What is the core assumption in psychoanalysis?
There is a real internal world made up of unconscious desires, drives and conflicts that exist within each person.
How is human nature determined in psychoanalysis?
Personality is largely shaped by early childhood experiences (before age 12) especially through psychosexual stages
What does psychoanalysis suggest about how behaviour is driven?
Its driven by unconscious forces rather than full conscious free will.
What is the role of early relationships in development?
Early parental and attachment experiences = form psyche. Unresolved childhood conflicts can be repressed and reappear later as anxiety or relational issues.
How does Freud view the mind?
Conscious (rational reality awareness, our thoughts and intuition)
Unconscious (inner conflicts)
Preconscious (habits, denial, habitual repetitive patterns we are semi aware of)
What are eros?
Life instinct - drive towards survival and growth. Can make meaning of why humans want to connect with people and be social
What are thanatos?
Death instinct - a pull towards destruction, aggression + non being manifesting into violence or self sabotage. Opposes eros yet balances in psyche
What are the three parts of personality structural model?
ID - the child (largely unconscious driving our needs and wants)
SUPEREGO - the parent (judicial part of personality aimed to inhibit ID impulses. Idealistic and moral thinking)
EGO - the adult (executive part that governs, controls and regulates personality. Distinguishes between inner and outer reality of experiences)
What is psychosexual development?
Relates to childhood development. They are stages focused on satisfying sexual drives in different body parts. Being deprived or overindulged leads to fixation = the root of dysfunctionality in adulthood
What is the first year?
Oral - Trust vs Mistrust. Safety, love, fear, nurturing. Later can be turned into mistrust + ability/fear of relationships.
What is the 1-3 years?
Anal - Autonomy vs Power.
Related learning and independence + expressing negative feelings like rage and aggression. Later can turn into if too strict = stuck up, if too soft = sloppy.
What is the 3-6 years?
Phallic (genitals) - Related to gender identifications + sexual attitudes.
‘At three to six, kids start to mix, they find their pride in the phallic side’. Later could be turned into shame or vain (flirtatious/seductive)
What is the 6 to 12 years?
Latent (puberty) - Isolation vs Intimacy. Related to social skills + identity. Later could be turned into issues forming relationships.
What is the 12 years onwards?
Genital - “Grown up love”. Mature connection in adulthood, forming intimate relationships, caring for others. Later on could be turned into dependence or inability to form emotional connections
What are the ego defence mechanisms?
Behaviours to help cope with anxiety and prevent overwhelming ego. Include denial, displacement, projection, rationalisation etc
How does psychoanalysis view where problems come from?
Problems come from within, rooted in unconscious drives, conflicted relationships and developmental wounds that have been buried rather than worked through
What are the goals of therapy in psychoanalysis?
Bringing unconscious to conscious awareness which influence behaviour and emotional distress from early childhood.
Facilitate emotional release.
Promote insight and understanding of self.
What is the technique of free association?
Facilitating client to say whatever comes to mind with no filtering + no judgement to uncover hidden thoughts or feelings.
What is the technique of dream analysis?
Exploring meaning of clients dreams to uncover hidden thoughts, wishes or conflicts in unconscious mind.
What is the technique of transference and counter transference?
When a client projects feelings about someone from their past onto their therapist (or another person in their life). T: Therapist works through clients reactions.
CT: Therapist processes their reactions to the client
What is the technique of resistance?
When a client unconsciously blocks talking about certain uncomfortable thoughts, feelings or memories + therapists use it as evidence for developed avoidance
What is the technique of interpretation?
Therapist offers deeper meanings and explanations for client revelations
