Chapter 2 Barbara Engler: Sigmund Freud

His contributions place him at the forefront of contemporary personality theorists. He studied
meticulously the dimensions of human nature. When developing the technique of free association,
he reached the depths of his own unconscious life and that of others. In the process, he created the
psychoanalysis, a unique research method to understand the individual. It discovered processes
psychological factors such as repression, resistance, transference, and childhood sexuality. He developed the first
global method for studying and treating neurotic problems. Its range in the history of thought
The intellectual clearly justifies an extensive study of his ideas.

biographicalData

He was born in 1856 in Freiburg, Moravia. (Present-day Czechoslovakia) Son of a Jewish merchant. He studied
medicine in Vienna from 1873 to 1881. He focused on the study of neurosis, in 1985 along with
Joseph Breuer published "Studies on Hysteria"; in 1900 he published "The Interpretation of Dreams". He died.
in London in 1939 at the age of 83.
Psychoanalysis does not represent a finished theory, but rather a progressive process of
discovery about the self.

The discovery of the forces of the unconscious:

Psychoanalysis begins with the clinical history of one of Breuer's patients, who is known in the
literature like Anna O, a 21-year-old woman who had developed various physical disturbances and
psychological, was prone to states of absence[1]inability to drink liquids, paralysis, difficulty
to understand or speak their native language. This was diagnosed at the time as a case of hysteria.[2]
In these episodes, she muttered several words, so Breuer hypnotized her, repeated the words, and
asked her to verbalize any association she had with them. She began to recount several stories and the
symptoms were relieved and finally disappeared. "Healing through conversation."
Breuer concluded that the symptoms were determined by traumatic events from the past and that the
memory had a cathartic effect.[3] After a phantom pregnancy, Anna O. Breuer abandoned the
case.
Some time later, Freud remembered the case of Anna O. and began to use the method of
conversation with their own patients. He determined that the memories that surfaced during hypnosis
they were unconscious and influenced present behavior. Then he abandons hypnosis, an important step for
discover the resistances[4]During the traumatic event, a desire emerged.5that went against the ideal
of me and the person.

The psychoanalytic method of evaluation and research:

Freud developed two primary procedures: free association and dream interpretation.
lapsus.
Free association: The patient is asked to verbalize anything that comes to mind without
import how insignificant, trivial, or unpleasant the idea may seem, then the patient reflects on these
associations.
Dream interpretation and lapses: In the association process, special attention is given to the
slip[6]In Freudian theory, nothing in our psychic life is insignificant; rather, there exists a
reason for everything. To understand lapses, it is important to distinguish between cause and reason. Cause implies the
action of an impersonal material force that brings something to light. Motive refers to an action
personal and implies an emotion or desire operating in a person's will and drives them to act.
For Freud, events are overdetermined, that is, they have more than one meaning or
explanation.
A second area explored by free association is that of dreams, since for Freud dreams
They are the royal road to the unconscious, distinguishing between manifest dream and latent dream. The manifest dream
It is the dream as it is remembered the next morning. The latent dream refers to the meaning or
underlying reason for the manifest dream. The manifest dream can be described as a satisfaction
dressed as repressed desires.

The importance of sexuality:

According to Freud, the nature of our repressed longings and desires is erotic. The word
libido was used to refer to the emotional and psychic energy derived from the biological impulse of the
sexuality. It also develops the concept of impulse to refer to a psychological representation or
mental from an internal bodily source of excitation, a form of energy that cannot be reduced anymore.
it is related to a physical or mental aspect because it combines elements of both.
An impulse has four characteristics: source, the stimulus or bodily need; momentum, the amount of
energy or intensity of need; purpose, its goal and intention, and object, the person or object in the
environment through which the purpose can be fulfilled.
Freud suggested two basic groups of drives: Eros refers to the vital drives, those forces that
they maintain vital processes and ensure the reproduction of the species. The key to these forces is the
sexual impulse, whose energy force is libido. Thanatos, which implies the impulses of death, is a
biological reality and the source of aggression and reflects the ultimate resolution of all life's tensions in the
death.
Freud suggested that the primary purpose of sexual behavior is pleasure, opening the door to a
a multitude of new ideas, which went against the thoughts of the time that the process
Primary was the reproduction of the 19th century. It explains childhood sexuality, including activities such as
sucking his thumb and sublimation. In Freudian terms, the child actively seeks pleasure in
many areas of his body, he is a polymorphic pervert; that is, the activities of the child differ in
many aspects of reproductive sexual activity. Sexual activity in children is essentially
autoeroticism; they seek pleasure in their own bodies instead of in that of another person.

The psychosexual stages of development:

Oral stage: lasts from birth to around the first year of age. The main source of pleasure
and conflict is the mouth. They explore new objects with their mouth, they feed with it and have their closest contact
directly with the mother.

Anal stage: it is expected to occur in the second year of life, generally training for the
sphincter control occurs at that age, which implies turning an involuntary activity into a
voluntary.
Phallic stage: occurs between the ages of three and six, the characteristics of this stage are
pleasurable and conflicting feelings associated with the genital organs. The child's interest in the
genitals are not with their reproductive function, but with their ability to give pleasure in an activity
autoeroticism and its significance as a means to distinguish between the sexes. At this stage, it is manifested in the
Oedipus complex, its rivalry culminates in castration anxiety, which means that he fears the
physical reprisal from his father, in particular that he will lose his penis. Some refer to the female version.
like the Electra complex (although Freud gives the term a universality), in which the
penis envy, feeling of inferiority and a situation of resentment and hatred towards the mother who is
responsible for the castration that is believed to have taken place. The resolution of these conflicts leads to
development of the superego and sexual identification.
Latency period: period of sexual calm, from seven years to puberty. During this period
psychic forces develop that inhibit sexual drive and reduce its direction.
Genital stage: with the onset of puberty, childhood sexual life changes to its adult form. It emerges in the
adolescence when the genital organs mature. Sexual desire is redirected from autoerotic to a
genuine interaction with others.

The effects of the psychosexual stages:

Freud firmly believed that past events can influence the present. If it is prevented
that libido can achieve optimal satisfaction during one or more stages may become fixated or halted
at a particular stage. Fixation creates excessive needs characteristic of an earlier stage.

The structure of personality:

The Freudian family concept of the structure of personality as an id, ego, and superego.
The superego was a rather late product of his thinking. It should be taken into account that there are not three
separate entities with clearly defined boundaries, but rather represents a variety of
processes, functions, and different dynamics within the person.

The id, the ego, and the superego:

It is the center of our being, the oldest and most original function of personality and the foundation.
of the other two. Little is known about it, because it does not present itself in our consciousness in the form
pure, includes instincts and impulses. Operates according to the principle of pleasure and employs
primary processes, the id seeks to avoid tension and return to a more favorable energy level. In the
search for avoiding tension and obtaining pleasure; the id does not take precautions but acts on
immediate in an impulsive irrational way.
It also seeks to reduce tension through primary processes, to hallucinate or form a
image of the object that would satisfy their needs. For example, to visualize the image of a
hamburger temporarily alleviates the sensation of hunger; this activity is also called
satisfaction of desire.
 Elyosurge aims to realistically fulfill the desires and demands of the id according to the
external world. The ego evolves from the id and acts as an intermediary between it and the world
external. It strives to realistically satisfy the demands of the id. Therefore, the ego is the
executor of the personality. Follows the principle of reality, satisfying the needs of the id
in an appropriate manner with the external world. The self uses the characteristic realistic thinking of
the secondary processes, the cognitive and perceptual skills that help an individual to
distinguish between fact and fantasy.
Content within the self as its "innermost core" is the superego, heir to the complex of
Oedipus represents values, ideals, and internalized moral standards. The superego is the final function of
the personality that develops and can be appreciated as a result of interaction with the
parents during the long period of childhood dependence. The rewards and punishments that
Originally, they were given to us from the outside, they become self-managed as we internalize them.
teachings from our parents and from society. As a result of the activity of the superego
we experience guilt when we disobey acceptable moral norms.
The superego consists of two subsystems: the conscience and the ideal of the self. The conscience refers to the
capacity for self-assessment, criticism, and reproach. Reprimands the self and creates feelings of guilt
when moral codes are violated. The ideal self is an ideal self-image that consists of
approved and rewarded behaviors. It is a source of pride and a concept of who we think that
we should be.
The Superego fights for perfection. It seeks moralistic solutions rather than realistic ones. Speaking in
In practical terms, the development of the superego is a necessity. It is interpersonal, as it involves
to other people.
In the well-adjusted adult personality, the self is the primary executor, controlling and governing both the
Hello like the superego, mediating between its demands and the external world.
The specific roles played by the id, the ego, and the superego are not always clear; they
they mix at too many levels. Personality consists of many diverse conflicting forces
inevitable. Freud's description of people is not optimistic, but rather an attempt to explain the
the fact that as human beings we are not always able to face certain situations. It would be
it is erroneous to classify the id, the ego, and the superego into systems; instead, personality is created by
a dynamic of forces that can be divided against themselves on many levels. Therefore, in
in its mature formulation, Freud maintains the tension between the biological change of personality and its
historical development.

The relationship of the it, the ego, and the superego with consciousness:

There is no easy correlation between the systems of 'id, ego, and superego' and the 'qualities of unconscious and conscious.'
"unconscious." At times, Freud tended to equate the ego with consciousness and the id with the
Unconsciousness. His discoveries, reflected in The Ego and the Id, regarding aspects of the ego and the superego are
unconscious, like the id, forced him to review his theory. 'conscious and unconscious' could be used
only as adjectives that describe qualities that psychological processes may or may not have.
If one were to diagram the description of the psyche given by Freud, perhaps the best image would be: a
iceberg, nine parts of which are submerged under the water. The water's surface represents the border.
between the conscious and the unconscious. Its line intersects, or potentially does so, the three functions of
hello, the id, the ego, and the superego. But any spatial metaphor is misleading in essence. "the id, the ego, and the superego"
are better understood as dynamic functions of personality, while "conscious and
"unconscious" are adjectives that describe qualities that these functions can have.

The defense mechanisms of the ego:

Freud made a distinction between different types of anxiety. Real anxiety refers to a real danger in
the external world. Neurotic anxiety refers to the fear that internal impulses cannot be
Controlled. Moral anxiety is a fear of the punishments of one's own conscience. All have their basis
in real anxiety. In order for an individual to face anxiety, the ego develops mechanisms of
defense, procedures that intervene in anxiety and prevent conscious perception of it. The
defense mechanisms share two characteristics: they occur at an unconscious level so that they do not
we realize what we are doing, and they deny or distort reality to make themselves look smaller
threatening. Defense mechanisms are not maladaptive by necessity: in fact, we cannot
survive without these. They must be created to help the developing self carry out its functions. Without
embargo, if their distortion of reality becomes too extreme or if they are used with inclusion of
other more effective means to face reality, defense mechanisms can become
maladaptive and destructive, preventing greater personal and social maturation.
The most common defense mechanisms are: repression, which involves blocking the expression of a desire.
the longing that cannot be consciously experienced or expressed directly
as behavior. It is an involuntary act, which prevents us from noticing many of our
conflicts that produce anxiety or remind us of certain traumatic emotional events of
our past. The repressed emotion seeks an alternative escape and it requires resilience to prevent
its emergence in consciousness. However, once formed, repressions are difficult to eliminate.
Block a desire or longing for its conscious expression.
Denial involves refusing to believe a reality or fact of life. Projection refers to the
unconscious attribution of an impulse, attitude, or behavior to someone or something else in the environment, reduces the
anxiety placing its source in the external world, which makes it seem easier to manage. Furthermore,
allows us to defend ourselves aggressively against our opponent or consequently express in a way
indirectly our impulses.
The reactive form expresses an impulse for its opposite. Hostility, for example, can be replaced.
for friendship. However, often the substitution is exaggerated, resulting in
question the authenticity of the feeling.
In regression, the person goes back in time to a stage when they were less anxious and had few
Responsibilities. Regression often occurs after a traumatic experience.
Rationalization involves dealing with an emotion or impulse in an analytical and intellectual way to avoid
to feel it. As the term implies, it is a flawed reasoning, due to the fact that the problem
remains unresolved at the emotional level.
In identification, anxiety is reduced by modeling our behavior after someone else's.
more. By adopting the characteristics of a model that seems more successful in meeting their needs,
we can believe that we also possess those attributes. Identification can help us avoid
The punishment. Displacement is when an object that would satisfy an impulse is not available.
From this, the impulse can be directed towards another object. The displacement does not generate satisfaction.
it completes but leads to a concentration of tension not discharged.
Sublimation channels an unacceptable impulse towards a more socially acceptable outlet. It is
a form of displacement that redirects the impulse itself instead of the object.
Although defense mechanisms can block personal and social maturation if they become
predominant, protect us from excessive anxiety and often represent creative solutions
for our problems.

Psychoanalysis
Freud's psychoanalysis emphasizes the importance of transference in which the patient transfers towards
the analyst emotional attitudes experienced in childhood towards significant people. The
the patient repeats with the analyst childish and ineffective ways of relating to other people. The analysis
allows the patient to re-experience and work through these relationships until a better resolution
satisfactory. Freud distinguished between positive transference (friendly feelings towards the doctor), and the
negative transference (hostile and angry feelings).

Altered state of consciousness in which there may be a considerable change in personality and amnesia.
forgetting after the events that took place during that period.
Disease with physical symptoms but without physiological bases. Currently referred to as disorders of the
conversion.
Catharsis is an emotional release.
Inner force that prevents becoming aware of events stored as unconscious memories.
Thoughts turned into unconsciousness.
Erroneous acts or memory lapses, the royal road to the unconscious.