innate (although Adler does not specifically discuss this), but in itself is too weak and in unfavorable conditions is muffled or perverted - due to rejection experienced in childhood, aggression from loved ones, or, conversely, due to pampered, when there is no need to take care of cooperation. In the first case, a person will, as it were, take revenge on humanity, in the second, he will demand a familiar attitude, and in both cases he finds himself in the position of not giving, but taking. This is precisely the key point of therapy: a person with a “wrong lifestyle” seems to exist in a conventional world, a world in which he does not reveal his own inferiority, disguised by the position of a “taker”, pseudo-strong; this, however, does not lessen the anxiety, for the experience of inferiority persists, although it is not recognized. The task of the therapist is to restore the patient's realistic relationship with the world, to open it towards others.

Agree, this is a completely different psychoanalysis, where the place of sexual problems is by no means in the foreground. Adler's idea of ​​the importance of a sense of security in the development of a child is one of the main ideas of a number of psychotherapeutic trends based on psychoanalysis and humanistic psychology.

A very special system of worldview was proposed by the Swiss psychologist and philosopher Carl-Gustav Jung (1875-1961), the author, whose influence on world culture is comparable in scale to the influence of his teacher. Freud himself considered him the most talented of his students and considered him his successor; however, their theoretical differences were very great, primarily because for the extreme atheist Freud, Jung's views, directly related to religion and mystical teachings, were unacceptable.

The basis of Jung's theory is the doctrine of the collective unconscious, which exists in mental life along with the personal unconscious and consciousness (and in interaction with them). If the personal unconscious is formed in the development of a person's individual experience and represents the contents it represses, then the experience of mankind is imprinted in the collective unconscious; each of us is its bearer by virtue of belonging to the human race and culture, and it is this layer of the unconscious that is the deep, intimate, which determines the characteristics of behavior, thinking, feeling. If the content of the personal unconscious is made up of complexes (it was Jung who introduced this concept in the sense of systems of traits, images and experiences that are built around a certain “central” experience and exist in us unconsciously and autonomously, like an independent personality, independent of our consciousness and other complexes), then the content of the collective unconscious is made up of archetypes-prototypes, a kind of patterns of behavior, thinking, vision of the world, existing like instincts. It is impossible to see them directly, but one can see their manifestations in the phenomena of culture, primarily in mythology: Jung drew attention to the fact that in myths different peoples, including those who did not communicate with each other, there are the same images - Mother Earth, Child, Warrior, God, birth and death, etc. They, Jung believed, are the embodiment of archetypes, and people in life behave in certain situations according to these "patterns" interacting with the contents of the individual unconscious and consciousness.

The central place in "Analytical Psychology" is occupied by individuation - the process of a person's search for spiritual harmony, integration, integrity, meaningfulness. Mental life appears as an endless journey within oneself, the discovery of hidden, unconscious structures that require, especially in critical moments of life, awareness and inclusion in spiritual integrity. The soul, according to Jung, represents a kind of non-physical reality, full of energy, which moves in connection with internal conflicts. The soul is full of opposites (conscious and unconscious, male and female, extraverted and introverted, etc.); the problem lies in the fact that, for a number of reasons, primarily of a sociocultural nature, a person sees and develops in himself only one side of a single contradictory pair, while the other remains hidden, unaccepted; in the process of individuation, a person must "discover himself" and accept. Our hidden sides demand acceptance, appearing to us in dreams, symbolically "calling" to us; you need to be able to see the meaning of the call, ignoring the same - typical for an unprepared person - leads to disintegration, the impossibility of self-development and crisis experiences, diseases. The most important of the discovered instances, embodying to varying degrees the interacting structures of the collective and personal unconscious - "Shadow" (a kind of antipode of "I", that is, knowledge about oneself), "Animus" and "Anima" (male and female; according to Jung, in every person there are typical masculine traits - strength, logicism, aggressiveness, etc. - and typically feminine traits - tenderness, aestheticism, caring; in addition to the fact that there are genetic differences, the "cultural stereotype" focuses on the development of only one side); the central is the archetype of "selfhood", a kind of image of God in itself; this instance is unattainable, but the path to it in the inner wandering continues forever, because, according to Jung, the soul is immortal.

As you can see, the development of psychoanalysis is largely moving away from the classical Freudian ideas on a number of issues, first of all, this concerns the provisions on the sexual determination of human behavior. Of the major followers of Z. Freud, the central place "was assigned to her, perhaps, only by W. Reich (1897-1957), at the center of whose concept is "orgone energy" (a kind of universal energy of love), which requires free expression in the individual;

If this energy, originally pure and bright, is blocked by prohibitions and restraint, then, according to W. Reich, this leads to its perverted manifestations, in particular, in the form of aggression, hidden under appropriate social masks. The containment of energy at various levels is also manifested bodily in the form of "muscle shells", stiffness, constriction; since Reich affirmed the unity of the soul and body, then by influencing the body (muscle exercises, including facial expressions, work with breathing, massage), it is possible to release energy and alleviate mental suffering. The main reason that makes the natural manifestation of orgone energy impossible, Reich considered a rigid system of norms and prohibitions that exists in a patriarchal society, which is especially evident in the traditions of family education. The famous term "sexual revolution" was introduced precisely by W. Reich, who meant by it, however, not sexual permissiveness (as it is often interpreted now), but the creation of such conditions under which the natural realization of orgone energy is possible - if this is so, then, according to Reich, there will be no sexual perversions, prostitution, etc., which are manifestations of precisely the suppressed, deformed orgone energy.

Other major representatives of neo-Freudianism, without denying the importance of sexuality, did not attach paramount importance to it, discussing to a greater extent the problems of personal growth and the emergence of neurotic tendencies from the point of view of the relationship between a person and the social environment, the formation of the perception of the world and self-perception, the value aspects of personality formation.

So, Karen Horney (1885-1952), the creator of the theory called “Cultural-Philosophical Psychopathology”, considered the starting point in the development of the personality to be the so-called “basic anxiety”, the unconscious experience of the hostility of the world -in relation to a person. From the point of view of the influence of culture, it is determined by the contradictory values ​​it offers, which is especially characteristic of rapidly developing cultures; this leads to internal conflicts and is embodied in the fact that a person cannot choose something specific and, moreover, is unable to desire anything specific. As a result, a person “runs away” from reality into conditional, illusory representations, which guide him in life. In the process of development of a particular person, the main anxiety is initially determined by the relationship between the child and parents, certain types of which Horney designates as “the main evil” (aggression of adults towards the child, rejection of the child, ridicule of the child, obvious preference for his brother or sister, etc.). As a result, the child finds himself in an internally contradictory situation: he loves his parents, is attached to them, but, on the other hand, experiences their hostility and his own unconscious reciprocal aggressiveness;

Unable to recognize the true source of the conflict, the child experiences it as an indefinite danger emanating from the world, which means anxiety. To reduce anxiety, a person unconsciously develops protective forms of behavior in which the likelihood of a threat is subjectively reduced. Neurotic tendencies correlate with the fact that a person begins to behave in a one-dimensional way, realizing only the tendency that is unconsciously chosen as reducing potential danger, while others remain unrealized. Horney discusses three main personality tendencies: striving towards people, striving (orientation) against people, and striving (orientation) away from people. These tendencies are also characteristic of a healthy personality - all people at different moments of life can strive for interaction, are aggressive or strive for loneliness; but if in a healthy personality these tendencies balance each other, then a neurotic personality behaves in accordance with only one of them. In reality, this does not lead to a decrease in anxiety, but, on the contrary, to an increase - due to the fact that the needs corresponding to other tendencies are not satisfied; as a result, the neurotic finds himself in a situation of "neurotic circle", because, trying to reduce the growing anxiety, he uses the same method that led to its increase. (A fragment from The Little Prince by A. Saint-Exupery can serve as a model: when asked why he drinks, the Drunkard answers: “Because I am ashamed”; when asked why he is ashamed, the answer follows:

"It's a shame that I drink.")

In other words, the neurotic renounces himself, his “real self”, in favor of an irrational “ideal self”, which allows him to feel pseudo-safe by virtue of conforming to some unrealistic ideal. If the neurotic could formulate why he behaves the way he does, he would answer: “If I help everyone, no one will hurt me” (tendency “toward people”), or “If I am the strongest, no one will dare offend me” (tendency “against people”), or “If I hide from everyone, no one can offend me” (the desire “from people”). These tendencies, being laid down in childhood, remain with a person in the future, determining his psychological and social difficulties. The focus of therapy offered by Horney is the restoration of lost realistic attitudes towards life through analysis. life path(for neurotic tendencies can arise at different stages of life), and Horney, unlike Freud, did not practice penetration into deep emotional problems, believing that this often only leads to aggravation of experiences. She was also more optimistic in that she did not consider childhood fatally determining the mental life of a person.

Leading specialist in the field age development Erik Erickson (b. 1902) leading role in the formation of the personality, he assigned the human “I”, which not only serves the “It” (as Freud argued), but is responsible for the main thing - the mental health of the individual, its “identity” (in Erickson’s view, this means a sense of self-identity, one’s own truth, fullness, complicity ! and the world and other people). Erikso considered the development of the personality from the point of view of strengthening the "I" and moving towards identity (his theory is often called "Ego-psychology" or, what is the same, "psychology of the I") On the path of "integration of the I", the personality passes, according to his ideas , 8 stages of development, covering the path of a person from birth to death; each stage is presented as a crisis that puts a person in front of a conditional choice in the direction of strengthening the "I" or weakening it, the most fundamental for the formation of identity is adolescence. The stages themselves, according to Erickson, are genetically predetermined, but the positive or negative resolution of the crisis is determined by the characteristics of interaction with society.

Problems of human relations with society and their impact on development personalities in the center attention and other psychoanalysts. So, G. Sullivan (1892-1949),. the creator of the theory of "interpersonal psychiatry", believed that interpersonal relations are always represented in a person, and already the first entry of a child into the world is his entry into a wider sphere than just relations with his mother - already in the way the mother takes the child in her arms, are manifested those relationships that the mother entered into throughout her life.

For Erich Fromm (1900-1980), the main problem is the problem of a person gaining psychological freedom, true life in a society that tries to suppress this freedom, level the human personality, in connection with which a person most often “runs away from freedom” (Fromm’s main book is called “ Escape from freedom") - after all, being oneself means the possibility of risk, the rejection of the usual stereotypical security - and becomes a conformist or authoritarian, believing, however, that this is freedom. Thus, a person deprives himself of the real, full life, replacing true values ​​with imaginary ones, of which the main one is the value of owning something (another well-known work by Fromm is called “To have or to be?”). Fromm's concept is called "Humanistic psychoanalysis".

Thus, psychoanalysis is very diverse, and often when comparing one or another psychoanalytic concept with Freud's theory, 3. Freud's theory reveals more differences than similarities. At the same time, those classical provisions that were discussed above - the role of unconscious components in mental life, the role of children's experience of relationships with adults, the problem of internal conflict, the formation of psychological defenses - are present in almost any psychoanalytic concept, which makes it possible to speak of psychoanalysis as holistic direction. With regard to Z. Freud, let us cite the words of V. Frankl (who will be discussed below), who compared his role with the role of the foundation of a building: the foundation is not visible, it is hidden under the ground, but the building would not stand without it; in the same way, the ideas of 3. Freud underlie the vast majority of areas of modern psychotherapy, including those who have gone far from Freud - but managed to develop due to the fact that there was something to build on (however, there are quite a few psychologists working within the framework of orthodox Freudianism).

We paid a lot of attention to psychoanalysis due to the fact that this direction had an influence on psychology in general (especially Western) and psychological facts in particular, incommensurable with the influence of other directions. This applies to our country to a lesser extent. In the 20s. it was very popular, but then declared a reactionary false doctrine (according to some authors, due to the fact that, asserting in a person something uncontrollable, not subject to organized formative influences, it was politically inconvenient); in last years, however, the attitude towards him has become more objective and respectful, the work of the largest psychoanalysts-3. Freud, K.-G. Jung, E. Fromm are widely published, psychoanalytic communities are organized, etc. So: in psychoanalysis, problems of the unconscious determination of human behavior are developed; the areas of its application are, first of all, psychotherapy (including non-medical) and education, primarily family.

The term psychoanalysis means the theory of human mental life, research methods, methods of treating various neurotic disorders, the creator of which is Sigmund Freud. This theory had a huge impact on the intellectual life of mankind, on its culture.

Moreover, this influence does not stop at the present time. Psychoanalysis is a way of studying mental processes that are otherwise inaccessible. Also implied is the treatment of neurotic disorders based on this study. In particular, psychoanalysis refers to a number of mental concepts that arose as a result and later developed into a separate scientific discipline.

What is psychoanalysis? As you know, many of Freud's ideas have been revised and changed, however, the basic provisions are the same. What is psychoanalysis? This is the discovery that the main part of the psyche, although it has a decisive influence on a person, still remains hidden for a person.

Psychoanalysis recognizes the ubiquity of unconscious conflict, as well as the understanding that when communicating with others, a person uses the so-called templates taken from early childhood brings these situations into real life.

Psychoanalysis recognizes the central role of sexuality in mental life, and the laying of these important aspects occurs in childhood. Psychoanalysis is applied in various contexts, including art, politics, sociology, and literature.

Psychoanalysis as a method of psychological assistance is based on this opinion, a huge role is assigned to early experiences of love, loss, understanding of death, experiencing sexuality, and so on. All this contributes to the formation of an unconscious representation that affects the psyche.

This factor can be a source of conflict that blocks development. What does psychoanalysis mean, what opportunities does it provide to the patient? This is a practice during which a person is able to realize a number of unconscious manifestations, to find an explanation for them.

Through psychoanalysis, the patient is given the opportunity to be more deeply understood, the unconscious forces that have shaped empty relationships or emerging anxiety in his life are revealed. Psychoanalysis is aimed at correcting the structure of the psyche, while there is a focus not only on the awareness of certain symptoms, but also on their thorough study.

The task of the psychoanalyst is not to judge the patient, to make a diagnosis, or to give advice. First of all, the goal is to help a person understand himself, eliminate social stereotypes, get rid of unreasonable self-criticism, all kinds of misconceptions. It is important that the patient learns to fully feel life, to become internally free.

First of all, psychoanalytic psychotherapy psychoanalysis is necessary for people who feel hopelessness due to constantly arising psychological problems that create obstacles to the realization of life goals that interfere with personal life and friendship.

Mood swings, inhibitions and anxiety are common signs of internal conflicts. Left unaddressed, they have a significant impact on personal choices and professional decisions. Usually the roots of such problems are located in the unconscious area, and they cannot be resolved without the use of psychotherapeutic methods.

The specialist helps the patient in a new way to understand the unconscious part of the problems. Through a conversation with a psychoanalyst in a calm environment, the patient becomes aware of the elements inner world previously inaccessible to him. This refers to his memories, dreams, as well as feelings and thoughts. Thus, mental pain is removed, self-consciousness is provided.

All this gives the patient confidence that his life goals will be achieved. With the positive effects of psychoanalysis, further development is actively developing. personal growth. Moreover, this continues for a long time after the psychoanalysis is completed.

What is professional psychoanalysis? Before contacting a psychotherapist, a person is forced to be alone with his problem, to look for different ways to solve, to explore. If all his efforts this direction do not give the desired results, do not justify themselves, or even exacerbate the problem, then there is a decision to seek help from a specialist.

At the beginning, during two or four meetings, the client gets acquainted with the psychoanalyst, there is a primary study of the problem that worries the person. Both parties come to an agreement on the form of work. It can be analysis or psychoanalytic therapy.

This stage implies that the analyst receives maximum information about the patient, learns his life history. This serves as the basis for deciding on further actions that are most useful in each case.

If the work of the psychoanalyst begins with free association, then at the beginning of the analysis the client visits a specialist up to five times a week. The person is located on the couch, and says everything that is in the given time will come to the head. These are his experiences, impressions, as well as his opinion about psychoanalysis. Together with the patient, the specialist interprets the unconscious facts that are the basis of the patient's behavioral methods, attitudes and actions.

Depression is a very common reason for seeking psychoanalysis. Having understood what psychoanalysis is, many people realize that it is this method that will help them understand themselves, return to a normal rhythm of life.

Sad state, depression and deep disappointment are feelings familiar to everyone. But sometimes depression acquires intensity and extreme scope, literally absorbs a person. Moreover, turning to psychoanalysis, one can work out pains and anxieties, increase a person’s ability to experience adversity and difficulties.

Psychoanalysis is not only a type of psychotherapeutic and clinical practice. At the same time, it is a philosophical doctrine of man, a social philosophy, belonging to the factors of an ideological order. It is in this sense that psychoanalysis has become an integral part of Western culture.

According to the definition of the psychological dictionary, psychoanalysis (psychoanalytic therapy) is a psychological trend founded by the Austrian psychiatrist and psychologist S. Freud in late XIX in. Initially developed as a method of treatment of neuroses; then turned into a general psychological theory that placed in the center of attention driving forces mental life, motives, inclinations, meanings; subsequently became one of the important areas of philosophy of the XX century. It is based on the idea that behavior is determined not only and not so much by consciousness as by the unconscious. So, the term is used in three main senses:

1) theoretical direction in psychology;

2) a special methodology for the study of the psyche;

3) psychotherapeutic method: a set of ways to identify the characteristics of a person's experiences and actions due to unconscious motives.

The main technical means of psychoanalysis: 1) the associative method - the analysis of free associations; 2) dream analysis and interpretation of dreams - a method of dream analysis; 3) analysis and interpretation of various erroneous and unintentional (accidental) symptomatic actions of everyday life - a method of error analysis.

The philosophical dictionary gives the following definition:

Psychoanalysis is:

1) In the narrow sense of the word - a psychotherapeutic method developed by Z. Freud in the late 90s. XIX century for the treatment of psychoneuroses. Psychoanalysis as a method of therapy consists in identifying, then bringing to consciousness and experiencing unconscious traumatic ideas, impressions, mental complexes.

2) In the broad sense of the word, various schools of dynamic psychotherapy are called psychoanalysis. Moreover, we can talk not only about the theoretical platforms of these schools, but also about the institutionalized movement that is carried out on the basis of them. Psychoanalysis as a movement originates from a circle of supporters of S. Freud, who united around him in 1902 and founded the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society in 1908. Modern successors and continuers of this movement belong to the so-called "classical" or "orthodox" psychoanalysis - its most numerous, powerful and influential direction. In theoretical terms, classical psychoanalysis is Freudianism, in some respects refined and reformed in the 1930s and 1950s. Other areas (schools) of psychoanalysis, much less institutionalized and influential, were founded by students who had moved away from Freud - A. Adler, K. Jung, who only for a short time became close to him and the Vienna Society.

Consequently, the essence of psychoanalysis can be considered at three levels: as a method of psychotherapy, as a method of studying the psychology of personality, and as a system scientific knowledge about worldview, psychology, philosophy.

Freudianism - and this is its merit - sought to fill psychological knowledge about a person with a new life truth, create a theory and, on its basis, obtain information useful for solving practical, primarily psychotherapeutic problems. It is no coincidence that Z. Freud began his scientific demands with an analysis and generalization of psychotherapeutic practice and only then turned the accumulated experience into a psychological theory.

The concept of "psychoanalysis" was introduced into scientific literature at the end of the 19th century. to refer to a new method of studying and treating mental disorders. For the first time, this concept was used in an article on the etiology of neuroses, published in German on May 15, 1896. Laplanche and Pontalis' Dictionary of Psychoanalysis gives the following definitions of psychoanalysis: a research method based on the identification of unconscious meanings of words, actions, products of a person's imagination (dreams, fantasies , delirium); a method for treating neurotic disorders based on this study; a set of theories of psychology and psychopathology, in which the data obtained by the psychoanalytic method of research and treatment are systematized.