Evaluation of The Psychoanalytic Approach Essay

Everybody is unique or special in one form or another and each personality has a theory. For many years psychologists have based theories upon individuals and I the writer will compare and contrast three well known psychologists Sigmund Freud, Alfred Alder, and Carl Jung. Sigmund Freud was one of the greatest psychologists in time he Alder and Jung’s theories were very similar but then again very different. Within these theories we will discuss characteristics with which I agree and disagree with, explore the stages of Freud’s theory explaining characteristics of personality using stage components

What makes us who we are, what drives our personality? Is it driven by deep seeded sexual desires or is it something a bit more mundane, something that while we still have no control over, is easily studied?

Following the publication of Freud’s ‘Papers on Technique’ between 1912 and 1917, there have been papers and symposia on the subject. Four symposia in 1937, 1948, 1958, and 1961 were devoted to the examination of therapeutic results of psychoanalysis, the mechanisms behind its curative factors, variations in technique and the ego-psychological approach to interpretations (Rosenfeld, 1972, 454). In 1934, James Strachey published his paper on “The Nature of the Therapeutic Action of Psychoanalysis,” which has since been considered one of the most seminal works on the subject. He holds that his paper is “not a practical discussion upon psychoanalytic technique,” and that “it’s immediate bearings are theoretical” (Strachey, 1934, 127). However, as Herbert Rosenfeld points out in his 1972 critical appreciation of Strachey’s paper, “this is clearly an understatement; the paper both challenges one’s clinical experience and has important clinical implications even though actual case material is not quoted” (Rosenfeld, 1972, 454). It would not be difficult to summarize Strachey’s main points regarding therapeutic action and mutative interpretation, and it would prove similarly sterile to simply compare his ideas with the views of other psychoanalysts, contemporaneous and contemporary. Instead, as Strachey concerns himself primarily with the structural nature of mutative change, this paper will aim to delineate a more in-depth exploration of the way different structures of the

In Chapter 13 we learned about Psychological Disorders. Psychological disorders can’t always be seen in everyday life, but it’s something they have to deal with every day. Psychologists have tried many different approaches to aid in a various amount of disorders and have tried to figure out the causes of them.

The soul that, figuratively saying, is covered by a human body has different ways to show itself. It is a matter of psychology to discover the patterns of behavior. I primarily trust the psychodynamic perspective. However, on the specific topic of aggressive behavior of an individual I find that I favor the biological psychology. It is due to the fact that one perspective may identify things that the other is blind to, that I may choose some other approach to evaluate the issue.

Sigmund Freud, one of the most well known psychologists to this day, was known as the “Father of Psychoanalysis”. The main focus of psychoanalysis was

In the 1880’s Sigmund Freud developed a theory about the unconscious mind and went on to create psychoanalysis.

Human beings are unique and individual in one way or another with different personality theories. Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, and Alfred Alder psychoanalytic theories about the human mind were very similar and different at the same time. To this day, attempts to prove the theories of these men are still taking place. All three of these men agreed that human behavior, as an adult, was a direct result of the individual's childhood experiences that would paint a lasting impression on the world around them. Freud, Jung, and Adler believed parenting and childhood development was the significant impact for shaping the personality. Dreaming and daydreaming played a major role in shaping character as well.

The psychoanalytic perspective, is the outlook that behavior and personality are effected by the conflict between one’s inner dreams n and expectation of society. Most of this conflict occurs in unconscious, which is outside the knowledge of an individual. Renowned psychologist, Freud established the psychoanalytic theory as an explanation for perplexed phenomena such as the meaning behind dreams, slips of the tongue, and behavioral reflex reactions to stressful situations. The unconscious is a primary focus in psychoanalytic theory due to its typical development in childhood and the ways in which it influences nearly every detail of an individual’s life. The unconscious mind also holds unvented memories and unexpressed urges that make their process into the conscious mind through a variety of different means. However, topographical theory of the mind states that conscious, preconscious, and unconscious serve as motivating forces in human behavior. Corsin & Wedding (2011) define the conscious as mental activity which individuals are fully aware of, preconscious as thoughts and feelings that could be easily brought to mind and unconscious as thoughts, feelings, and desires of which one is unaware of.

Sigmund Freud's revolutionary ideas have set the standard for modern psychoanalysis in which students of psychology can learn from his ideas spread from the field of medicine to daily living. His studies in areas such as unconsciousness, dreams, sexuality, the Oedipus complex, and sexual maladjustments laid the foundation for future studies. In result, better understanding of the small things, which shape our lives.

The Psychodynamic approach was first developed by the famous Sigmund Freud, an Austrian physician. The ideology behind this theory is that personality relates to the internal forces that we do not understand, push and pull us (McLeod, 2007; Eysenck, 2015, p. 201, Kalat, 2015, p. 451). Psychodynamic refers to the group of explanations and theorists that account for this dynamics of behaviour. However, Sigmund Freud is considered the father of Psychoanalysis which based on his psychiatric work in Vienna. Freud believed that mental disorders originated from unresolved unconscious conflicts rather than physical or biological factors. Therefore simply understanding and bringing the unconscious material into consciousness would be the key to psychological improvement. Freud argued that the conscious mind was only the tip of an iceberg while most of the mind was out of sight. The overall goal of his search for the unconscious was to bring memories back to the conscious mind which would release emotional tension known as catharsis thus enabling the person to overcome irrational impulses (Kalat, 2015). He abandoned his emphasis on childhood sexual abuse as he believed patients had “misled” him (Freud in Kalat, 2015, p. 452) It is stated that scholars insisted that he had no evidence for it (Masson & Esterson in Kalat, 2015. P. 452). Kramer (2006) that states that “Interviews of his surviving ex-patients revealed that he often deviated from his procedure he recommended.” Ultimately

Cathy Caruth’s “Psychoanalysis, Culture, and Trauma” claims that “to be traumatized is precisely to be possessed by an image or event” (Caruth 3). This idea of possession is seen in Edgar Allan Poe’s “Ulalume” through the narrator’s enigmatic journey toward his dead lover’s grave. Throughout the poem, the narrator unknowingly works to overcome the trauma that is associated with “surviving” the event of his lover dying. The narrator is seemingly able to understand the true cause of his trauma through the use of the paradoxical duality of attraction/repulsion and familiar/unfamiliar contained in the “Uncanny” as described by Sigmund Freud in “The Uncanny.” The narrator uses the information gained from his trance-like walk to realize his

asks if she is OK. I think most people would if you saw this woman

In the field of Psychology, there are many theories and techniques that can be utilized. Some counselors might choose to use one or more of these theories and techniques, but some will choose to use only one. After learning about the different theories and techniques, I have chosen the Psychoanalytic Theory as my personal theoretical orientation. The reason I chose Psychoanalysis is because I feel that it best suits me. What seems to be most intriguing to me about Psychoanalysis is that its main focus is on your conscious and unconscious mind. I enjoy using techniques in order to find out what information lies within your conscious and unconscious and for this reason, I feel Psychoanalysis best fits my personality.

At the age of 40 in 1896, Sigmund Freud introduced the world to a new term- psychoanalysis (Gay 1). Psychoanalysis is a method of treating patients with different nervous problems by involving them in dialogues which provide the physician with insight into the individual’s psyche. These dialogues provided the basis for Freud’s psychoanalytic theory, which “attempts to explain personality, motivation, and psychological disorders by focusing on the influence of early childhood experiences, on unconscious motives and conflicts, and on the methods people use to cope with their sexual and aggressive urges” (Weiten 363). Part of this theory involves the structure of the mind. This is a concept that touches