Fri July 25/2008
Fri July 25/2008 |
|
 |
|
|
||||||
|
|
Freud’s Psychoanalytic TheoryFreudian Theory Freud’s psychoanalytic theory provided new insight and a radically new approach to the analysis and treatment of what can be classified as “abnormal: adult behavior. This turn of the century approach defied earlier views that there was a physiological reason for this “abnormal” behavior. Freud’s approach was novel in that it recognized that neurotic behavior is not random or meaningless, but rather is goal-directed. With this approach, the analyst was given a method for understanding the behavior as meaningful and informative while at the same time looking for the purpose behind the behavior without denying its physiological aspects. The Pre-Oedipal Stage According to Freud, all human beings are born with a natural tendency to satisfy his or her biological needs for food, shelter, and warmth. Satisfying these needs is not only practical, but a source of pleasure which Freud refers to as “sexual: in nature. By accepting Freud’s analogy on this, the infant sucking at its mother’s breast discovers the pleasure that is inherent in this activity, and as a result, he awakens the first glimmers of sexuality. Through this activity of satisfying his hunger, the child discovers an erotogenic zone, the likeness of which may be reactivated in life through thumb sucking or kissing. It is through this intimate interaction with the mother on whom this child depends that the sexual drive emerges. Once this is separated from the original function as a purely biological instinct, a relative autonomy is achieved. During the early stages of childhood, other erotogenic zones are seen to be emerging such as the oral stage in which the child is seen putting objects into his mouth and the anal stage where the child takes pleasure in defecation. Freud considers this pleasure sadistic because the child appears to take pleasure in destruction and expulsion. The anal stage is also believed to be associated with the desire for retention and possession as in allowing or withholding the feces. The child then enters the phallic stage where the sexual drive is focused on the genitals. This term phallic is used rather than genital because, according to Freud, only the male genitals are recognized as significant. In this state, Freud describes the child as anarchic, sadistic, aggressive, self-involved and remorselessly pleasure seeking as well as being referred to ungendered which is to say that even though the child is riddled with sexual drives, he or she knows no distinction between the gender categories of masculine and feminine. The Oedipus complex: Gendering the Subject The Oedipus complex is at the center of Freud’s theory on childhood development. He believes that a boy’s close relation to his mother leads to a desire for a complete union with her, whereas a girl, with the same close relationship with her mother will direct her libido toward her father. This, in turn, produces a relation where the parent of the same sex is cast in a role for the affection of the parent of the opposite sex. Eventually, the boy will lose his incestuous desire for his mother out of fear of castration as he begins to see females have been “castrated” and fears that the same fate will befall him. The girls’ route through this stage of development is far more problematic according to Freud. Upon realizing she is both castrated and inferior, she turns from her similarly castrated mother and attempts to “seduce” her father. When she fails, she returns to her mother and begins to identify with her feminine role. She still envies the fact that she will never have a penis, and substitutes the desire to have her father’s baby, though it is unclear how she eventually gives up this desire. The Unconscious With the unconscious being the part of the mind that lies outside of the vague and porous boundaries of the conscious, it is constructed in part by repression of that which is considered too painful to remember consciously. Freud believes the unconscious also contains laws of transformation, this being the principles that govern the processes of repression and sublimation. In other words, the unconscious has the ability to make the relation between childhood memories and adult behavior intelligible. Ego, Id and Super-Ego Freud considers the ego to be something that develops from the id, that being defined as the “biological, inherited unconscious source of sexual drives instincts and irrational behaviors” (T.R. Quigley, 1998, “A Brief Analysis of Psychotherapy). The id’s interaction with the outside world in turn creates the ego. Psychoanalytic therapy involves allowing the patient to relive repressed fantasies and fears both in feeling and thought, a process known as transference. This process is necessary for successful treatment and is sometimes accomplished through dream interpretation when the source of the dreams is seen as a symbolic expression of these hidden or repressed fantasies and fears. There are of course, those who object to Freud’s theory for various reasons such as the inability to either prove or disprove his theories as well as his failure to completely understand the role of women. Some also believe he overemphasizes the role of sexuality in human development. |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
Articles |
||
|
|
|
|
|
| Visit our other sister sites: Coping with depression | Depression Tips | Mental Health Articles | Depression Help |
Depression Home || Contact Us || Glossary || Helpful Depression Resources || Depression Blog © 2004 Depression-Doctor.com. All rights reserved. |
Disclaimer: This site is for educational purposes only. The information provided should not be used for diagnosing or treating a health problem or disease. If you have, or suspect you have a health problem, you should consult your health care provider.
