Sigmund Freud was the founder of psychoanalytic theory. Sigmund Freud believed in the influence of the unconscious mind on conscious behavior. In 1901, published the book “Psychopathology of everyday life.” Personality is the combination of three elements known as id, ego, and superego. The mind is also divided into three parts- conscious, preconscious, and unconscious. Freud’s main focus on unconscious materials. Freud’s personality theory is totally based on unconscious material.
According to Freud’s personality theory, there are three aspects of the mind. They are id, ego, and superego.
According to Freud, the psyche structure of personality divided into three parts (id, ego, superego).
The ID is the primary component of personality. It is present at birth. ID is presented with the help of the unconscious. It is dependent on the “pleasure principle”. If the need of the individual is not satisfied immediately then the result is anxiety or tension.
Example- A hungry infant cried in a continuous way until he was fed the milk.
ID is the source of bodily needs, desires, and libido (sex drive). ID is a dark and inaccessible part of personality.
In Freud’s personality theory, the ego is a part of personality. It is dependent on the “Reality Principle”. The ego is mostly conscious, rational, and logical. Ego is contact with the outside world related to reality. It is developed from Id. According to Freud, Id is to a “Horse” and Ego is to a “Rider”. Horse presented with the help of power and the rider presented with the help of direction and guidelines. An individual interacts with external factors of the environment and responds to internal forces.
Ego deals with the external world related to reality and responds to internal forces. The ego develops aroundable the ages of two or three years. It is the mediate between ID and superego.
Example of Ego- you are meeting at the office. Your mobile is vibrating and then ego provides the guidelines for you that you not attend the mobile at the working situation.
The Superego is dependent on moral approaches. The superego contains the conscience. According to Freud’s personality theory, conscience makes people feel guilt or anxiety when they do the wrong thing. The superego develops at 5 years. It is focused on morals and ideals. We acquire moral value from our parents, peer groups, and society. Superego provides guidelines for making judgments.
Two parts of the superego including- conscience and ego ideal.
According to Sigmund Freud’s personality theory, three elements of the mind. They are conscious, preconscious, and unconscious.
Psychoanalytic psychotherapists developed many methods to access the unconscious mind. They are trying to read their clients related to unconscious activity using the following processes. They are:-
In 1900, According to Freud, dream interpretation is like “Royal Road” which studies the unconscious material. In 1899, Freud’s book published “The Interpretation of Dream.” According to Freud’s personality theory, our dreams communicate unconscious material when we sleeping mode. During the dream, the mind converts latent content to manifest content. This process is called royal dream work.
Example of Dream Interpretation
Freud explained that each dream has meaningful and related to our past experiences and events. Human beings repressed unpleasant and unacceptable experiences and events into the unconscious mind. A dream is not fully remembered because each dream has a distorted form.
Dream interpretation is used for therapeutic treatment. In therapeutic treatment, three methods are used. They are:- Dream Interpretation, symbolic method, and decoding method.
Symbolic Method This method explained that dreams had to be considered in an entire way.
Dream Interpretation It is the explaining of the unconscious thoughts and emotion that occurs during sleep.
Decoding Method This method translated into broader symbols using a key as a guide.
This method proposed by Sigmund Freud. It is a psychoanalytic therapy. Its use is to bring unconscious material into the conscious level. This technique is an alternative to hypnosis. It is used for exploring the unconscious materials from the mind. In free association, the stimulus is not present in front of clients. It is to help patients discover unconscious feelings and thoughts that repressed or ignored. In free association, clients are invited to relate whatever comes into their minds, and the client’s thoughts and feelings are not control (censor) by the therapist. This method is not preplanned and not any stimulus present by the therapist.
In 1901, Sigmund Freud’s book “The psychopathology of everyday life” described the ‘Freudian Slip’.Freudian slip is also called parapraxis. A parapraxis is an error in speech, memory, or physical action. Freudian slip is a concept of classical psychoanalysis related to the unconscious mind. Freudian slip is also known as “Slip of Tongue”. Example-
Merry depressed and tension causes due to John. John is an ex-boyfriend of Merry. Unconscious material is done into conscious level by Freudian slip. And, slip of tongue reveals the client’s secret thoughts into the conscious level.
Sigmund Freud developed the concept of resistance. Resistance refers to oppositional behavior. In some situations, clients not interested in questions, and situations then the therapist immediately changes the topic and questions.
According to this situation, the client not permitted to other people during therapy. So therapist used the approach of resistance.
The transference described by Sigmund Freud for the first time. Transference occurs when a person redirects some feelings or desires for another person.
Transference is a therapeutic treatment tool related to the unconscious.
In Freud’s personality theory, the defense mechanism is that reduces anxiety. The anxiety of the patient is arising from unacceptable stimuli. Defense mechanisms may be healthy or unhealthy depending on circumstances and environmental conditions in psychoanalytical theory.
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