A Freudian Perspective

1. A Freudian Perspective Psychology A

2. Dr Sigmund Freud 1856-1939 • Oldest of eight children • Married with 3 girls and 3 boys • Jewish-anti-religion-All religion an illusion used to cope with feelings of infantile helplessness • Based theory on personal experiences • Died of cancer of jaw & mouth lifelong chain-smoker

3. Freud • To have a look in the Freud Museum click here.

4. Freud’s Psychoanalytic Approach: • Model of personality development • Method of Psychotherapy • Identified dynamic factors that motivate behaviour • Focused on role of unconscious

5. Determinism • According to Freud behaviour is determined by : • Irrational forces • Unconscious motivations • Biological and instinctual drives as they evolve through the six psychosexual stages of life

6. Instincts • Libido – sexual energy – Pleasure principle – goal of life gain pleasure and avoid pain • Death instinct – accounts for aggressive drive – to die or to hurt themselves or others • Sex and aggressive drives-powerful determinants of people’s actions

7. The Structure of Personality • THE ID — The Demanding Child • Ruled by the pleasure principle • THE EGO — The Adult • Ruled by the reality principle • THE SUPEREGO — The Judge • Ruled by the moral principle

8. The mind is an iceberg The id and superego are below the surface Only the ego is on the conscious level.

9. Id • Basic psychic energy and motivations • Operates to demands of Pleasure Principle - strive to satisfy desires and reduce inner tension • The Demanding Child

10. Ego • Deals with real world • Operates to demands of Reality Principle solves problems by planning & acting • The Adult

11. Superego • Internalised social norm & moral forces pressing on and constraining individual action • Acts as our conscience • The Judge

12. Psychosexual Theory of Development • Five Stages of Development • Oral Stage • Anal Stage • Phallic Stage • Latency Period • Genital Stage

13. Defense Mechanisms • To protect the ego against the painful and threatening impulses arising from the id we distort the reality • The processes that distort the reality for the ego are called defense mechanisms

14. Types of Defense Mechanisms • Repression • Reaction Formation • Denial • Regression • Sublimation

15. What is the Unconscious • That portion of the mind inaccessible to usual, conscious thought • Get to unconscious through Free Association: spontaneous free flowing associations of ideas and feelings

16. The Unconscious • Clinical evidence forthe unconscious mind: • Dreams • Slips of the tongue • Posthypnotic suggestions • Material derived from free-association • Symbolic content of psychotic symptoms

17. Dream Interpretation • “Royal road to the unconscious” • What is important in dreams is the infantile wish fulfillment represented in them • Freud assumed every dream has a meaning that can be interpreted by decoding representations of the unconscious material • Dream symbol = represents some person, thing, or activity involved in the unconscious process

18. Dream Interpretations • Knife, umbrella, snake = Penis • Box, oven, ship = Uterus • Room, table with food = Women • Staircase, ladder = Sexual intercourse • Baldness, tooth removal = castration • Left (direction) = crime, sexual deviation • Fire = bedwetting • Robber = father • Falling = anxiety

19. Freudian Slip • Psychological error in speaking or writing • Evidence of some unconscious urge, desire, or conflict & struggle • When ego or superego are not doing their job properly elements of id slip out or are seen

20. Psychoanalytic Techniques • Free Association • Client reports immediately without censoring any feelings or thoughts • Interpretation • Therapist points out, explains, and teaches the meanings of whatever is revealed • Dream Analysis • Therapist uses the “royal road to the unconscious” to bring unconscious material to light

21. Contributions of Freud • First personality & psychotherapy theory • Emphasis on sexuality as influence • Importance of early childhood experience • Concept of unconscious • Emphasis on Helper Role in therapeutic relationship • Scientific approach to mental health on continuum from physical health

22. Limitations of Freud’s Work • Pessimistic and deterministic approach to personality • No controlled studies-poor research • Overemphasis on differences between men and women • Unconcerned with interpersonal relations, individual identity and adaptation over one’s lifetime

23. Freud’s Heritage • Learn how Freudian ideas have been used in Public Relations campaigns. • See how psychoanalysts encouraged women to smoke • Find out about how the Freud dynasty have used Freudian ideas to their advantage. • Find out how we have been influenced by Freudian ideas in this compelling social history.

24. To further your interest • To visit the Freud Archive - click here • Keep up to date with the latest research Psychology Today

25. Freudian Ideas and Film Makers • Freudian Ideas have been used extensively by British Film Makers – click on the link below Screen Online Watch clips from the film Black Narcissus to see Freudian Ideas at work