Using Psychoanalysis to Understand Human Behavior 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

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

Reading a narrative from a psychoanalytic perspective can prove to be a sometimes frustrating experience. Psychoanalysis often disregards the actual texts and verbal context of a piece of literature in favor of the Freudian and Lacanian ideas, which seek to find encrypted motifs in the depths of every creation in order to reveal the author’s unconscious mind. Nevertheless, the critiques of psychoanalytic interpretation of literature claim that such interpretations focus on the content of the text at the expense of the literary form and temporal dimension, which can reduce the literary plots to lifeless machinations. Furthermore, psychoanalytic interpretation of a text may tell us less about the author’s unconscious mind and more about the

Psychological criticism has roots as far back as the fourth century BC, when Aristotle “commented on the effects of tragedy on an audience, saying hat by evoking pity and fear, tragedy creates a cathartic of those emotions” (Dobie 54). More recently, however, psychological criticism has been shaped and influenced by the work of Sigmund Freud. He developed theories concerning “the workings of the human psyche, its formations, its organization, and its maladies” that, while further refined by other theorists, are still the basis of the modern approach to literary criticism (Dobie 54). Freud’s theory of the tripartite psyche is used to classify and define the conscious and unconscious mind into the id, ego, and superego. When examined using this theory, Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, a dystopian novel about a patriarchal totalitarian government that has replaced the United States of America, is particularly interesting.

Psychoanalytic criticism originated in the work of Austrian psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, who pioneered the technique of psychoanalysis. Freud developed a language that described, a model that explained, and a theory that encompassed human psychology. His theories are directly and indirectly concerned with the nature of the unconscious mind. Through his multiple case studies, Freud managed to find convincing evidence that most of our actions are motivated by psychological forces over which we have very limited control (Guerin 127). One of Freud’s most important contributions to the study of the psyche is his theory of repression: the unconscious mind is a repository of repressed desires,

Sigmund Freud created strong theories in science and medicine that are still studied today. Freud was a neurologist who proposed many distinctive theories in psychiatry, all based upon the method of psychoanalysis. Some of his key concepts include the ego/superego/id, free association, trauma/fantasy, dream interpretation, and jokes and the unconscious. “Freud remained a determinist throughout his life, believing that all vital phenomena, including psychological phenomena like thoughts, feelings and phantasies, are rigidly determined by the principle of cause and effect” (Storr, 1989, p. 2). Through the discussion of those central concepts, Freud’s theory of psychoanalysis becomes clear as to how he construed human character.

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.

Psychoanalytical criticism is a form of literary critique, which uses some of the techniques of psychoanalysis in the interpretation of literature. One of the more prevalent Psychoanalytical theorists after Freud was Jacques Lacan. In his text, “The Signification of the Phallus,” asserts that the idea of both sexes are based on the male “being” and the female “having” the phallus, and these two differences determine the relations between the sexes while also bringing them together. For Lacan, the phallus for males represents power, authority, and desire while for females the phallus signifies lack of power and agency (182).

This paper looks at the movie; A Dangerous Method directed by David Cronenberge is based on true life events that happened on the eve of the World War 1. This movie brings out the theories, techniques, and the central characters in the early history of psychoanalysis. It brings out the effectiveness of psychoanalysis method and shows the risks and dangers encountered when entering the unconscious mind. This movie takes a look at these through the life of Carl Jung who was one of the founding fathers of psychoanalysis. It also takes a glimpse into the turbulent relationship between a doctor, his mentor, and his patient. The paper will begin by giving a short

Psychoanalysis was the name given by Sigmund Freud to a system of interpretation and therapeutic treatment of psychological disorders. (McLeod, 2007) In particular, we present five key concepts on psychoanalytic therapy: structure of personality, psychosexual stages, defense mechanism, anxiety, and the unconscious mind.

Undoubtedly Sigmund Freud is the father of psychoanalysis. He was an influential thinker of the early twentieth century who elaborated the theory that the mind is a complex energy-system and the structural investigation of which is the proper province of psychology. Freud articulated and refined the concepts of the unconscious, infantile sexuality and repression and he proposed tripartite account of the mind ‘s structure, all as part of a radically new conceptual and therapeutic frame of reference for the understanding of human psychological development and the treatment of abnormal mental conditions. Freudian approach can be

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

The purpose of psychoanalytic criticism is to offer the reader a better understanding of a literary piece by the analysis and interpretation of certain aspects through psychoanalytical theory. The aim, as is the case with all critical approaches, is to go beyond the surface structure and into the deep structure of a text, this time through the study of the psyche and by looking for patterns which are significant and convey meaning. The focus of such an approach is either the author, the intricate mechanisms of his own mind, which explain how and why the text came into being, or, in some cases, the characters, whose psyches can shed further light on the content.

Human Nature According to Psychoanalysis and the Humanistic Psychology As Carl Jung stated “ As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of