Freud & WEEK 4 Contemporary Therapy AGENDA
¡ Housekeeping (5 mins) ¡ Lecture (75 mins) § Who is Freud? § What is the structural model of the psyche? § What are the psychosexual stages of development? § What are contemporary therapeu c techniques (and how do they differ from psychoanalysis)? ¡ Break (15 mins) ¡ Case Study (75 mins) § Holis c Life Founda on LECTURE TIMELINE
Freud
Piaget
1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 SIGMUND FREUD (1856-1939)
¡ Austrian neurologist § Ini al research on animal behavior, cocaine § Interested in talk therapy as treatment for hysteria (now: conversion disorder) ¡ Father of psychoanalysis § (…and Anna Freud, noted child psychoanalyst) ¡ Freudian theory as “the most widely influen al psychological theory in history” (Miller, p 98) § Popularized concepts such as the unconscious, repression, neuro cism, defense mechanisms, etc. BASIC TENETS
¡ Focus on development of personality, emo ons, impulses (not cogni on) ¡ Focus on abnormal as means for understanding (exaggerated) normal § E.g., hysteria as exaggera on of repression “Pathology, by making things larger and coarser, can draw our a en on to normal condi ons which would otherwise have escaped us.” (Freud, 1933) ¡ Fantasies, thoughts, feelings equal in importance to actual experiences for driving disequilibrium ¡ Emphasis on conflict between biology as “driver” and society as “controller” ¡ Basic belief that early experiences ma er ¡ Tendency toward clinical explora on & observa on, rather than experimenta on THE FREUDIAN APPROACH
¡ Builds off approaches of Joseph Breuer (hypnosis, “talking cure,” catharsis) ¡ Goal of therapy to “co-discover” repressed (latent, blocked off) impulses, wishes, and conflicts from the unconscious § Example pa ents: Anna O, Elizabeth, Hans ¡ Approaches: § Free associa on: pa ents talk about whatever comes to mind, with no censoring § Dream interpreta on: dreams as representa ons of “wish fulfillment,” with children’s dreams as more literal than adults’ STRUCTURAL MODEL OF THE PSYCHE
¡ Drives: innate ins nct or impulse § Eros: life drives (reproduc on, love, crea vity) § Thanatos: death drives (aggression, destruc on, sadism) § Repression of drives as cri cal for success of humanity “Civiliza on… presupposes the nonsa sfac on… of powerful ins ncts” (Freud, 1929) § Energy from these drives as finite, exis ng within a closed system (the psyche) ¡ Personality: dis nc ve and enduring pa erns of thinking, behaving, and feeling STRUCTURAL MODEL OF THE PSYCHE
¡ Personality is shaped by ongoing rela onships between the: § Id: unconscious, innate desires for basic human needs § Source of all libido, or life energy § Focus on reducing tension, op mizing pleasure (pleasure principle) § Infants as primary “id-driven” § Ego: (o en) conscious structure focused on making calculated, ra onal decisions § Fueled by anxiety and id’s libido § Focused on reality (reality principle) § O en considered the mediator between the “three tyrannical Development masters” (Freud, 1933) of reality, id, superego § Superego: (o en) pre-conscious, socially-driven internalized ideals § Conscience: “thou shalt not,” puni ve structure leading to guilt and self-flagella on § Ego Ideal: Posi ve standards of conduct, rewarded through feelings of mastery and pride THE TOPOGRAPHY OF THE UNCONSCIOUS
¡ Vast majority of human psychic processes are unconscious Ego: Mostly preconscious; Can be made conscious easily through forming mental images or using language
Superego: Supervises ego from “above”; Also brings Id: En rely unconscious; id into consciousness in Difficult to make conscious “disguise” (e.g., in dreams) DEFENSE MECHANISMS
¡ Defense mechanisms allow ego to address high levels of anxiety, for be er or (more likely) for worse Mechanism Defini on Example Repression* Unconscious effort to prevent interfering thoughts Inability to remember a trauma c event Suppression Conscious effort to prevent interfering thoughts Mindfulness…? Regression* Rever ng to an earlier level of development Bed we ng in an older child experiencing stress Reac on Focusing on the opposite of an unacceptable Jealousy of younger sibling expressed as love forma on* emo on
Projec on* A ribu ng unacceptable thoughts to others Claiming someone hates you when you hate them
Crea ng false excuses for unacceptable thoughts or Jus fying chea ng on a test by saying that Ra onaliza on behaviors everyone cheated Displacement Sa sfying an impulse with a subs tute object/person Punching a wall when angry at a parent Denial Blocking an external event from awareness Refusing to acknowledge wrongdoing Fixa on* Failing to move to the next developmental stage A child refusing to be weaned or po y trained
Sublima on Ego’s channeling of libido into produc ve pursuits Channeling of aggression into sports
* Defense mechanism studied by Anna Freud PSYCHOSEXUAL STAGES
¡ Stages of development in which id focuses on different basic, biological needs ¡ Like Piage an stages, order is invariant ¡ Unlike Piage an stages, § movement is biologically (not mastery) driven § regression can occur § stages are not derived from previous stages § system is closed, with less opportunity for change ¡ One result of social input is fixa on, which occurs when conflicts are unresolved within a given stage § e.g., if child is under- or over-fed in infancy, may develop obsession with ea ng, smoking, etc. THE ORAL STAGE (0-1)
¡ Id-driven; focus on sucking, chewing, ea ng, and bi ng ¡ Frustra ons emerge when preferred object (nipple, bo le) is unavailable or feeding is discon nued, leading to id-driven hallucinatory wish fulfillment (e.g., finger sucking) ¡ A achment as key milestone of oral phase § Serves as building block for later rela onships, socializa on technique § Assists in infants’ differen a on and movement away from primary narcissism (“self-love,” objectless-ness) in first months of life ¡ Fixa on in oral phase can lead to: § literal oral behaviors: smoking, nail bi ng, overea ng § metaphorical oral behaviors: gullibility (swallowing anything), obs nacy (holding on), dependence THE ANAL STAGE (1-3)
¡ Focus on physiological need to defecate ¡ Tension emerges when toilet training shi s balance of power from child to parent ¡ Obs nacy, aggression as a key feature of this phase ¡ Healthy levels of immediate gra fica on and self control as key milestones of this period ¡ Fixa on in anal phase is common, and can lead to: § messiness, disorganiza on (expulsive) § overly organized, controlling behavior (compulsive) THE PHALLIC STAGE (3-5YRS)
¡ Focus on the genital area as source of tension and pleasure ¡ Oedipus complex: Boys’ sexual urge toward their mothers, hos lity/rivalry toward their fathers § Emergence of superego to control (repress) inappropriate thoughts § Fear of castra on § Ideal outcome is that boys iden fy and develop emo onal bonds with their fathers ¡ Penis envy: Anger at mother “who sent her into the world so insufficiently equipped” (Freud, 1925) ¡ Electra complex: Girls’ realiza on that their fathers are desired but una ainable § Less psychological tension due to the fact that girls cannot be castrated by their mothers § Emerges in a less close rela onship between girls and their mothers, weaker superego in women ¡ Fixa on in phallic stage leads to difficult rela onships with opposite sex (e.g., feelings of guilt for men, inferiority for women) THE LATENCY STAGE (5YRS - PUBERTY)
¡ Period of rela ve calm, repression of sexual drives ¡ Sexual forces dormant by psychic forces ¡ Focus of energy on social and intellectual ac vi es ¡ “Lull before the storm of puberty” (Erikson, 1959)
Do you agree? What might be happening here that Freud missed and why might he have missed it? THE GENITAL STAGE (AFTER PUBERTY)
¡ Re-emergence of sexual urges (due to physiological changes of puberty) as threat to established defenses ¡ Love/sexual desires as less selfish, but s ll influenced by earlier experiences/complexes ¡ Freeing oneself from parents as task of this period ¡ Characteris cs of adolescent period (Anna Freud): § Impulse to “take flight,” flee re-emerging oedipal feelings § Contempt of parents § Asce cism (restric on of pleasure)
There “are few situa ons in life which are more difficult to cope with than an adolescent son or daughter during the a empt to liberate themselves.” (A. Freud, 1958) FREUD & EDUCATION
¡ Fewer obvious links to educa on due to focus on abnormality, intensive methods… but s ll important ¡ A achment forma on: Interac ons with caregivers (known as object rela ons) as central to developmental success § Cemented later via John Bowlby & Mary Ainsworth’s a achment theory ¡ Self-regula on (e.g., execu ve func on, delay of gra fica on, grit): Ba le between primary- (id-driven) and secondary- (ego-driven) process thought, with greater secondary process thought over me § “It is very much the task of educa on to see that the sphere of the ego should grow and be strengthened” (Be leheim, 1969) § Defense mechanisms as regulatory strategies ¡ Transference: Teacher should focus on “inner meanings of an outward-directed behavior” (Be leheim, 1969), rather than simply doling punishment Other thoughts from Be leheim? CRITICISMS
¡ Lack of empirical testability § Methods are inherently subjec ve, open to distor on, and unfalsifiable (cannot be proven wrong) § Focus on children, but data only retrospec ve from adults ¡ Overemphasis on childhood sexuality § Children as complex creatures, rather than “anxiety-ridden beings who seek the reduc on of tension” (Miller, p 128) § Basis for neo-Freudian approaches ¡ Culturally biased § Oedipal ideals do not exist in diverse cultures § Male-centric viewpoint § Women as “men without penises” (Cohler & Galatzer-Levy, 2008) who desire children to fill biological void FREUD TODAY
¡ Although o en maligned or joked about, Freud’s basic tenets (e.g., development as stage-based, the role of the unconscious, conflict between “wants” and “shoulds”) have been woven into nearly all subsequent theory and prac ce ¡ Structural model à cogni ve psychology § Contemporary neurobiological evidence supports structural model ¡ Psychosexual stage model à developmental psychology § Set the “stage” for later stage theories (e.g., Piaget) NEO-FREUDIANS
¡ Tend to reject role of sexuality and aggression as primary drivers of behavior ¡ Carl Jung § Focus on need to achieve full knowledge of self § Collec ve unconscious: Group of shared images/schemas universal to all humans ¡ Alfred Adler § Focus on social tensions § Inferiority complex: Lack of self-worth, feeling not up to standard CONTEMPORARY THERAPEUTIC APPROACHES
Psychodynamic Cogni ve Behavioral Mindfulness Psychotherapy Therapy
Integrates cogni ve and Rooted in Freud’s History behavioral approaches from Rooted in Buddhist philosophy psychoanalysis Beck, Skinner, etc. To modify the unconscious To iden fy and accept To unlock and Mechanism through altera on of thoughts and emo ons arising understand unconscious of change behavior and thought from the unconscious without desires processes reac ng to them
Structure Intensive, unstructured Brief, structured Brief, semi-structured
A empts to uncover Affordable, Provides stress-reduc on skills Pros root causes of problems well researched that apply broadly
Focused only on solving Lacks objec vity, Li le evidence suppor ng its Cons symptoms, not root expensive/imprac cal efficacy problems CASE STUDY: HOLISTIC LIFE FOUNDATION PLEASE GET INTO THESE GROUPS AFTER BREAK