Psychology 334
Week
Three
P. Derry
Psychoanalysis
INTRODUCTION and OVERVIEW
Freud's psychoanalytic system is a model of personality development, a philosophy of human nature, and a method of psychotherapy.
The main focus of this lecture will be on the basic psychoanalytic (PA) concepts and practices, many of which originated with Freud. We’ll also mention Erik Erikson's psychosocial theory of development. The chapter also reviews Object Relations Theory.
KEY
CONCEPTS
View of Human Nature
Structure of Personality
Consciousness and the Unconscious
ANXIETY: 3 kinds of anxiety: reality, neurotic, and moral
EGO-DEFENSE MECHANISMS
DEVELOPMENT OF PERSONALITY
IMPORTANCE OF EARLY DEVELOPMENT.
Psychoanalysis provides you (the therapist) with:
- the conceptual tools for understanding trends in development,
- key developmental tasks characteristic of the various stages,
- normal and abnormal personal and social functioning,
- critical
needs and their satisfaction or frustration,
- origins of faulty personality
development that lead to later adjustment problems, and
- healthy and
unhealthy uses of defense mechanisms.
OBJECT RELATIONS THEORY
This new thinking emphasizes:
-
the origins, transformations, and organizational functions of
the SELF,
- one's experiences of others
- the
differentiation between the integration of the self and others
-
the influence of critical factors in early development on later development
- These newer approaches are under the label self-psychology or Object Relations Theory. Object relations are interpersonal relationships as they are represented intrapsychically. The term object was used by Freud to refer to that which satisfies a need, or to the significant person or thing that is the object, or target, of one's feelings or drives. It is used interchangeably with the term other to refer to an important person to whom the child, and later the adult, becomes attached. Rather than being individuals with a separate identity, others are perceived by an infant as objects for gratifying needs. Thus object relations are interpersonal relationships that shape the individual's current interactions with people, both in reality and in fantasy
THE THERAPEUTIC PROCESS of most psychodynamic therapies:
GOALS: 2 goals of Freudian psychoanalysis are to make the
unconscious conscious and to strengthen the ego so that behavior is based more
on reality and less on instinctual cravings. Successful analysis is
believed to result in significant modification of personality and character
structure.
THE SIX BASIC TECHNIQUES OF PSYCHOANALYTIC THERAPY:
1. Maintaining the analytic framework
2. Free association
3. Interpretation
4. Dream analysis
5. Analysis of resistance, and
6. Analysis of transference.
Case of Stan (directly from your text, p. 11)
In a community mental health agency Stan is ordered by the court to go to counselling. He has an impaired driving charge, but does not think he has a serious drinking problem. Stan arrives for an intake interview and provides the following information:
He is 25 years old and works as a construction laborer. He likes his work consisting of building houses, but does not want to stay in construction for the rest of his life. In his personal life he has always had difficulty getting along with people. He calls himself a "loner". Although he says he likes having people in his life, he does not seem to know how to make friends or how to get close to people. He speculates the reason why he sometimes drinks too much is because he is scared when it comes to mixing with people. He finds he is more relaxed when he has been drinking. He finds that others seem to know the right things to say, and in comparison to them he feels dumb. He is afraid people will find him boring if they really knew him, and that they wouldn't want anything to do with him. He would like to make some changes in his life, but does not know where to start. That is why he is a part-time university student besides working in construction. He majors in psychology in his part-time studies. He wants to improve himself by furthering his education. In one of his psychology classes he had to write an autobiographical paper, which he brings to show you. It reads:
Where am I currently in my life? At 25, I feel that I've wasted most of
my life. By now I should be finished with college and into a good job, but
instead I'm only a first year student. I can't afford to really commit
myself to university full time, because I need to work to support myself.
Even though construction work is hard, I like the satisfaction when I look at
what I helped build.
Although I'd like to build things as a hobby, I want to get into some profession where I could work with people, if I can ever get over my fears of what people think of me. Someday, I'm hoping to get a degree in counselling or in social work and eventually work as a counsellor with kids who are in trouble. I feel I was helped by someone who cared for me, and I would like to have a similar influence on young people.
At this time I live alone, have very few friends, and feel scared with people
my own age or older. I feel good when I'm with kids, because they're so
honest. But I worry a lot whether I'm smart enough to get through all the
studies I'll need to do before I become a counsellor.
One of my problems is that I drink heavily and frequently get drunk. This happens mostly when I feel alone and scared that I'll always feel as lonely and isolated as I do now. At first drinking makes me feel better, but later on I really feel rotten. I used to do drugs heavily, and once in a while I still take drugs.
People really scare me, and I feel overwhelmed when I'm around strong and attractive women. I feel all cold, sweaty, and terribly uptight when I'm with a woman. Maybe I think they're judging me, and I know they'll find out that I'm not much of a man. I'm afraid I won't measure up to being a man - always having to be strong, tough, and perfect. I'm not any of those, so I often wonder if I'm adequate as a man. I really have trouble seeing myself as sexually adequate. When I do have sex, I get uptight and worry that I won't be able to perform, and then I really feel terrible.
I feel anxiety much of the time, particularly at night. Sometimes I get so scared that I feel like running, but I just can't move. It's awful, because I often feel as if I'm dying at times like this. And then I fantasize about committing suicide and wonder who would care. Sometimes I see my family coming to my funeral feeling very sorry they didn't treat me better. I even made a weak attempt to do myself in a couple of years ago. Much of the time I feel guilty that I haven't worked up to my potential, that I've been a failure, that I've wasted much of my time, and that I let people down a lot. I can really get down on myself and wallow in my guilt, and I feel very depressed. At times like this I think about how rotten I am, how I'll never be able to change, and that I would be better off dead. Then I wouldn't have to hurt anymore, and I wouldn't want anything either. It's very difficult for me to get close to anyone. I can't say that I've ever loved a person, and I know that I've never felt fully loved or wanted.
Everything is not bleak, because I did have enough guts to leave a lot of my shady past behind me, and I did get into university. I like my determination - I want to change. I'm tired of feeling like a loser, and I know that nobody is going to change my life for me. It's up to me to get what I want. Even though I feel scared a lot, I like it that I can feel my feelings and that I'm willing to take risks. I hate being a quitter.
What was my past like? What are some significant events and turning
points in my life? A major turning point was the confidence my supervisor
had in me at the youth camp where I worked the past few summers. He helped
me get my job, and he also encouraged me to go to college. He said he saw
a lot of potential in me for being able to work well with young people.
That was hard for me to really believe, but his faith inspired me to begin to
believe in myself. Another turning point was my marriage and
divorce. This "relationship" didn't last long before my wife left
me. Wow, that really made me wonder about what kind of man I was!
She was a strong and dominant woman who was always telling me how worthless I
was and how she couldn't stand to get near me. We met in a gambling casino
in
In high school I got involved with the wrong crowd and took a lot of drugs. I was thrown into a youth rehabilitation facility for stealing. Later I was expelled from regular school for fighting. I got into auto mechanics and was fairly successful and even managed to keep myself employed for three years as a mechanic.
Back to my parents. I remember my father telling me: "You're really dumb. Why can't you be like your sister and brother? You'll never amount to a hill of beans. Why can't you ever do anything right?" And my mother treated me much the way she treated my father. She would say: "Why do you do so many things to hurt me? Why can't you grow up and be a man? You were a mistake - I wish I hadn't had you. Things are so much better around here when you're gone." I recall crying myself to sleep many nights, feeling alone and full of anger. And feeling disgusted with myself. There was no talk of religion in my house, nor was there any talk about sex.
Where would I like to be five years from now? What kind of person do I want to become, and what changes do I most want in my life? Most of all, I would just like to start feeling better about myself. I would really like to be able to stop drinking altogether and still feel good. I have an inferiority complex, and I know how to put myself down. I want to like myself much more than I do now. I hope I can learn to love at least a few other people, most of all, women. I want to lose my fear that women can destroy me. I would like to feel equal with others and not always have to feel apologetic for my existence. I don't want to suffer from this anxiety and guilt. And I hope that I can begin to think of myself as an OK person. I really want to become a good counsellor with kids, and learn to trust people more.
1. What are the psychoanalytic stages of
psychosexual development? Which, if any, did Stan have problems in?
What is fixation? Is Stan fixated? Why or why not?
2. How would a psychoanalytic analyst conceptualize (explain, account for the development of) Stan's problem?
3. What are the main psychoanalytic defense mechanisms? Which of these does Stan use? How effective are they for him?
4. What is the psychoanalytic view of the role of the unconscious? How does it account for Stan’s problems?
5. Briefly summarize Object Relations theory. How would Object Relations theorists account for and explain Stan's problem?