Freud's theory is briefly about psychological defenses. Freud's theory

He wrote: "I was born on May 6, 1856 in Freiberg in Moravia, a small town in present-day Czechoslovakia. My parents were Jews, and I myself remain a Jew." Among the psychologists of the 20th century, Dr. Sigmund Freud holds a special place. His main work, The Interpretation of Dreams, was published in 1899.

Since then, various scientific authorities have ascended in psychology, replacing each other. But none of them still arouses such undying interest as Freud and his teachings. This is explained by the fact that his works, which changed the face of psychology in the 20th century, shed light on the fundamental issues of the organization of the inner world of the individual, her motives and experiences, conflicts between her desires and a sense of duty, the causes of mental breakdowns, illusory ideas of a person about himself and others.

It is known that consciousness is the main regulator of human behavior. Freud discovered that behind the veil of consciousness there is a deep, "boiling" layer of powerful aspirations, inclinations, and desires that are not realized by the individual. As an attending physician, he was faced with the fact that these unconscious experiences and motives can seriously burden life and even become the cause of neuropsychiatric diseases. This led him to seek means to rid his patients of conflicts between what their minds were saying and hidden, blind, unconscious urges.

Thus was born the Freudian method of healing the soul, called psychoanalysis. Freud's theory has firmly entered the textbooks on psychology, psychotherapy, and psychiatry in many countries. It had an impact on other human sciences - sociology, pedagogy, anthropology, ethnography, philosophy, as well as art and literature, "and the Freudian methodology of cognition of social phenomena, which requires the disclosure of the unconscious mechanisms underlying them, repressed desires, was widely used by Freud's followers. and grew into a kind of philosophy.

Psychoanalytic philosophy, the empirical basis of which is psychoanalysis, continues and deepens the irrationalist tendencies of the "Philosophy of Life", from its positions seeks to explain personal, cultural and social phenomena.

Numerous judgments of various authors, most often Western ones, about psychoanalysis testify to the presence of diverse, sometimes opposing points of view on the essence of Freud's teaching. And although the prestige and authority of psychoanalysis has recently fallen somewhat, it seems relevant to turn to the legacy of Z. Freud and his followers and consider the relationship between psychoanalysis and certain areas of modern philosophy.


Psychoanalysis of Sigmund Freud

To consider the main issues of the abstract, it is necessary to distinguish between the main concepts used in the course of the work.

Psychoanalysis(from the Greek psyche - soul and analysis - decision) - part of psychotherapy, a medical research method developed by Z. Freud for the diagnosis and treatment of hysteria. Then it was reworked by Freud into a psychological doctrine aimed at studying the hidden connections and foundations of human mental life.

This doctrine is based on the assumption that a certain complex of pathological ideas, especially sexual ones, is "forced out" from the sphere of consciousness and acts already from the sphere of the unconscious (which is conceived as the area of ​​domination of sexual aspirations) and under all sorts of masks and vestments penetrates consciousness and threatens spiritual unity. I, included in the world around him.

In the action of such repressed "complexes" they saw the cause of forgetting, reservations, dreams, false deeds, neuroses (hysteria), and they tried to treat them in such a way that during a conversation ("analysis") it was possible to freely call these complexes from the depths of the unconscious and eliminate them. them (through conversation or appropriate action), namely to give them the opportunity to respond. Supporters of psychoanalysis ascribe to the sexual ("libido") a central role, considering the human mental life as a whole as the sphere of domination of unconscious sexual desires for pleasure or displeasure.

Based on the foregoing, we can consider the essence of psychoanalysis at three levels:

Psychoanalysis - as a method of psychotherapy;



Psychoanalysis - as a method of studying the psychology of personality;

Psychoanalysis - as a system of scientific knowledge about the worldview, psychology, philosophy.

Having considered the basic psychological meaning of psychoanalysis, in the future we will refer to it as a worldview system.

As a result of creative evolution, Z. Freud considers the organization of mental life in the form of a model that has various mental instances as its components, denoted by the terms: It (id), I (ego) and super-I (super-ego).

It (id) was understood as the most primitive instance, which embraces everything that is innate, genetically primary, subject to the principle of pleasure and knowing nothing about reality or society. It is inherently irrational and immoral. Its requirements must be satisfied by the instance of I (ego).

Ego - follows the principle of reality, developing a number of mechanisms that allow you to adapt to the environment, to cope with its requirements.

The ego is a mediator between stimuli coming both from this Environment and from the depths of the organism, with on the one hand, and response motor reactions on the other. The functions of the ego include self-preservation of the body, imprinting the experience of external influences in memory, avoiding threatening influences, control over the requirements of instincts (coming from the id).

Particular importance was attached to the super-I (super-ego), which serves as a source of moral and religious feelings, a controlling and punishing agent. If the id is genetically predetermined, and the Self is the product of individual experience, then the superego is the product of influences emanating from other people. It arises in early childhood (associated, according to Frame, with the Oedipus complex) and remains virtually unchanged in subsequent years. The superego is formed due to the mechanism of identification of the child with the father, which serves as a model for him.

If I (ego) makes a decision or performs an action to please It (id), but in opposition to the super-I (super-ego), then It experiences punishment in the form of ephors of conscience, feelings of guilt. Since the super-ego draws energy from the id, so the super-ego often acts cruelly, even sadistically. From the stresses experienced under the pressure of various forces, I (ego) is saved with the help of special "protective mechanisms" repression, rationalization, regression, sublimation, etc. Repression means the involuntary elimination of feelings, thoughts and desires for action from consciousness.

Moving into the area of ​​the unconscious, they continue to motivate behavior, put pressure on it, and are experienced as a feeling of anxiety. Regression - slipping away from a more primitive level of behavior or thinking. Sublimation is one of the mechanisms by which forbidden sexual energy, moving to non-sexual objects, is discharged into an activity acceptable to the individual and society. A kind of sublimation is creativity.

Freud's teachings became famous primarily for penetrating into the recesses of the unconscious, or, as the author himself sometimes said, the "underworld" of the psyche. However, if we confine ourselves to this assessment, then we can lose sight of another important aspect: Freud's discovery of complex, conflicting relationships between consciousness and unconscious mental processes, seething beyond the surface of consciousness, along which the subject's gaze glides during self-observation.

Man himself, Freud believed, does not have before him a transparent, clear picture of the complex structure of his own inner world with all its currents, storms, explosions. And here psychoanalysis with its method of "free associations" is called to help. Following the biological style of thinking, Freud singled out two instincts, driving behavior - the instinct of self-preservation and the sexual instinct, which ensures the preservation of not the individual, but the whole species. This second instinct was erected by Freud into the category of psychological dogma (a reference to Jung) and called - libido.

The unconscious was interpreted as a sphere saturated with the energy of libido, a blind instinct that knows nothing but the principle of pleasure that a person experiences when this energy is discharged. The repressed, repressed sexual desire was deciphered by Freud by the associations of his patients free from mind control. Freud called this interpretation psychoanalysis. Examining his own dreams, Freud came to the conclusion that the "scenario" of dreams, with its seeming absurdity, is nothing but a code of hidden desires, which is satisfied in the images - symbols of this form of nightlife.

The idea that our daily behavior is influenced by unconscious motives was discussed by Freud in The Psychopathology of Everyday Life (1901). Various erroneous actions, forgetting names, slips of the tongue, slips of the tongue are usually considered to be accidental and attributed to the weakness of memory. According to Freud, hidden motives break through in them, because there is nothing accidental in a person’s mental reactions. Everything is causal. In another work, "Wit and its Relation to the Unconscious" (1905), jokes or puns are interpreted by Freud as a release of tension created by the restrictions that various social norms impose on the individual's consciousness.

The scheme of psychosocial development of the personality from infancy to the stage at which a natural attraction to a person of the opposite sex arises is considered by Freud in Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality (1905). One of the leading versions of Freud is the Oedipus complex, as the age-old formula of the boy's relationship to his parents: the boy is attracted to his mother, perceiving his father as a rival who causes both hatred and fear.

During the First World War, Freud makes adjustments to his scheme of instincts. Along with the sexual in the human psyche, there is an instinct of striving for death (Thonatos as the antipode of Eros), according to Freud, this instinct also includes the instinct of self-preservation. The name Tonatos meant not only a special attraction to death, but also to the destruction of others, the desire for aggression, which was elevated to the rank of a well-known biological impulse inherent in the very nature of man.

Based on biodeterminism, i.e. at the core of behavior all living beings lies the dynamics of drives.

Sigmund Freud(1856-1939) - Austrian psychologist, creator of psychoanalysis.

In 1915, his work “Inclination and Their Fates” was published, where the theory of motivation was developed.

Freud gives the psyche the main function associated with the perception of internal stimuli. Needs generate the energy of irritation, which is subjectively experienced as traumatic, unpleasant.

The subject tries to get rid of or reduce this energy as much as possible, i.e. Freud's motivational theory is based on two principles:

Hedonistic - any decrease in the level of accumulated irritation is accompanied by an experience of satisfaction, and an increase - by dissatisfaction.

2. Homeostatic - the balance of the body is the lower, the higher the level of accumulated irritation (stress).

The motivational process is aimed at reducing the energy of attraction.

Samo ATTRACTION consists of elements:

- VOLTAGE - the motor moment of attraction - the sum of the forces to which the attraction corresponds

- PURPOSE - associated with satisfaction, which can only be achieved by eliminating the irritable state of the source of attraction

- OBJECT OF ATTRACTION - that with the help of which or in what the attraction can achieve its goal

- A SOURCE OF DRIVING - that somatic process in an organ or part of the body, irritation from which is represented in the mental life of the subject as an attraction.

All soul life- this is the dynamics of conflicts, which are based on the needs of the "I", aimed at maintaining its existence.

Varieties of motives:

(1) needs aimed at maintaining their existence (sexual drives).

(2) the need for aggression (Thanatos)

(3) attraction to life and death (Eros)

The main provisions of the motivational theory of Z.

1. Attractions can manifest themselves in different ways.

If, with a greater intensity of attraction, there is no object, then the unrealized attraction enters consciousness in the form of ideas about the former satisfaction of the attraction in the form of a displacement of the attraction to other objects (projections and sublimations); attraction can be expressed again in the form of dreams and erroneous actions.

2. The mental life of the subject is presented in a hierarchy of 3 mechanisms: the search for satisfaction - "IT" opposes moral control - "OVER - I", the activity of "I" is aimed at achieving a compromise.

That is, the principle of pleasure, prohibition and control operates.

3. An adult personality is the result of a history of drives. Childhood is of particular importance - obstacles to the satisfaction of inclinations in it have an active influence on the subsequent life of the subject.

4. The development of drives goes through several phases with a change in aerogenic zones (sensitive areas of the skin around the natural openings of the body).

Phase change order:

- oral phase

- anal phase

- phallic phase

- latent phase

- genital phase.

In the process of development of drives, two mechanisms can arise:

fixations (the development of drives is delayed in one of the phases due to a lack of satisfaction in the corresponding phase);

II. regression (the subject, experiencing a traumatic experience and not being able to cope with it, shifts to an earlier level of development, to the previous phase).

The course of the development of drives is conflicting, the conflict is based on a complex, which, with normal development, is resolved by the age of 5-6, being realized in the process of gender identification, as a result of which the first complex, the Oedipus complex, is overcome.

THEORY a.

Maslow Abraham Harald(1908-1970) American psychologist. The founder of humanistic psychology, which studies the problem of the value of the person himself. Created a hierarchical model of motivation (“Motivation and Personality”, 1954).

- represents not separate, but groups of motives

- groups of motives are ordered in a holistic hierarchy.

Orderliness depends on the level of development of the individual, on the age and role of the social motivating group in the development of the individual.

Needs, or groups of needs, act as the initiator of activity.

Activity is not conditioned from within, it is attracted from outside by the possibility of satisfying a need.

The needs that form a hierarchy interact with each other as follows:

- until the needs of lower levels are satisfied, the needs of a higher level are not updated;

- if the subject actualizes the needs of different levels, then the needs of the living standard win in this conflict.

Hierarchy of need(according to A.

Level I: physiological needs (hunger, thirst, etc.);

II level: the need for security;

Level III: the need for social connections (appearance, love, identification, affiliation, etc.);

IV level: the need for self-esteem (signs, achievements, approvals, etc.);

Level V: the need for self-actualization (the realization of one's own abilities, in understanding and understanding oneself and others).

Self-actualizing personalities are only 1% of the total number of people.

This need is not always met; this is the ideal to which the individual aspires (or should aspire).

THEORY OF CONFLICT

The main provisions were developed by K.

Levin Kurt(1890-1947) German-American psychologist.

Freud's theory of psychosexual development

He was close to Gestalt psychology.

He outlined the motivational theory in the work “The Psychological Situation of Reward and Punishment” - 1931.

Used the concept of field valency.

Valence- the force of the influence of the object on the subject, which depends either on the actual need of the subject, or on the challenging nature of the object, - positive valence. If opposing power relationships arise (the subject encounters something unpleasant and tries to get rid of it) - negative valence.

The actual field of psychological forces is determined by valences and vectors emanating from the objects of the surrounding world.

Kurt Lewin represented these valences and vectors in the form of motivating forces that determine the behavior of an individual.

K. Levin introduced the concept of "FIELD AT THE PRESENT MOMENT", which is determined not only by the actual valencies of objects, but also by the retrospective of personality development and the prospect of personality development:

Levin focused on the conflict that unfolds within the field of the subject.

Conflict can be characterized as a situation in which the subject is simultaneously affected by forces that are oppositely directed, but having approximately the same magnitude.

Types of conflict situations:

(1) Aspiration-aspiration conflict.

Given two objects (goals), they are both positive, i.e.

have positive valencies. The conflict is that the subject cannot strive for two at the same time.

(2) Avoidance-avoidance conflict.

This conflict is the opposite of the first.

It is a situation of psychological coercion. There is a feeling of being trapped. The subject, as it were, does not see the possibility of getting out of the zone of 2 evils.

(3) A desire-avoidance conflict.

The same action at the same time - attracts and repels the subject (positive and negative valence of the same value).

(4) Conflict "double desire - avoidance".

Several goals are given, each of which is characterized by ambivalence.

Kurt Lewin singled out the specifics of the action of the forces of attraction and repulsion.

The magnitude of the behavioral trend depends on:

— target valency values,

- the distance to the target, which has yet to be overcome.

There is a moment of balance between desire and avoidance.

Distance is not always related to spatial distance.

It can act as distances in time, the number of necessary forces, the number of necessary intermediate actions, etc.

The ratio of these forces presented in the form of a graph:

Miller D.

- connected Lewin's ideas with Hull's hypothesis about the target gradient: the closer to the target, the fewer errors, the higher the speed of movement.

Miller put forward 6 hypotheses about the phenomenon of the conflict "striving - avoidance":

The striving tendencies are the stronger, the closer the distance to the goal - the striving gradient.

1. The tendency to avoid is stronger, the closer the distance to the feared stimulus - the gradient.

2. The avoidance gradient grows faster than the aspiration gradient.

3. In the event of a conflict between two incompatible reactions, the stronger one wins.

The magnitude of the gradient depends on the strength of attraction.

5. The strength of the subject's reinforced response tendency increases with the number of reinforcements - learning.

Gradient Ratio Graph:

If the distance to the target is less than X, then the avoidance gradient increases. At point X, the subject oscillates between striving and avoiding.

As the inevitable events approach, the avoidance gradient decreases (the graph changes - see: dotted line of the graph).

Freud Sigmund(1856 - 1939) - Austrian neuropathologist, psychiatrist and psychologist, professor at the University of Vienna, the first researcher of the phenomena of the subconscious (in 1938.

emigrated to the UK).

Developed at the end of the 19th century. a special method of treating neuroses - psychoanalysis - the analysis of free associations, erroneous actions, sayings and dreams. Freud later interpreted it as a way to penetrate the subconscious, and then, on this basis, proposed his general psychological theory of the structure of the psyche as a continuous conflict interaction of consciousness with unconscious drives ("Interpretations of Dreams", 1900).

Consciousness, according to Freud, continuously suppresses unconscious desires (especially sexual ones), which, breaking through the censorship of consciousness, manifest themselves in various sayings, jokes, slips of the tongue, slips of the tongue (“Psychopathology of everyday life”, 1901).

Later, Freud focused on socio-cultural problems ("Psychology of the masses and analysis of the human "I", 1921; "Civilization and those dissatisfied with it", 1929) (see History of Foreign Psychology).

Freud's teaching

The human psyche consists of two main levels: conscious and unconscious.

It is like an iceberg, most of which is hidden from direct view. The unconscious part of the psyche was formed over millions of years in animals. Consciousness is peculiar only to man and has been formed for several tens of thousands of years. The unconscious contains the driving forces of human behavior.
The psychic energy of the unconscious manifests itself directly - in the aspirations aimed at the self-preservation of the individual and the development of the species (the desire for reproduction), and indirectly - in the aspirations for destruction, aggression against obstacles to the survival and development of one's species.

In the psyche there is a specific energy of life - the energy of procreation - libido, sexual energy. Its source is in the unconscious, it is laid down by nature itself. Libido is aimed at the development and survival of the species, genus. However, since a person has consciousness, it can come into conflict with the unconscious libido. A person, being a part of society, wants to develop not only the race, but also himself, his personality. The only source is compelled to nourish both aspirations equally.

Freud introduces, in addition to the power of love (Libido, Eros), a new power - the power of death (Mortido, Thanatos). The creature comes into the world to reproduce its kind and make room for the next generation. All living things carry the potential for self-destruction.

Method of psychoanalysis

The purpose of psychoanalysis techniques- to bring the unconscious into the sphere of consciousness without the use of hypnosis.

  1. Free association technique. The patient is placed on a comfortable couch in a small soundproof room with soft lighting, without a pattern on the wallpaper.

    The purpose of such an organization is the absence of extraneous incentives. Even the psychoanalyst is placed in a chair at the head of the patient so that he does not see him and practically does not feel his presence.

    Instruction to the patient: “Say whatever comes to your mind without stopping for a second; do not stop your flow of thought by willpower." The psychoanalyst must watch the place where the instruction is violated, pauses appear. the session lasts no more than 40 minutes, as fatigue sets in further.

    The patient's thought at some point "stumbles" on a certain barrier and turns sharply to the side. The psychoanalyst does not interrupt the patient's story, but marks this place in a notebook.

    The psychoanalyst asks the patient to talk about problem areas. Over time, the problem for the psychoanalyst becomes obvious. He speaks clearly to the patient.

    The patient usually denies everything, sometimes this denial turns into aggression. The psychoanalyst must make the patient re-experience this problem, accept it, and thus be freed.

  2. Dream interpretation.

    The waking psyche does not let through some images that are prohibited by censorship, some internal barriers. However, in a dream we see these images, although they are also veiled by the psyche, since consciousness even in a dream does not let them through in their pure form.

  3. Interpretation of erroneous actions. Erroneous actions are awkward movements, reservations, oversights, jokes.

    All these are breakthroughs of the unconscious into the realm of consciousness.

Minus psychoanalysis was that he underestimated the fact that man is a social being and interacts in the system of social relations.

Freud creates a holistic doctrine of the human personality. In the structure of personality, he distinguishes:

  • Eid (It)- the unconscious with which a person is born. It is supported by the pleasure principle.

    The unconscious is filled with libidinal energy of procreation and aggression. The increase in the energy potential of the libido creates tension, and its discharge is pleasure.

  • Ego (I)- our consciousness, subject to the principle of reasonableness. I am always between the Id and the Super-Ego, in the confrontation between these two structures. If we obey the Eid, we pay with pangs of conscience, the prohibitions of morality and law. Following the Super-Ego, we pay with neuroses and disorders.
  • Super-Ego (Super-I)- an idealized person who follows the principles of public morality and duty.

    This is the social part of the personality. This is an image of a person, what she could be if she followed all the rules and norms of society. However, the Super-I does not have its own source of energy, it is forced to feed on the same libidinal energy of the unconscious. Libido must set in motion two mechanisms at once, and this gives rise to intrapersonal contradictions.

    Freud uses the Platonic image of a charioteer who drives a chariot drawn by two horses that rush in different directions, and the charioteer is forced to drive them.
    Freud's theory of personality structure is complemented by the theory of personality development.

Another important part of Freud's theory of personality was the doctrine of the methods of psychological protection of the individual. When conflicts arise in the human psyche between consciousness and the unconscious, 2 fundamental forms of behavior are possible: aggression and retreat from the object.

Aggression can manifest itself in aggression towards other people and objects that we consider unacceptable. Aggression can be expressed both in socialized forms of protest and in asocial forms. Self-aggression is also possible, that is, aggression directed at oneself.

A separate section of Freud's theory is devoted to the problem of retreat from the object.

Psychological defense methods

crowding out. Suppression, exclusion from consciousness of unpleasant or unacceptable impulses. In this case, they are transferred to the unconscious.
substitution.

Reorientation of impulse from one object to another, more accessible.
Rationalization. An attempt to rationally justify the desires and actions caused by such a reason, the recognition of which would threaten the loss of self-respect.
Projection.

Unconscious transfer of one's own feelings and inclinations to another person.
Somatization. Fixation on the state of one's health as a form of protection from conflicts.
Jet formation. Replacing unacceptable trends with directly opposite ones.
Regression. Return to primitive forms of behavior in a difficult situation.
Negation. Impossible desires, thoughts, impulses are not recognized.

Their very existence is denied.
Sublimation. Transforming socially unacceptable impulses into socially acceptable and encouraged ones. The clearest example is the arts.

INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………………………………. 2

Psychoanalytic personality theory according to Freud

1. Psychoanalytic theory of S. Freud 3

2. Personality structure 7

3. Personal defense mechanisms 12

LITERATURE 15

INTRODUCTION

Psychological knowledge is as ancient as man himself.

He could not exist without being guided by the motives of behavior and the properties of the character of his neighbors.

Recently, there has been a growing interest in questions of human behavior and the search for the meaning of human existence. Managers are learning how to work with subordinates, parents are taking parenting classes, spouses are learning how to communicate with each other and “fight smartly”, teachers are learning how to help their students and students of other educational institutions cope with emotional excitement and confusion.

Along with an interest in material wealth and business, many people seek to help themselves and understand what it means to be human.

They strive to understand their behavior, develop faith in themselves, their strengths. To realize the unconscious sides of the personality, to focus, first of all, on what is happening to them at the present time.

When psychologists turn to the study of personality, perhaps the first thing they encounter is the variety of properties and their manifestations in its behavior. Interests and motives, inclinations and abilities, character and temperament, ideals, value orientations, volitional, emotional and intellectual characteristics, the ratio of the conscious and the unconscious (subconscious) and much more - this is a far from complete list of characteristics that we have to deal with if we try to draw a psychological portrait of a person.

Possessing a variety of properties, the personality at the same time represents a single whole.

Two interrelated tasks follow from this: firstly, to understand the whole set of personality properties as a system, highlighting in it what is commonly called a system-forming factor (or property), and, secondly, to reveal the objective foundations of this system.

The psychoanalytic theory of personality developed by Z. Freud, which is very popular in Western countries, can be attributed to the type of psychodynamic, non-experimental, covering the whole life of a person and using to describe him as a person, the internal psychological properties of the individual, primarily his needs and motives.

He believed that only an insignificant part of what actually happens in a person’s soul and characterizes him as a person is actually realized by him.

PSYCHOANALYTICAL THEORY OF PERSONALITY ACCORDING TO FREUD

1. Psychoanalytic theory of Z. Freud

One of the leading ideological, theoretical and methodological foundations of Western psychology and sociology of the classical period, and especially its psychological direction, was the set of doctrines of S. Freud, which had a significant impact on all social thought.

The most significant part of Freud's psychoanalytic sociology is the doctrine of man, which is a set of different order concepts about the nature and essence of man, his psyche, the formation, development and structure of personality, the causes and mechanisms of human activity and behavior in various social communities.

According to Freud, the beginning and basis of a person's mental life are various instincts, drives and desires that are inherent in the human body.

Underestimating consciousness and the social environment in the process of formation and being of a person, Freud argued that various kinds of biological mechanisms play a leading role in the organization of human life.

In particular, he believed that every person from birth has incest (incest), cannibalism and a thirst for murder, which have a great influence on all mental activity of a person and his behavior. Freud insisted that the spiritual development of the individual briefly repeated the course of human development due to the fact that in their mental structures each person bears the burden of experiences of distant ancestors.

According to Freud, two universal cosmic instincts play a particularly important role in shaping a person in his life: Eros (sexual instinct, life instinct, self-preservation instinct) and Thanatos (death instinct, aggression instinct, destruction instinct).

Representing human life as the result of the struggle of the two eternal forces of Eros and Thanatos, Freud believed that these instincts are the main engines of progress.

The unity and struggle of Eros and Thanatos not only determine the finiteness of the individual's existence, but also very significantly determine the activities of various social groups, peoples and states.

According to Freud's concept, the bearer of the sexual instinct is a universal mental energy that has a sexual coloration (libido), which was sometimes interpreted by him as the energy of sexual desire or sexual hunger.

The concept of libido plays a very important role. At the same time, Freud failed to develop an unambiguous interpretation of libido and, depending on certain turns of theoretical research, he interpreted libido in one sense or another.

In some cases, he spoke of libido as a quantitatively changing force and declared that we distinguish this libido from energy, which should generally be taken as the basis of mental processes.

In others, he argued that the libido, in its deepest basis and in the final result, is only a product of the differentiation of energy that acts in general in the psyche.

Unconscious (primarily sexual) aspirations of the individual form its potential and the main source of activity, set the motivation for its actions. Due to the impossibility of satisfying instinctive needs in their natural form due to social normative restrictions, a person is forced to constantly seek a compromise between a deep attraction and a socially acceptable form of its implementation.

The personality model created by Freud is a three-level formation: the lower layer (It, or Id), represented by unconscious impulses and “ancestral memories”, the middle layer (I, or Ego) and the upper layer (Super-I, or Super-Ego) - the norms of society, perceived by the person. The most rigid, aggressive and militant layers are the id and the superego.

They attack the human psyche from both sides, giving rise to a neurotic type of behavior.

Theory of Z. Freud (p. 1 of 4)

Since, as society develops, the upper layer (Super-Ego) inevitably increases, becomes more massive and heavy, then the whole human history is considered by Freud as the history of growing psychosis.

Revealing the essence of Freud's concept, it should be noted that the scientist believed that the Oedipus complex also plays the most important role in the formation and vital activity of a person.

Exploring the dreams of his patients, Freud drew attention to the fact that a significant part of them reported to him with indignation and indignation about dreams, the main motive of which was sexual intercourse with the mother (incest). Seeing a certain tendency in this, Freud comes to the conclusion that the first social impulse of a person is directed to the mother, while the first violent desire and hatred are directed to the father.

In the Oedipus complex, as Freud believed, “infantile sexuality is completed, which exerts a decisive influence on the sexuality of adults by its action.

Every newborn has the task of overcoming the Oedipus complex, whoever is unable to do this falls ill with neurosis.

Thus, the Oedipus complex is, according to Freud, the basis of human existence, while the three spheres of personality are in constant interaction and influence each other's functional activity.

One of the most important relationships of this kind is the relationship of “It” and “I”.

The constant confrontation between the three spheres of personality is largely mitigated by special “defense mechanisms” (“protection mechanisms”) that have formed as a result of human evolution. The most important of the unconscious "protective mechanisms" designed to ensure a certain integrity and stability of the personality in the face of a conflict of conflicting impulses and attitudes, Freud considered "sublimation" (the process of converting and redirecting sexual energy into various forms of activity acceptable by the individual and society), "repression ”(unconscious removal by an individual of the motives of his actions from the sphere of consciousness), “regression” (transition to a more primitive level of thinking and behavior), “projection” (unconscious transference, “attribution” of one’s own sensations, ideas, desires, thoughts, drives and often “shameful”, unconscious aspirations to other people), “rationalization” (the unconscious desire of an individual to rationally justify his ideas and behavior even in cases where they are irrational), “reactive formation” (change of a trend unacceptable for consciousness to a more acceptable or the opposite), “fixation of behavior” (the tendency of “I” to preserve proven, effective stereotypes of behavior, the known change of which can lead to a pathological obsessive desire for repetition), etc.

Insisting on the initial inconsistency and conflict of the spheres of the personality, Freud especially emphasized the dynamic moments of the being of the personality, which was the strength of his concept,

Attaching great importance to all spheres of the personality and the mechanism of their interaction, Freud, at the same time, sought to link many of his hypotheses and concepts with the theory of personality.

An example of this is his concept of creativity and the doctrine of characters, which are really consistent with his construction of personality and complement it.

An analysis of the patients' free associations led 3. Freud to the conclusion that the diseases of the adult personality are reduced to childhood experiences. Children's experiences, according to 3. Freud, are of a sexual nature. This is a feeling of love and hatred for a father or mother, jealousy for a brother or sister, etc. 3. Freud believed that this experience has an unconscious influence on the subsequent behavior of an adult, and also plays a decisive role in personality development.

The founder of psychoanalysis is Sigmund Freud, a student of the famous psychiatrist of that time, Jean Martin Charcot, from whom he received his fundamental knowledge of neurology. This article will focus on Freud's theory, which briefly and in simple language describes the main points of his concept.

Freud was the first person who, using the method of psychoanalysis, was able to cure a patient with a semi-paralyzed body. Her name was Anna O.

It was then that the development of all existing psychotherapeutic methods began, starting with the behavioral theory of behavior and ending with the most modern approaches such as neurolinguistic programming and systemic constellations.

To further understand Freud's theory, one must first uncover the essence of several concepts that underlie psychoanalysis.

Freudian personality theory in brief

Freud structured the human psyche into 3 components: Id, Ego and Superego.


The id is the unconditional source of desire and attraction. By analogy, you can take any animal like, where everything she does: sleeps, eats and mates - is the result of her natural instincts.

The ego is the mediator between animal instincts and social boundaries. This is a component of the personality that expresses and satisfies the needs of the Id in accordance with the limitations of the external world.

Superego - all social frameworks originating in parental education, where an understanding is given of what can and cannot be done. In adult life, the superego is reflected in all restrictive norms of behavior, such as law, religion, and morality.

The topical model of the mental apparatus consists of 2 components: the conscious and the unconscious.

The unconscious is a special mental force that lies outside of consciousness and determines the vector of human behavior.

Conscious - a part of the psyche, realized by the individual. Determines the choice of behavior in a social environment. However, the psyche is automatically regulated by the pleasure principle. When the balance is disturbed, a reset is carried out through the unconscious sphere.

The conflict between the id and the superego is realized with the help of defense mechanisms. Sigmund Freud described some of them:

  1. substitution
  2. Compensation
  3. crowding out
  4. Insulation
  5. Negation
  6. Projection
  7. Sublimation
  8. Rationalization
  9. Regression

Let's briefly analyze the most interesting defense mechanisms in order to better understand what it is.

Defense mechanisms of the psyche

Projection is a way of transferring one's own feelings and secret desires to another animate or inanimate object. For example, a hypocrite is a person who hides true sexual desires and seeks out the slightest dirty intentions in the actions of others.

As for inanimate things, these are examples of situations in which a person endows objects or phenomena with his experiences. For example, a formidable sky, a disturbing sculpture, harmful alcohol, etc.

By the way, there are diagnostic methods based on projections. For example, a hand-test, where the participant is shown drawings of a hand, and he gives his associations and feelings from what he saw.

Repression is the suppression and removal of unacceptable and threatening thoughts, images and memories from the conscious part of the psyche. An example is a strong shock like the death of a person, a disaster, or.

A person often does not remember the details and key moments of this event. Despite the fact that the content of the repressed motive is not realized, the emotional component continues to manifest itself in various forms.

Having determined the fundamental foundations on which Freud's theory is built, we can consider in more detail the concept of psychoanalysis as a branch of the science of psychology.

The techniques used by psychoanalysis are free association, dream interpretation, interpretation, analysis of resistance and transference. All of them are aimed at working with the unconscious and bringing unconscious processes into the conscious area.


When this happens, the negative symptoms disappear. For example, during attacks of fear and uncontrollable anxiety, a person does not realize their cause and tries to find a rational explanation. In this example, along with repression, such a protective mechanism of the psyche as rationalization works.

In order to identify and define unconscious processes in the brain, Freud suggested that patients speak on free topics. As a rule, repressed processes manifest themselves in the form of neurotic symptoms: slips of the tongue, slips of the tongue, and awkward movements.

Dream interpretation by Sigmund Freud

Rich material about mental processes can be obtained from dreams. Remember yourself in childhood: you probably had dreams in which the most intimate fantasies were realized. Perhaps they are dreaming of you now.

This Id, guided by the principle of pleasure, realizes desires in this form. Thoughts in dreams are processed, being replaced by images. Interpretation is understood as the interpretation of hidden processes and meanings that are not realized by the individual.

About the analysis of resistance and transference, you can write a separate article, since this is a fairly large area of ​​​​knowledge of the discipline of psychoanalysis. That's all, Freud's theory briefly and in simple terms looks something like this. Love science, read WikiScience!

Video on Freud's theory and what is psychoanalysis:

Based on two key premises. The first premise - genetic - is that the experiences that a child experiences in childhood have a huge impact on adulthood. The essence of the second premise is that a person initially has a certain amount of sexual energy - libido. It is the libido that during the development of a person goes through several stages, representing a close relationship between instincts, psychology and sexual activity.

The hypothesis of four is called "Freud's Theory of Personality" and is of great scientific and practical interest to psychologists and doctors. According to Freud, development takes place over 4 stages, each of which is discussed below.

Stage 1. Oral phase.

An infant is in the oral phase between the ages of birth and one year. During this period, the child is completely dependent on the mother, and feeding is the main source of pleasure. Freud emphasizes that in this phase the child has only one desire - the absorption of food, and therefore the main erogenous zone is the mouth, because it is a means of nutrition and initial examination of surrounding objects.

Stage 2. Anal phase.

The next stage of personality development is anal, which in duration includes the age of the child from 12-18 months to the third year of life. Freud's theory of personality states that during this period the child begins to learn to control the physiological functions of his body. At this time, the libido is concentrated around the anus, which is now the object of the child's attention.

Children's sexuality now finds its satisfaction in having control over the functions of its body (primarily, over defecation and excretion). It is important to note that, according to Freud, it is during this period that the child encounters the first prohibitions. The outside world is now a high barrier for him. Development at this stage acquires the character of a conflict.

Stage 3. Phallic phase.

The new one manifests itself in a child aged three to six years. Now the libido is concentrated in the genital area. At this stage, children begin to understand and realize sexual differences. The child notices either the presence of a penis, or the absence of one.

According to Freud, at this stage the child already feels pleasure from the stimulation of the genitals, but such arousal is associated with the close presence of the parents.

Stage 4. Latent period.

This period is characterized by the concession of sexual manifestations to curiosity, which is associated with the diversity of the world around the child. The period of the latent period coincides with the age of 5-12 years. Sexual activity during this period is reduced, libido is unstable, the child tries to identify his own "I".

Freud's theory of personality indicates that sexual impulses during this period are repressed by ideals of aesthetics, as well as morality, shame and disgust. At this age, personality development occurs in a combination of biological processes, as well as under the influence of culture and education.

Stage 5. Genital phase.

The transition to the last phase of personality development is accompanied by a transition of the concentration of excitement and satisfaction to the genital area. Genital masturbation in this period is of key importance in satisfying sexual needs.

In conclusion, we note that Freud's theory of personality served as the basis for formulating the foundations of the genesis of the psyche of children: child development corresponds in stages to the movement of libido zones.

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Psychoanalysis is a term introduced into psychological use by Z. Freud. It is a teaching that focuses attention on the unconscious processes of the psyche and motivation. This is a psychotherapeutic method based on the analysis of the implicit, repressed experiences of the individual. In human psychoanalysis, the fundamental source of neurotic manifestations and various pathological diseases is considered to be the pushing out of the consciousness of unacceptable aspirations and traumatic experiences.

The psychoanalytic method prefers to consider human nature from a standpoint of confrontation: the functioning of the personality's psyche reflects the struggle of diametrically opposed tendencies.

Psychoanalysis in psychology

Psychoanalysis reflects how unconscious confrontation affects the self-esteem of the individual and the emotional side of the personality, its interactions with the rest of the environment and other social institutions. The root cause of the conflict lies in the very circumstances of the individual's experience. After all, man is both a biological creation and a social being. According to its own biological desires, it is aimed at seeking pleasure and avoiding pain.

Psychoanalysis is a concept introduced by Z. Freud in order to designate a new methodology for the study and treatment of mental disorders. The principles of psychology are many-sided and broad, and one of the most famous methods of studying the psyche in psychological science is psychoanalysis.

Sigmund Freud's theory of psychoanalysis consists of the conscious, preconscious part and the unconscious.

In the preconscious part, many fantasies of the individual and his desires are stored. Desires can be redirected into the conscious part if enough attention is focused on it. A phenomenon that is difficult for an individual to realize, due to the fact that it contradicts his moral principles, or seems too painful for him, is located in the unconscious part. Actually this part is separated from the other two by censorship. Therefore, it is important to always remember that the subject of careful study of psychoanalytic technique is the relationship between the conscious part and the unconscious.

Psychological science refers to the deep mechanisms of psychoanalysis: the analysis of causeless actions of the symptomatic structure that occur in everyday life, analysis with the help of free associations, interpretation of dreams.

With the help of psychological teachings, people discover answers to questions that disturb their souls, and psychoanalysis only pushes them to find an answer, often one-sided, private. Psychologists mainly work with the motivational sphere of clients, their emotions, relationship to the surrounding reality, sensory images. Psychoanalysts concentrate mainly on the essence of the individual, on his unconscious. Along with this, both psychological practice and psychoanalytic methodology have something in common.

Sigmund Freud psychoanalysis

The main regulatory mechanism of human behavior is consciousness. Z. Freud discovered that behind the veil of consciousness there is a deep, “raging” layer of powerful aspirations, aspirations, desires that are not realized by the individual. As a practicing physician, Freud faced the serious problem of the complication of being due to the presence of unconscious worries and motives. Often this "unconscious" becomes the cause of neuropsychiatric disorders. This discovery directed him to search for tools to help patients get rid of the confrontation between "pronounceable" consciousness and hidden, unconscious motives. Thus, Sigmund Freud's theory of psychoanalysis was born - a method of healing the soul.

Not limited to the study and treatment of neuropaths, as a result of hard work to recreate their mental health, Z. Freud formed a theory that interpreted the experiences and behavioral reactions of sick individuals and healthy individuals.

Sigmund Freud's theory of psychoanalysis is known as classical psychoanalysis. It has gained immense popularity in the West.

The concept of "psychoanalysis" can be represented in three meanings: psychopathology and personality theory, a method for studying the unconscious thoughts of an individual and his feelings, a method for treating personality disorders.

Freud's classical psychoanalysis demonstrated a completely new system in psychology, which is often referred to as the psychoanalytic revolution.

Sigmund Freud philosophy of psychoanalysis: he argued that the hypothesis of unconscious processes of the psyche, the recognition of the doctrine of resistance and repression, the Oedipus complex and sexual development form the fundamental elements of psychoanalytic theory. In other words, no physician can be considered a psychoanalyst without agreeing with the enumerated basic premises of psychoanalysis.

Freud's psychoanalysis is the basis for comprehending many processes in the social mind, mass behavior, preferences of individuals in the field of politics, culture, etc. From the standpoint of psychoanalytic teaching, the modern subject lives in a world of intense mental motives, embraced by repressed aspirations and inclinations, which leads him to television screens, serial films and other forms of culture that give a sublimation effect.

Freud identified two fundamental antagonistic driving forces, namely "thanatos" and "eros" (for example, life and death). All the processes of a destructive nature in the subject and society are based on such oppositely directed motives - "aspiration for life" and "thirst for death". Freud considered Eros in a broad sense as a striving for life and gave this concept a central place.

Freud's theory of psychoanalysis gave science an understanding of such an important phenomenon of the personality psyche as "libido" or, in other words, sexual desire. Freud's central idea was the idea of ​​unconscious sexual behavior, which is the basis of the behavior of the subject. Behind most of the manifestations of fantasies and creativity, sexual problems are mainly hidden. Any creativity was considered by Freud as a symbolic fulfillment of unfulfilled desires. However, this concept of Freud should not be exaggerated. He proposed to consider that behind each image an intimate background is necessarily hidden, but in principle it is undeniable.

Introduction to Psychoanalysis Sigmund Freud is often referred to as the concept of the unconscious psyche. The core of the psychoanalytic teaching is the study of the active affective complex that is formed as a result of repressed traumatic experiences from consciousness. The strength of this theory has always been considered that it managed to focus on the unthinkable complexity of the affective side of the individual, on the problem of clearly experienced and hidden drives, on conflicts that arise between various motives, on the tragic confrontation between the sphere of "desired" and "should". Neglect of unconscious, but real mental processes, as a determinant of behavior, in the field of education inevitably leads to a deep distortion of the entire image of the subject's inner life, which in turn creates an obstacle to the formation of deeper knowledge about the nature and tools of spiritual creativity, norms of behavior, personal structure and activity.

Psychoanalytic teaching by focusing attention also represents the processes of an unconscious nature and is a technique that forces the unconscious to be explained by the language of consciousness, brings it to the surface in order to search for the cause of the suffering of the individual, internal confrontation to cope with it.

Freud discovered the so-called "mental underground", when an individual notices the best, praises it, but strives for the bad. The problem of the unconscious is acute in individual psychology, social life and social relationships. As a result of the influence of certain factors, a misunderstanding of the surrounding conditions and one's own "I" appears, which contributes to a sharp pathologisation of social behavior.

In a general sense, psychoanalytic theory is considered not only a scientific concept, but a philosophy, a therapeutic practice associated with the healing of the psyche of individuals. It is not limited only to experimental scientific knowledge and consistently approaches humanistically oriented theories. However, many scholars considered psychoanalytic theory a myth.

For example, Erich Fromm considered psychoanalysis limited due to its biologization determination of personal development and considered the role of sociological factors, political, economic, religious and cultural reasons in personal formation.

Freud developed a radical theory in which he argued for the prevailing role of repression and the fundamental importance of the unconscious. Human nature has always believed in reason as the apogee of human experience. Z. Freud delivered humanity from this delusion. He forced the scientific community to doubt the inviolability of the rational. Why you can rely on the mind completely. Does it always bring consolation and release from torment? And is the torment less grandiose in terms of the level of impact on the individual than the ability of the mind?

Z. Freud substantiated that a significant proportion of rational thinking only masks real judgments and feelings, in other words, serves to hide the truth. Therefore, for the treatment of neurotic states, Freud began to use the method of free association, which consisted in the fact that patients in a relaxed state say everything that comes to their mind, whether such thoughts are absurd or of an unpleasant, obscene nature. Powerful impulses of an emotional nature carry away uncontrolled thinking in the direction of psychic conflict. Freud argued that a random first thought is a forgotten continuation of a memory. However, later, he made a reservation that this is not always the case. Sometimes the thought that arises in the patient is not identical to the forgotten ideas, due to the mental state of the patient.

Also, Freud claimed that with the help of dreams, the presence in the depths of the brain of an intense mental life is revealed. And the direct analysis of a dream involves the search for hidden content in it, a deformed unconscious truth that is hidden in every dream. And the more confusing the dream, the greater the significance of the hidden content for the subject. Such a phenomenon is called resistances in the language of psychoanalysis, and they are expressed even when the individual who has had a dream does not want to interpret the nocturnal images that inhabit his mind. With the help of resistances, the unconscious defines barriers to protect itself. Dreams express hidden desires through symbols. Hidden thoughts, being transformed into symbols, are made acceptable to consciousness, as a result of which it becomes possible for them to overcome censorship.

Anxiety was considered by Freud as a synonym for an affective state of the psyche - which was given a special section in the introduction to psychoanalysis by Sigmund Freud. In general, the psychoanalytic concept distinguishes three forms of anxiety, namely, realistic, neurotic and moral. All three forms are aimed at warning about a threat or danger, developing a behavioral strategy, or adapting to threatening circumstances. In situations of internal confrontation, the “I” forms psychological defenses, which are special types of unconscious activity of the psyche that allow at least temporarily alleviating confrontation, relieving tension, getting rid of anxiety by distorting the actual situation, modifying attitudes towards threatening circumstances, substituting the perception of reality under certain living conditions.

Theory of psychoanalysis

The concept of psychoanalysis is based on the concept that human behavior is largely unconscious and not apparent. At the beginning of the twentieth century, Z. Freud developed a new structural model of the psyche, which made it possible to consider internal confrontation in a different aspect. In this structure, he singled out three components, called: "it", "I" and "super-I". The pole of the individual's drives is called "it". All processes in it occur unconsciously. From "IT" is born and formed in interaction with the environment and the environment
"I", which is a complex set of identifications with other "I". In the conscious surface, the preconscious and unconscious planes, the "I" functions and performs psychological protection.

All protective mechanisms are initially intended for the adaptation of subjects to the requirements of the external environment and internal reality. But due to developmental disorders of the psyche, such natural and common methods of adaptation within the boundaries of the family can themselves become the cause of serious problems. Any defense, along with the weakening of the impact of reality, also distorts it. In the case when such curvature is too massive, adaptive methods of protection are transformed into a psychopathological phenomenon.

"I" is considered the middle area, the territory on which two realities intersect and overlap one another. One of its most important functions is reality testing. “I” invariably encountering difficult and dual requirements that come from “IT”, the external environment and the “super-I”, “I” is forced to find compromises.

Any psychopathological phenomenon is a compromise solution, an unsuccessful desire for self-healing of the psyche, which has arisen as a response to pain generated by intrapsychic confrontation. "SUPER-I" is a pantry of moral prescriptions and ideals, it implements several significant functions in mental regulation, namely control and self-observation, encouragement and punishment.

E. Fromm developed humanistic psychoanalysis in order to expand the boundaries of psychoanalytic teaching and emphasize the role of economic, sociological and political factors, religious and anthropological circumstances in personal formation.

Fromm's psychoanalysis briefly: he began his interpretation of personality with an analysis of the circumstances of an individual's life and their modification, from the Middle Ages to the twentieth century. The humanistic psychoanalytic concept was developed to resolve the main contradictions of human existence: egoism and altruism, possession and life, negative "freedom from" and positive "freedom for".

Erich Fromm argued that the way out of the crisis stage of modern civilization lies in the creation of the so-called "healthy society", based on the beliefs and guidelines of humanistic morality, the restoration of harmony between nature and the subject, personality and society.

Erich Fromm is considered the founder of neo-Freudianism, a trend that has become widespread mainly in the United States. Neo-Freudians combined Freudian psychoanalysis with American sociological teachings. Horney's psychoanalysis can be singled out among the most famous works on neo-Freudianism. The followers of neo-Freudianism sharply criticized the chain of postulates of classical psychoanalysis regarding the interpretation of the processes occurring inside the psyche, but at the same time preserved the most important components of its theory (the concept of the irrational motivation of the subjects' activities).

Neo-Freudians focused on the study of interpersonal relationships in order to find answers to questions about the existence of a person, about the proper way of life for a person and what she needs to do.

Horney's psychoanalysis consists in the presence of three fundamental behavioral strategies that an individual can use to resolve a basic conflict. Each strategy corresponds to a certain basic orientation in relations with other subjects:

The strategy of movement towards society or orientation towards individuals (corresponding to a compliant personality type);

Strategy of movement against society or orientation against subjects (corresponds to a hostile or aggressive personality type);

The strategy of moving away from society or orientation from individuals (corresponds to a detached or isolated personality type).

The style of interaction focused on individuals is characterized by bondage, uncertainty and helplessness. Such people are driven by the belief that if the individual backs down, he will not be touched.

The compliant type needs love, protection, and guidance. He usually enters into relationships to avoid feelings of loneliness, worthlessness or helplessness. Behind their courtesy may be a repressed need for aggressive behavior.

With a style of behavior oriented against subjects, dominance and exploitation are characteristic. A person acts on the basis of the belief that she has power, so no one will touch her.

The hostile type adheres to the point of view that society is aggressive, and life is a struggle against everyone. Hence, the hostile type considers each situation or any relationship from the position that he will have from it.

Karen Horney argued that this type is able to behave correctly and friendly, but at the same time, in the end, his behavior is always aimed at gaining power over the environment. All his actions are aimed at increasing his own status, authority or satisfying personal ambitions. Thus, this strategy reveals the need to exploit the environment, to receive social recognition and delight.

The detached type uses a protective attitude - "I don't care" and is guided by the principle that if he steps back, he will not suffer. For this type, the following rule is characteristic: under no circumstances should you be carried away. And it doesn’t matter what it is about - either about love relationships, or about work. As a result, they lose their true interest in the environment, become akin to superficial pleasures. This strategy is characterized by the desire for solitude, independence and self-sufficiency.

Introducing such a division of behavioral strategies, Horney noted that the concept of "types" is used in the concept for a simplified designation of individuals characterized by the presence of certain character traits.

Psychoanalytic direction

The most powerful and diverse current in modern psychology is the psychoanalytic direction, the founder of which is Freud's psychoanalysis. The most famous works in the psychoanalytic direction are Adler's individual psychoanalysis and Jung's analytical psychoanalysis.

Alfred Adler and Carl Jung, in their writings, supported the theory of the unconscious, but sought to limit the role of intimate urges in the interpretation of the human psyche. As a result, the unconscious acquired a new content. The content of the unconscious, according to A. Adler, was the desire for power as a tool that compensates for the feeling of inferiority.

Jung's psychoanalysis briefly: G. Jung rooted the concept of "collective unconscious". He considered the unconscious psyche to be saturated with structures that cannot be acquired individually, but are a gift from distant ancestors, while Freud believed that phenomena previously repressed from consciousness can enter the unconscious psyche of the subject.

Jung further develops the concept of the two poles of the unconscious - the collective and the personal. The superficial layer of the psyche, covering all contents that have a connection with personal experience, namely forgotten memories, repressed urges and desires, forgotten traumatic impressions, Jung called the personal unconscious. It depends on the personal history of the subject and can awaken in fantasies and dreams. He called the collective unconscious a supra-personal unconscious psyche, including drives, instincts, which in a person represent a natural creation, and archetypes in which the human soul is found. The collective unconscious contains national and racial beliefs, myths and prejudices, as well as a certain heritage that has been acquired from animals by people. Instincts and archetypes play the role of a regulator of the inner life of the individual. The instinct determines the specific behavior of the subject, and the archetype determines the specific formation of the conscious contents of the psyche.

Jung identified two human types: extroverted and introverted. The first type is characterized by an outward orientation and a focus on social activity, while the second type is characterized by an internal orientation and focus on personal drives. Subsequently, Jung called such drives of the subject the term "libido" as well as Freud, but at the same time Jung did not identify the concept of "libido" with the sexual instinct.

Thus, Jung's psychoanalysis is an addition to classical psychoanalysis. Jung's philosophy of psychoanalysis had a rather serious influence on the further development of psychology and psychotherapy, along with anthropology, ethnography, philosophy and esotericism.

Adler, transforming the initial postulate of psychoanalysis, singled out the feeling of inferiority, caused, in particular, by physical defects, as a factor in personal development. As a response to such feelings, there is a desire to compensate for it, in order to gain superiority over others. The source of neuroses, in his opinion, is hidden in an inferiority complex. He fundamentally disagreed with the statements of Jung and Freud about the prevalence of personal unconscious instincts in human behavior and his personality, which oppose the individual to society and alienate him from it.

Adler's psychoanalysis briefly: Adler argued that the sense of community with society, stimulating social relationships and orientation to other subjects, is the main force that determines human behavior and determines the life of the individual, and not at all innate archetypes or instincts.

However, there is something in common that connects the three concepts of Adler's individual psychoanalysis, Jung's analytical psychoanalytic theory and Freud's classical psychoanalysis - all of these concepts argued that the individual has some inner nature inherent only to him alone, which affects personality formation. Only Freud gave a decisive role to sexual motives, Adler noted the role of social interests, and Jung attached decisive importance to primary types of thinking.

Another staunch follower of Freud's psychoanalytic theory was E. Berne. In the course of further development of the ideas of classical psychoanalysis and the development of a methodology for the treatment of neuropsychiatric ailments, Berne focused on the so-called "transactions" that form the foundation of interpersonal relationships. Psychoanalysis Bern: he considered three states of "ego", namely the child, adult and parent. Berne suggested that in the process of any interaction with the environment, the subject is always in one of the listed states.

Introduction to Psychoanalysis Berne - this work was created to explain the dynamics of the psyche of the individual and analyze the problems experienced by patients. Unlike fellow psychoanalysts, Berne considered it important to bring the analysis of personality problems to the life history of her parents and other ancestors.

Berne's introduction to psychoanalysis is devoted to the analysis of the varieties of "games" used by individuals in daily communication.

Methods of psychoanalysis

The psychoanalytic concept has its own techniques of psychoanalysis, which include several stages: the production of material, the stage of analysis and the working alliance. The main methods of material production include free association, transfer reaction and resistance.

The method of free association is a diagnostic, research and therapeutic method of classical Freudian psychoanalysis. It is based on the use of associativity of thinking to comprehend deep mental processes (mainly unconscious) and the further application of the data obtained in order to correct and cure functional mental disorders through clients' awareness of the sources of their problems, causes and nature. A feature of this method is the jointly directed, meaningful and purposeful struggle of the patient and the therapist against the sensations of mental discomfort or illness.

The method consists in uttering by the patient any thoughts that come into his head, even if such thoughts are absurd or obscene. The effectiveness of the method depends, for the most part, on the relationship that has arisen between the patient and the therapist. The basis of such relationships is the phenomenon of transference, which consists in the subconscious transfer by the patient to the therapist of the properties of the parents. In other words, the client transfers onto the therapist the feelings he has for surrounding subjects in the early age period, in other words, he projects early childhood desires and relationships onto another person.

The process of comprehending cause-and-effect relationships in the course of psychotherapy, the constructive transformation of personal attitudes and beliefs, as well as the renunciation of old and the formation of new types of behavior are accompanied by certain difficulties, resistance, opposition of the client. Resistance is a recognized clinical phenomenon that accompanies any form of psychotherapy. It means the desire not to touch upon the unconscious conflict, as a result of which any attempt to identify the true sources of personality problems is created.

Freud considered resistance to be the opposition unconsciously offered by the client to attempts to recreate the "repressed complex" in his mind.

The analysis phase contains four steps (confrontation, interpretation, clarification, and working through), which do not necessarily follow each other in sequence.

Another important psychotherapeutic step is the working alliance, which is a relatively healthy, sensible relationship between patient and therapist. It enables the client to work purposefully in the analytic situation.

The method of interpreting dreams is to look for the hidden content, the deformed unconscious truth that lies behind every dream.

Modern psychoanalysis

Modern psychoanalysis has grown up in the field of Freud's concepts. It is a constantly evolving theories and methods designed to open up the innermost sides of human nature.

For more than a hundred years of its existence, psychoanalytic teaching has undergone many cardinal changes. On the basis of Freud's monotheistic theory, a complex system was formed that covers a variety of practical approaches and scientific points of view.

Modern psychoanalysis is a complex of approaches connected by a common subject of analysis. The unconscious aspects of the mental existence of subjects serve as such an object. The general goal of psychoanalytic writings is to free individuals from the various unconscious limits that give rise to torment and block progressive development. Initially, the development of psychoanalysis proceeded exclusively as a method of healing neuroses and teaching about unconscious processes.

Modern psychoanalysis identifies three interrelated areas, namely the psychoanalytic concept, which forms the basis for a variety of practical approaches, applied psychoanalysis, aimed at studying cultural phenomena and solving social problems, and clinical psychoanalysis, aimed at providing psychological and psychotherapeutic assistance in cases of personal difficulties. or neuropsychiatric disorders.

If at the time of Freud's work the concept of drives and the theory of infantile sexual desire were especially widespread, today the undisputed leader in the field of psychoanalytic ideas is ego psychology and the concept of object relations. Along with this, the techniques of psychoanalysis are constantly being transformed.

Modern psychoanalytic practice has already gone far beyond the treatment of neurotic conditions. Despite the fact that the symptomatology of neuroses, as before, is considered an indication for the use of the classical technique of psychoanalysis, modern psychoanalytic teaching finds adequate ways to help individuals with a variety of problems, ranging from ordinary psychological difficulties to severe mental disorders.

The most popular branches of modern psychoanalytic theory are structural psychoanalysis and neo-Freudianism.

Structural psychoanalysis is a direction of modern psychoanalysis based on the meaning of language for assessing the unconscious, characterizing the subconscious and for the purpose of treating neuropsychiatric diseases.

Neo-Freudianism is also called the direction in modern psychoanalytic theory, which arose on the foundation of the implementation of Freud's postulates about the unconscious emotional motivation of the subjects' activities. Also, all the followers of neo-Freudianism were united by the desire to rethink Freud's theory in the direction of its greater sociologization. For example, Adler and Jung rejected Freud's biologism, instinctivism and sexual determinism, and also attached less importance to the unconscious.

The development of psychoanalysis thus led to the emergence of numerous modifications that changed the content of the key concepts of Freud's concept. However, all followers of psychoanalysis are bound by the recognition of the judgment of "conscious and unconscious."

Doctor of the Medical and Psychological Center "PsychoMed"

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