What is Freudian psychoanalysis and how does it differ from psychotherapy. What is psychoanalysis What does psychoanalysis study as a science
This psychological direction is based on the concept of the unconscious by Z. Freud. The impetus for a deep study of the unconscious was for Freud the presence at a hypnosis session, when a suggestion was made to the patient, who was in a hypnotic state, according to which, after waking up, she had to get up and take an umbrella standing in the corner and belonging to one of those present. Before awakening, she was instructed to forget that this suggestion had been given. After waking up, the patient got up, went over and took the umbrella and then opened it. When asked why she did this, she replied that she wanted to check if the umbrella was working or not. When she was noticed that the umbrella was not hers, she was extremely embarrassed.
This experiment attracted the attention of Freud, who was interested in a number of phenomena. First, the unawareness of the causes of the actions taken. Secondly, the absolute effectiveness of these reasons: a person performs a task, despite the fact that he himself does not know why he does it. Thirdly, the desire to find an explanation for their action. Fourthly, the possibility, sometimes through lengthy interrogations, of bringing a person to the memory of the true reason for his action. Thanks to this incident and relying on a number of other facts, Freud created his theory of the unconscious.
According to Freud's theory, there are three spheres or areas in the human psyche: consciousness, preconscious and unconscious. He referred to the category of consciousness everything that is realized and controlled by a person. Freud attributed hidden or latent knowledge to the area of preconsciousness. This is the knowledge that a person has, but which is currently absent in the mind. They are triggered when an appropriate stimulus occurs.
The area of the unconscious, according to Freud, has completely different properties. The first property is that the content of this area is not recognized, but it has an extremely significant influence on our behavior. The area of the unconscious is active. The second property is that information that is in the area of the unconscious hardly passes into consciousness. This is explained by the work of two mechanisms: displacement and resistance.
In his theory, Freud singled out three main forms of manifestation of the unconscious: dreams, erroneous actions, neurotic symptoms. To study the manifestations of the unconscious within the framework of the theory of psychoanalysis, methods for studying them were developed - the method of free associations and the method of analyzing dreams. The method of free association involves the interpretation by the psychoanalyst of the words continuously produced by the patient. The psychoanalyst must find a pattern in the words produced by the patient and make an appropriate conclusion about the causes of the condition that arose in the person who applied for help. As one of the variants of this method in psychoanalysis, an associative experiment is used, when the patient is prompted to quickly and without hesitation name the words in response to the word uttered by the psychoanalyst. As a rule, after several dozen trials, words associated with his hidden experiences begin to appear in the answers of the subject.
Dreams are analyzed in the same way. The need to analyze dreams, according to Freud, is due to the fact that during sleep the level of consciousness control decreases and a person sees dreams caused by a partial breakthrough into the sphere of consciousness of his drives, which are blocked by consciousness in the waking state.
Freud paid special attention to neurotic symptoms. According to his ideas, neurotic symptoms are traces of repressed traumatic circumstances that form a highly charged focus in the sphere of the unconscious and from there perform destructive work to destabilize the mental state of a person. In order to get rid of neurotic symptoms, Freud considered it necessary to open this focus, that is, to make the patient aware of the causes that determine his condition, and then the neurosis would be cured.
Freud considered the basis for the emergence of neurotic symptoms to be the most important biological need of all living organisms - the need for procreation, which manifests itself in humans in the form of sexual desire. Suppressed sexual desire is the cause of neurotic disorders. However, such disorders can also be caused by other causes not related to a person's sexuality. These are various unpleasant experiences that accompany everyday life. As a result of displacement into the sphere of the unconscious, they also form strong energy centers, which manifest themselves in the so-called erroneous actions. Freud referred to erroneous actions the forgetting of certain facts, intentions, names, as well as typos, reservations, etc. These phenomena were explained by him as a result of difficult or unpleasant experiences associated with a particular object, word, name, etc. In turn, Freud explained slips of the tongue, slips of the tongue, or accidental omissions by saying that they contain the true intentions of a person, carefully hidden from others.
The formation of Z. Freud's views went through two main stages. At the 1st stage, a dynamic model of the psyche was developed, including the idea of its three areas: consciousness, preconsciousness and the unconscious. At the 2nd stage (starting from the 1920s), psychoanalysis turns into a doctrine of personality, in which three structures are distinguished: It (Id), I (Ego) and Super-I (Super-Ego). The structure of the id contains innate unconscious instincts (the instinct of life and death), as well as repressed drives and desires. The structure of the ego is formed under the influence of the external world and is under the bilateral influence of the id and the superego. The structure of the Super-I contains a system of ideals, norms and prohibitions, which is formed in individual experience through identification with the Super-I of parents and close adults. The struggle between the structures of the Super-I and It generates unconscious defense mechanisms of the personality, as well as the sublimation of unconscious drives.
However, very few followers of Z. Freud agreed with him that sexual desires determine the whole life of a person. This direction was further developed in the works of A. Adler, C. Jung, E. Erickson, K. Horney, A. Assogiolli, E. Fromm and others.
So, A. Adler creates his own version of psychoanalysis - individual psychology, in which the central place is given to the problems of target determination of human behavior, the meaning of life, the conditions for the emergence of an inferiority complex in a person and means of compensation (overcompensation) for real and imaginary shortcomings.
E. Erickson, using a large empirical material, proved the socio-cultural conditioning of the human psyche as opposed to classical psychoanalysis, where a person and society were opposed. The most important in the concept of E. Erickson is the concept of "psychosocial identity": a stable image of the Self and the corresponding ways of personality behavior that are developed during life and are a condition for mental health. But with significant social upheavals (war, disasters, violence, unemployment, etc.), psychosocial identity can be lost. The main role in the formation of this personal education is played by the I (Ego), which focuses on the values and ideals of society, which become the values and ideals of the personality itself in the process of educating the individual.
K. Jung, one of the students of Z. Freud, created his own version of psychoanalysis - analytical psychology. Based on the analysis of dreams, delusions, schizophrenic disorders, as well as on the study of mythology, the works of Eastern, ancient and medieval philosophers, K. Jung comes to the conclusion that the collective unconscious exists and manifests itself in human psychology. According to K. Jung, the contents of the collective unconscious are not acquired in the individual life experience of the subject - they already exist at birth in the form of archetypes that are inherited from ancestors.
And according to K. Horney, neuroses develop due to contradictions in people's relationships, which actualize a person's feeling of "fundamental anxiety". A particularly important role in the neurotic development of the personality is played by relationships with parents in childhood.
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Psychoanalysis, as a theory of the human psyche and a type of therapeutic practice, was founded by Sigmund Freud at the end of the 19th century and continues to be actively developed by psychologists at the present time. Psychoanalysis has four main areas of application:
- as a theory of how the mind works;
- as a treatment for mental problems;
- as a research method;
- as a way of considering cultural and social phenomena: literature, art, cinema, theater, politics.
Psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic psychotherapy is recommended primarily for those who feel overwhelmed by recurring mental problems that impede the development of potential and disrupt the experience of achieving satisfaction in relationships with loved ones, family and friends, as well as achieving success and self-realization in their work, solving everyday problems .
Anxiety, inhibitions, and depression are often signs of internal conflict that lead to relationship difficulties, influencing personal and professional decisions. The roots of these problems often lie deeper than the possibilities of natural awareness and are therefore insoluble without psychotherapy.
With the help of a psychoanalyst, the patient can gain new insights into the unconscious parts of these disorders. Talking with a psychoanalyst in a safe atmosphere leads the patient to become increasingly aware of their previously unknown parts of the inner world (thoughts, feelings, memories, dreams), providing relief from mental pain, promoting personal development, and gaining an experience of awareness and self-correction that helps build confidence. patient in achieving their own goals in life. These positive effects of psychoanalysis continue to develop after the end of the analysis.
Freud's main discoveries and innovations
Working with patients with hysteria, Freud came to understand that the symptoms from which hysterics suffered embody a meaning that is both hidden and obvious. Over time, he discovered that all neurotic symptoms are messengers, carrying repressed, and therefore unconscious mental contents. This prompted him to develop "talk therapy" which revolutionized the relationship between patient and therapist. Freud saw his patients six times a week, listened to and responded to what they said to him as they lay on the couch. By inviting patients to say whatever came to mind, Freud received associations that led to repressed childhood experiences, desires and fantasies that became a source of unconscious conflicts. When these conflicts were realized, they could be analyzed and the symptoms would dissolve. This procedure has become not only a powerful method of treatment, but also an effective tool for studying the human psyche, which has led to the development of increasingly complex psychoanalytic theories about how the mind works, and in recent years, research in a new field - neuropsychoanalysis.
Freud's early discoveries led him to some innovative concepts:
Unconscious. Psychic life goes beyond what we can be directly aware of and beyond what we could potentially become aware of with effort (the preconscious). A large part of our mind is in an unconscious state, and this part is only accessible through psychoanalysis.
Early childhood experiences are a fusion of fantasy and reality; they are characterized by longing desires, unbridled impulses, and infantile anxieties. For example, hunger causes a desire to devour everything, which at the same time coexists with the fear of being devoured by others. The desire for control and independence is fused with fears of being manipulated or abandoned. Separation from a caring environment threatens to remain abandoned, helpless and alone. The love of one parent threatens the risk of losing the love of the other. Early desires and fears lead to conflicts which, when they cannot be resolved, are repressed and become unconscious.
psychosexual development. Freud discovered that the progressive maturation of bodily functions centered in erogenous zones (mouth, anus, genitals) occurs in parallel with the pleasures and fears obtained in relationships with a caring environment, and with the development of the structures of the child's psyche.
Oedipus complex is the basic complex of all neuroses. A child between the ages of four and six becomes aware of the sexual nature of the relationship of the parents from which he is excluded. The feelings of jealousy and rivalry that have arisen must be clarified, along with questions about who is a man and who is a woman, whom to love and whom to marry, how a child is conceived and how a birth occurs, what a child can do compared to adults or cannot do . The solution of these difficult questions will shape the character of the adult mind and superego.
crowding out the force that keeps unconscious dangerous fantasies related with unresolvedchildren's conflicts.
Dream as wish fulfillment. Most often, dreams express the fulfillment of infantile sexual desires or fantasies that lurk in absurd, strange and meaningless scenes that require analysis to reveal their unconscious meaning. Freud called the interpretation of dreams the royal road to the unconscious.
Transfer is the ubiquitous tendency of the human mind to consider and define some new situation in the patterns of previous experience. In psychoanalysis, transference takes place when the patient views the analyst as a parental figure with whom basic infantile conflicts or traumas can be resurrected, as if in the original parent-child relationship.
Free associations describe the emergence of thoughts, feelings, and fantasies when they are free from the restraints of fear, guilt, and shame.
Ego, Id and Superego. The ego is the structure of the psyche, determined by consciousness, repressing, integrating and consolidating various impulses and tendencies before they are put into action. The id is the unconscious part of the mind, a place of repressed and unknowable memory traces of early life. The super-ego is the director of the mind and conscience, the guardian of the prohibitions to be adhered to and the ideals to be aspired to.
The development of psychoanalysis after Freud. Modern psychoanalysis
Classical and modern Freudians. Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) created a model of the psyche with several basic theoretical assumptions: psychic life is powered by the energy of two basic drives (in the early theory, these are the sexual drive and the drive of the self or self-preservation; in a subsequent revision, this drive to life and the drive to death, or libido and aggression). These drives reflect certain demands of the body on the psyche, expressed in desires and needs, striving for certain objects that can bring satisfaction. The results of these interactions (including ideas about important objects and relationships) structure the entire psyche, creating more and more complex complexes and formations, which ultimately are divided into three main parts. In his first topographical model, Freud spoke of systems of the unconscious, preconscious, and conscious; in the second structural model, he already spoke about the Ego, the Id and the Super-Ego. The structures of the psyche regulate the energy of drives in accordance with the principle of pleasure (homeostasis). Metapsychology of psychoanalysis expresses mental functions in connection with their dynamic (drives), economic (energy), topical (structures) aspects.
(1873-1933) and the Hungarian school of psychoanalysis emphasized the importance of considering and recognizing the real childhood traumatization, the specific early mother-child relationship, including the "confusion of languages" (confusion between the child's need for affection and the adult's sexual needs), which seriously affect mental development, and later on psychopathology. Ferenczi focused on the reciprocal, intersubjective processes between patient and analyst, and on the important role of the analyst's honesty and inner work (introspection) in analytic interaction.
ego psychology. Anna Freud (1895-1982), Heinz Hartmann (1884-1970) and some other analysts focused their attention on the activities of the conscious and unconscious Ego, on the special role of the Ego in unconscious defenses, and the influence of defenses on mental processes. Hartmann described the non-conflict zones of the ego, which perform important tasks such as awareness, motor function, logical thinking, speech, sensory perception, and reality testing—all vital functions that can be re-engaged in neurotic conflicts. Through systematic analysis of defences, psychoanalysis focuses on strengthening the patient's ego in order to increase impulse control, strengthen the capacity for conflict resolution, the ability to bear disappointments and painful affects. Hartmann added to the four Freudian metapsychological models the genetic and adaptive models.
Classical and modern Kleinians. Melanie Klein (1882-1960) conceptualized early infancy, when primitive impulses begin to emerge, as the experience of early object relations. The inwardly directed death drive is perceived as an attacking force and causes persecutory anxiety (fear of annihilation). Destructive impulses are fantasyly placed outside (projection) into a frustrating object (bad chest), accompanied by fear of retribution. On the other hand, the satisfying object (the good breast) is idealized and split off from the bad object. This first phase is called the paranoid-schizoid position, which is characterized by splitting, denial, omnipotence, idealization, and projection and introjection. The growing capacity of the ego to integrate leads to depressive anxieties when destructive impulses damaging a good object (breast) cause a desire for reparation (repair). This second phase is called the depressive position. Modern Kleinians have recognized that these phases are not limited to infancy, but form a continuous dynamic in the psyche between paranoid-schizoid and depressive positions.
Bion's offshoot of the Kleinian school. Wilfred Bion (1897-1979), continuing the research of both Freud and Klein developed a new language for their own theory of thought. He put forward the idea that the infant's psyche first encounters raw sensory impressions and emotions, which he called beta elements. These elements do not make sense and should be recycled. Important is the role of the caring object (container - container), which accepts beta elements (content - accept), processes and converts them into alpha elements, and returns them to the child. The infant introjects them along with the transforming alpha function, thus developing its own alpha function - the ability to symbolize, remember, dream and think. Mental pathologies were considered by him in connection with disturbances in these basic functions of thinking.
Winnicott's object relation theory. Donald Winnicott (1896-1971) described how the holding of a "good enough mother" allows the infant to create ideas about himself and others. In the transitional space between the infant and the mother, the child finds and creates transitional objects (for example, a favorite blanket) that perform the function of the mother, but are not it. This transitional or potential space between subjective internal reality and objectively perceived external reality becomes available as an internal space where it is possible to experience life, create new ideas, images, fantasies, art, culture formation. If the mother empathically responds to the infant's spontaneous gestures, the child develops a true self with the capacity for play and creativity. However, if the mother consistently misinterprets the baby's gestures to suit her own needs, the baby's true self remains hidden behind a shield of false selfhood that helps to survive, but causes later development to feel unfulfilled, incapable of being real.
French psychoanalysis developed rapidly in disputes with Jacques Lacan (1901-1981) and his ideas (the meaning of language, phallus, desire and the Other, the concepts of the imaginary, symbolic and [unattainable] real). His call for a return to Freud initiated a serious debate and development of Freud's basic concepts, and ultimately established the paramount role of Freudian metapsychology in understanding the human psyche. This, in turn, fruitfully influenced the development of a new concept of the theory of seduction, an emphasis on the drives of life and death, and the theory of narcissism. Recognition of the importance of the theory of drives marked the emphasis on sexuality, subjectivity, the language of desire, the structuring function of the Oedipus complex, in particular with attention to the role of the third in relationships. This led to the idea of a tertiary process, in which unconscious (primary) and conscious (secondary) processes coexist and creatively combine.
Self psychology was founded in the United States by Heinz Kohut (1913-1981), who explored the individual sense of self, in particular in relation to the development and regulation of narcissism. He emphasized the important role of the care given to the child by the parents (and later by the analyst), empathically reflecting the child's states and allowing oneself to be idealized (idealized, twin transferences), thereby maintaining the child (later the patient) as a self-object until the child learns ( internalizes) its regulatory functions. In parallel with Freud's structural model (Ego, Id and Super-Ego) and the theory of drives, Kohut proposed his own model of the structure of the Self.
Psychoanalytic Method
Psychoanalysis is a conversational treatment based on the method of free association, the fundamental rule that the patient is invited to say whatever comes to mind, without such restrictions as: appropriateness, propriety, feelings of shame or guilt, and other options for disapproval. By adhering to this rule, the patient's thought processes create amazing connections, reveal interconnections of desires and defenses that are inaccessible to consciousness, lead to unconscious roots of hitherto unresolved conflicts that begin to manifest and take shape in the transference. Listening to associations by the analyst occurs through a similar mental process, free-floating attention, when the analyst follows the patient's communications, noticing—sometimes as in a daydream—his own associations in response to the patient's situation (countertransference reactions, that is, reactions to the patient's transference).
The integration of all the information received occurs through the internal work of the analyst, taking shape in a picture of a transference-countertransference situation that reveals a certain gestalt (unconscious fantasy) in the therapeutic relationship, which is ultimately experienced jointly by both the analyst and the patient. Through the analyst's interventions—interpretations of what is happening here and now in the session—a new understanding (insight) of the patient's suffering will arise. Reapplying the new understanding to similar situations in which similar conflicts arise helps the patient to recognize the thought processes that give rise to conflicts. By resolving these conflicts and putting them into perspective, the patient's mind is freed from old inhibitions, making room for new choices.
Setting
The method described above is best applied in the classical setting: the patient lies comfortably on the couch, saying whatever comes to mind without being distracted by the analyst, who usually sits behind the couch. This allows both participants in psychoanalysis to immerse themselves in listening and feeling what is happening in the session. The patient plunges into his inner world, reviving memories, returning to important experiences, talking about dreams and fantasies - enduring everything that will help shed light on the patient's life, his history, his mind.
Analytical sessions usually last 45-50 minutes. All agreements on terms (schedule, frequency of visits, fees per session) are discussed from the very beginning of the analysis and are binding on both the patient and the analyst. The timing for the end of the analysis is difficult to predict - on average, for classical analysis, one can expect from three to five years. However, the patient and the analyst are free to decide at any time whether to interrupt or terminate the analysis.
Classical psychoanalytic therapy is designed to realize the potential of the adult neurotic patient, who is generally adapted to the requirements of modern life and work. In order to deepen the analytic process, psychoanalytic sessions are carried out three, four or five times a week. The high frequency of psychoanalytic treatment is also used to treat psychopathologies such as severe narcissistic and borderline personality disorders.
Psychoanalytic or psychodynamic psychotherapy with adults at a lower frequency (once or twice a week) can be done face to face. The goals of therapy in this case are more focused on solving certain types of problems: difficulties in relationships or work, depression or anxiety disorders. Even if transference and countertransference reactions occur in psychoanalysis, they are not interpreted by considering and solving immediate problems in the patient's life. Sometimes both participants in psychoanalytic psychotherapy may decide at some point in the treatment to deepen their work and move on to psychoanalysis at a higher frequency.
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 public 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 the 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 announced the birth of a completely new system of psychology, and this event is often called the 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 by a large number of 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 research 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 by no means 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, in relation to the psychologist, the feelings that the client experienced at an early age to the subjects who were in his immediate environment are transferred, the projection of early childhood desires onto the substitute person is performed.
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 a 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 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.
Psychoanalysis is one of the directions in psychological science, which is based on the definition of anxieties and internal conflicts of the individual, hidden in the depths of the subconscious. Such conflicts can be one of the causes of psycho-emotional trauma. The founder of this trend is Sigmund Freud, who devoted his life to the study of unconscious processes. Thanks to his teachings, psychologists around the world got the opportunity to work with the motives of the behavioral model hidden in the subconscious of the individual. Let's find out what psychoanalysis is in psychology and talk about the basics of this doctrine.
Psychoanalysis is a psychological theory founded by the Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud, as well as a method of the same name for the treatment of mental disorders.Fundamentals of psychoanalysis
Psychoanalysis is one of the psychological teachings that considers the human personality in the form of a struggle between consciousness and the subconscious. This confrontation affects the level of emotional perception and self-esteem, and also determines the degree of interaction with the outside world. Most often, the source of conflict between the subconscious and consciousness is the negative life experience gained by a person throughout his life. Human nature is arranged in such a way that each person tries to avoid various types of pain and is aimed at finding pleasure.
Psychoanalysis is a branch that studies the interaction between the unconscious and conscious areas.
The theory of psychoanalysis is built on the assertion that the human personality is based on three components: the unconscious, preconscious and conscious parts. Each of these components are interchangeable and dependent on each other. The preconscious part contains human desires and fantastic ideas. Focusing on such stimuli moves them from the preconscious part to the realm of consciousness. Morality and morality are social values that determine the human personality. Their influence on the perception of certain life events can cause the mind to perceive various life situations as painful or acceptable. With painful perception, memories of traumatic circumstances are deposited in the unconscious area.
Such life experience, as it were, is separated from the rest, with the help of invisible barriers. Human psychoanalysis is based on two analytical mechanisms:
- The study of spontaneous actions that are committed throughout life.
- Analysis of personality, with the help of associations and interpretations of dreams.
Freud's theory
The human behavioral model is regulated by consciousness. Research on this topic helped Sigmund Freud to reveal the existence of a certain layer that is responsible for various lusts and inclinations. Since Freud was a practitioner, in his research he determined the existence of a whole layer of motives, which are called unconscious.
The goal of psychoanalytic therapy is to be able to unravel a person's personality, and not just calm him down. According to Freud, it is precisely such motives that are the root cause of the occurrence of diseases of the nervous system and the human psyche. Thanks to this discovery, scientists have been able to find the means that can stop the struggle within the patient's personality. One of these means was the method of psychoanalysis, which is a method of resolving internal conflicts. The treatment of neuropathic pathologies was not Freud's main goal. This great scientist sought to find methods that would help restore the mental health of the patient as much as possible. Through trial and error, a theory of analysis of the patient's personality was developed, which is widely used today.
The uniqueness and effectiveness of Freud's methodology has become highly widespread and has become one of the most famous "tools" for restoring the psyche. The classical version of psychoanalysis should be regarded as a kind of revolution in psychological science.
What is the theory of psychoanalysis
What does psychoanalysis study? The basis of this teaching is based on the assumption that the behavioral model has in its nature unconscious motives that are hidden deep within the personality. The middle of the last century can be characterized as a revolution in psychological science, since the world was presented with methods that allow you to look at the internal psychological tension from a new point of view.
According to Freud, the human personality consists of three components. They received the names "Super-I", "I" and "It". "It" - the unconscious part of the personality, in which various objects of gravity are hidden. "I" is a continuation of "It" and arises under the influence of external forces. "I" is one of the most complex mechanisms, the functionality of which covers both the conscious and unconscious levels. Based on this, it follows that the "I" is one of the tools to protect the psyche from external influences.
Many of the mechanisms that protect the psyche from damage are prepared at birth for the influence of external stimuli. However, the violation of the process of personality formation and the negative microclimate that prevails within the family can become a source of various pathologies. In this case, the influence of objective reality leads to a weakening of the defense mechanisms and causes distortions. It is the force of curvature of the adaptive defense mechanisms that leads to the emergence of mental disorders.
Psychoanalysis is a method of scientific observation, the study of personality: its desires, drives, impulses, fantasies, early development and emotional disorders. Psychoanalysis as a direction of psychology
The definition of the characteristics of the human psyche, proposed by Freud, has become very widespread in psychology. To date, many modern methods of psychotherapeutic correction have been built on this theory. Jung's analytical psychoanalysis and Adler's individual psychoanalysis are one of the main "tools" for identifying internal conflicts that are sources of pathological perception.
The theories of the aforementioned scientists are based on the research of Sigmund Freud. The main difference between these methods is the limited importance of sexual motives. Thanks to the followers of Freud, the unconscious part of the personality received new characteristics. According to Adler, the manifestation of lust for power is a compensation for an inferiority complex.
Jung's research was based on the study of the collective unconscious. According to the scientist, the unconscious part of the individual's psyche is based on hereditary factors. According to Freud himself, the unconscious level is filled with phenomena that were pushed out of the conscious part of the psyche.
Use of psychoanalysis in psychology
The method of psychoanalysis is based on three main elements that fully reveal the whole concept of this teaching. The first element is a kind of stage at which material is collected for study. The second element involves careful study and analysis of the data obtained. The third element is interaction using the data obtained as a result of the analysis. Various techniques are used to collect information, including the method of confrontation, associations and transference.
The method of building free associations is based on creating a model of situations that exactly repeat certain life events. This approach allows you to identify certain processes occurring at the unconscious level of the psyche. The use of this method makes it possible to obtain data on pathological processes in order to further correct mental disorders. Correction is carried out by understanding internal conflicts and the causes of their occurrence. One of the important conditions in the use of this method is the creation of a strong communicative relationship between the psychologist and the patient, aimed at eliminating psychological discomfort.
Psychoanalysis studies the internal, coming from the subconscious, driven by instincts and the principle of pleasure, the tension of a person. To do this, the patient must voice every thought that is born in his head. These thoughts may be obscene or borderline absurd. In order to achieve a high result, it is necessary to create the right relationship between the doctor and the patient. The transfer technique involves the unconscious transfer of the characteristic personality traits of the patient's parents to the attending physician. Thus, the patient relates to the doctor in the same way as he treated close relatives in early childhood. At the same time, the substitute person gets the opportunity to identify children's desires, grievances and psychological trauma received during the formation of the personality.
It is important to note that psychotherapeutic intervention often encounters the phenomenon of internal resistance emanating from the patient. It manifests itself in the form of a failure to comprehend causal relationships and a violation of the process of creating a new model of behavior. The cause of resistance is an unconscious refusal to touch internal conflicts, which is accompanied by the appearance of obstacles on the way to identifying the cause of mental disorders.
The main task of personality analysis is to perform four sequential actions:
- interpretation;
- working out;
- clarification;
- opposition.
Further, the joint efforts of the patient and the psychologist are aimed at achieving a specific goal, which was identified as a result of the analysis. The technique of interpreting dreams involves the interpretation of dreams, which are a deformed form of unconscious motives.
Modern theory of psychoanalysis
Such representatives of psychoanalysis as Alfred Adler, Jacques Lacan, Karen Horney and Carl Jung made an invaluable contribution to the development of this area of psychology. It was their modified theory of classical psychoanalysis that made it possible to create new methods for revealing the hidden properties of the human psyche. Over the course of a hundred years that have passed since the advent of the method of psychoanalysis, various principles have appeared, on the basis of which a multi-level system has been built that combines various approaches to resolving internal conflicts.
Thanks to the followers of Freud, whole complexes of psychotherapeutic correction appeared, which contain methods for studying the unconscious part of the human psyche. One of these methods is the release of the personality from those restrictions that are created in the subconscious area and hinder personal development.
To date, the methodology of psychoanalysis includes three main branches that are complementary and interconnected with each other:
- Applied form of psychoanalysis- is used to identify and study general cultural factors with the help of which certain social issues are resolved.
- Clinical form of psychoanalysis- a method of therapeutic assistance to people faced with internal conflicts that provoke the occurrence of neuropsychic pathologies.
- Psychoanalytic ideas- which are a kind of ground for the construction of methods of actual correction.
A person who has undergone psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic therapy will be able to radically change himself and his life. Psychoanalysis has a high degree of distribution in various fields of science. Psychoanalysis in philosophy is a peculiar method of interpreting the foundations and mores established in society. The classical form of psychoanalysis was one of the reasons for the development of the sexual revolution, since it is in it that the concept of sexual desire is expressed most clearly. The current form of psychoanalysis is based on ego psychology and object relations teachings.
To date, the use of the method of analyzing the patient's personality helps to cope with both neurotic diseases and complex mental disorders. Thanks to the constant improvement of this area, scientists every day identify new ways to eliminate various pathologies. A huge contribution to the improvement of this branch was made by the followers of Freud, whose teaching was called neo-Freudianism. However, despite the high prevalence and application in various fields, the theory of psychoanalysis often faces criticism. According to some scientists, this direction is pseudoscience and has undeservedly gained such high popularity.
Each of us had unusual, amazing dreams that we could remember in detail the next morning. The first thing that comes to mind after waking up to any person is to look at the meaning of the dream in the interpreter.
One of the most famous dream books was developed by the founder of the theory of psychoanalysis, an Austrian scientist. Freud considered psychoanalysis the only tool capable of revealing hidden experiences, anxieties, fears that find expression in our dreams in rather bizarre forms.
So what is psychoanalysis? In his book "Introduction to Psychoanalysis", Freud wrote that the method is aimed at revealing the hidden, repressed experiences of the individual, which can lead to an increase in internal tension, deepening the conflict between the components of the personality, and as a result - to various kinds of mental disorders. Modern psychology considers the undoubted advantage of the method of psychoanalysis that a person is considered as a unity of opposites that are in constant struggle with each other.
A bit of history
The fate of Sigmund Freud was rather difficult. He was born on May 6, 1856 in the city of Freiberg, into a Jewish family. The boy was ambitious, dreamed of becoming a minister or a general. However, in those days in the Austrian Empire for Jews, the choice of specialties was small: jurisprudence or medicine.
Despite all the achievements of Freud, representatives of the scientific community of that time subjected psychoanalysis to harsh criticism, and many did not hesitate to call the author of the method a charlatan and a sexually mad maniac.
There are other interesting points in the biography of the psychoanalyst: for some time he studied the beneficial properties of cocaine, treated drug addiction with this substance, and called for drinking a small amount of powder dissolved in water to improve well-being. It is also known that Freud suffered from very funny phobias: he was afraid of the numbers 6 and 2, ferns and pistols, did not look into the eyes of his interlocutor, never discussed, believing that his opinion was the only true one.
Freud died at the age of 83 from a lethal dose of morphine. He suffered from a serious illness, the cause of which was excessive smoking. Many believe that the psychoanalyst resorted to euthanasia in order to avoid the severe pain that accompanies this disease.
Theoretical foundations of the method
The history of psychoanalysis is as unusual as the biography of the scientist who developed this method. Working in Paris under the guidance of the prominent psychiatrist Jean Charcot, Freud was engaged in research and identification of the causes of neuroses.
To develop a new approach to the treatment of mental illness, Freud conducted his own research, and also used the data of other scientists. The theory of psychoanalysis is unique, it differs from other areas in that it does not consider individual problems of a person, but analyzes him as a whole person. Let us briefly consider the main provisions of psychoanalysis.
1. Classical psychoanalysis is based on the determinism of the biological component, namely on the postulate that physiological and sexual needs prevail over the rest. Modern psychology no longer pays such a significant role to these components.
2. Mental determinism speaks of the continuity of a person's spiritual life. Every act of a person has a hidden or explicit motive and is determined by previous events.
Psychoanalysis of personality is one of the most interesting developments of the scientist. Freud singled out three components in the structure of personality: Id, Ego and super-ego. The first component - Id - is a set of unique characteristics laid down at birth, it is a source of energy and an unconscious part of the personality. The second part - the Ego - is conscious, constantly in contact with the external environment. The third is the controller, the receptacle of moral norms, rules, restrictions dictated by a civilized society.
The techniques of psychoanalysis consist of several stages: production, analysis, working alliance. At the stage of production, one can distinguish such methods of psychoanalysis as free association, resistance,. Each of these methods has its own characteristics and scope.
The first method of psychoanalysis uses associations to comprehend the deep unconscious processes of the human psyche. The data obtained are analyzed and used for therapeutic intervention in order to correct human behavior. The method involves the joint work of the patient and the doctor to reduce internal tension.
The third method of psychoanalysis involves holding sessions during which the patient voices any thoughts that come to mind. When talking with a psychotherapist, the patient subconsciously transfers the properties of his parents to the doctor. The success of the work in this case largely depends on how trusting relationships have developed between the attending physician and his ward.
The analytical stage is divided into four steps: confrontation, interpretation, clarification, elaboration. A working alliance involves the existence of a constructive and productive relationship between the patient and the therapist, aimed at purposeful problem solving at the analytic stage. It is worth mentioning the method of interpreting dreams, aimed at finding the truth hidden behind deformed images.
It is worth mentioning the works of other authors who also made a significant contribution to the development of the theory. He developed his own analytical psychoanalysis, taking Freud's calculations as a basis. The second direction - individual psychoanalysis - was founded and developed by an Austrian psychologist. Both scientists agreed that the prevalence of sexual impulses over the rest is unreasonably exaggerated, but the theory of the unconscious does have a serious scientific basis.
The Jungian approach is the most interesting and considers the desire for power as a driving motive as a way to compensate for feelings of inferiority. The Jungian method considers two types of the unconscious - collective and personal. It is widely known to divide people into two types: extrovert (directed outward) and (focused in itself).
Modern view of the theory
Modern psychoanalysis develops in three directions:
- Applied psychoanalysis is aimed at solving global social problems.
- Clinical - used to help people with psychological problems.
- Theoretical - psychology must develop, and for this it is necessary to develop new approaches to solving the problems facing science.
The concept of "psychoanalysis" in psychology is inextricably linked with the name of Freud, who made a significant contribution to the development of science, despite all the attacks from the adherents of the traditional approach of that time. Largely thanks to the works of this scientist, modern psychology has gone far beyond the treatment of neuroses. The development of psychoanalysis led to the emergence of numerous varieties of the method, which confirmed the validity of Freud's main statement about the existence of the unconscious in the human psyche. Author: Natalia Kuznetsova
