PSYCHOANALYSIS (PA)
Psychoanalysis- psychological theory, developed in the late 19th and early 20th century by the Austrian psychotherapist Sigmund Freud (Freud), which became one of the extremely influential methods of treatment mental disorders based on this theory. Psychoanalysis has been expanded, criticized and developed in various directions, mainly by former colleagues and students of Freud, such as A. Adler and C.G. Jung, who subsequently developed their own schools of analytical and individual psychology, which, together with psychoanalysis, constituted the so-called Depth Psychology. Later, the ideas of PA were developed by neo-Freudians such as Erich Fromm, Karen Horney, Harry Stack Sullivan, Jacques Lacan. A huge contribution to PA was made by the works of W. Reich, Anna Freud, M. Klein, D. Winnicott, H. Kohut and other psychoanalysts.
PA has been around for over a hundred years. During this time, it has undergone a huge evolution both in theory and practice. The classical theory put forward by 3. Freud has been rethought many times. Within psychoanalysis, new directions began to emerge: Ego psychology, tradition object relations, school of M. Klein, structural psychoanalysis of J. Lacan, I-psychology of X. Kohut (psychology of the Self). Much has changed in the views on the development process. On the one hand, more attention began to be paid to the early stages of development: the emphasis shifted from the Oedipal to the pre-Oedipal period. On the other hand, in contrast to the classical theory, which paid great attention to drives, modern psychoanalytic theories began to take into account other factors: the development of object relations, the development of the Self, etc. In addition, the model of intrapsychic conflict was supplemented and enriched by the deficit model. Now it is generally accepted that the unsuccessful, traumatic passage of the early stages of development, the violation of object relations in the mother-child dyad leads to the formation of a deficit in mental life.
Changing views on the development of the psyche led to a revision of psychoanalytic technique. Thus, for example, thanks to the work of ego psychologists who developed the theory of defense mechanisms, an important technical principle of analysis from the surface into depth was formulated. The shift of interpretive activity from the pole of drives to the defensive pole of intrapsychic conflict made it possible to make the psychoanalytic technique of working with resistance more flexible and less painful for patients. As a result of the development of object relations theory and the revision of the theory of narcissism by self-psychology, there have been great changes in the understanding of transference and countertransference, which has significantly expanded the circle of patients who can now be helped by psychoanalytic treatment.
PA has long been an integral part modern culture. It is not only a method of psychotherapy, but also a rather rich theoretical and literary tradition, with which the Russian-speaking reader, who is interested in the problems of depth psychology and psychotherapy, is still little familiar. For several decades we were cut off from world psychoanalytic thought, despite the fact that at the beginning of the century psychoanalysis in our country had great prospects(this was evidenced by the fact that almost a third of the members of the International Psychoanalytic Association spoke Russian). The Russian PA had a fairly large potential both in the clinical and theoretical fields. In Russia at that time there was a developed psychiatry, which could become the basis for clinical psychoanalysis. Speaking about theory, the contribution of Russian psychoanalysts can be illustrated by the fact that, largely due to the work of Sabina Spielrein “Destruction as the cause of becoming”, 3 Freud proposed A New Look on the theory of attraction.
But, having received rapid development in the 10-20s of the 20th century, the PA in our country was then destroyed. Only in the last twenty years has it come out of hiding and a slow process of recovery has begun. In the early 90s, Freud's main works were again republished in huge editions. Later, the domestic reader was able to get acquainted with other, more modern psychoanalytic texts. But in our country little is known about what has happened to PA over the past century. The books that are translated and published in Russian are just fragments of a mirror that reflects the history of psychoanalytic thought. Unfortunately, the works of many outstanding theorists and practitioners of psychoanalysis, such as R. Feuerburn, M. Balint, V. Bion, M. Maller, Fawkes, and many others, are still awaiting publication.
The main provisions of the Modern PA are still based on the classic PA:
- human behavior, experience and knowledge are largely determined by internal and irrational drives;
- these drives are mostly unconscious;
- attempts to become aware of these drives lead to psychological resistance in the form of defense mechanisms;
- in addition to the structure of personality, individual development is determined by events early childhood;
- conflicts between conscious perception of reality and unconscious (repressed) material can lead to mental disorders such as neurosis, neurotic character traits, fear, depression, and so on;
- liberation from the influence of unconscious material can be achieved through awareness of it
Modern psychoanalysis in a broad sense is more than 20 concepts of human mental development. Approaches to psychoanalytic therapeutic treatment vary as much as the theories themselves.
Classical Freudian psychoanalysis refers to a specific type of therapy in which the "analysant" (analytic patient) verbalizes thoughts, including free associations, fantasies and dreams, from which the analyst attempts to infer and interpret the unconscious conflicts that are the causes of the patient's symptoms and character problems. for the patient, to find a way to solve problems. The specificity of psychoanalytic interventions usually involves confrontation and clarification of the patient's pathological defenses and desires.
The main method of PA is the method of free associations, the main subject of study is the unconscious.
It was Z. Freud who brought out two models (topics) of the psyche, which became the basis for all types of psychotherapy. The first topic is consciousness-preconscious-unconscious.
The second topic - Over I - I - It or Super Ego - Ego - Id
The first topic of Z. Freud
Historians of psychoanalysis, whether psychoanalysts or other psychologists, point out that during the long period of development of psychoanalysis, Freud applied a topographical model of personality organization. According to this model of personality psychology, mental life can be divided into three levels: consciousness, preconscious and unconscious. Considering them in unity, Freud, as a psychologist and psychotherapist, used this "psychic map" to show the degree of consciousness of such mental phenomena as thoughts, dreams, fantasies and to reveal the essence of such phenomena as neurosis, depression, fear - the results of stress or deviations. in development requiring psychological help- professional consultation of a psychologist and psychotherapy.
The second topic of Z. Freud
Later, Z. Freud introduced three main structures into the anatomy of personality: It, I and Super-I (in English translations Freud and English-language PA use the Latin equivalents of these terms - Id, Ego and Superego). This tripartite division of personality is known as structural model mental life, although Freud believed that these components should be considered more as certain processes than as special "structures" of the personality. Freud understood that the constructs he proposed were hypothetical, since the level of development of neuroanatomy at that time was not sufficient to determine their localization in the central nervous system. The sphere of the id is completely unconscious, while the ego and superego operate on all three levels of consciousness. Consciousness covers all three personal structures, although its main part is formed by impulses emanating from the It. Freud considered the id as an intermediary between somatic and mental processes in the body. He wrote that the id "is directly connected with somatic processes, stems from instinctive needs and communicates psychic expression to them, but we cannot say in what substratum this connection is carried out." It acts as a reservoir for all primitive instinctive urges and draws its energy directly from bodily processes. It is subordinate the pleasure principle. Unlike the id, whose nature is to seek pleasure, the ego obeys reality principle, the purpose of which is to preserve the integrity of the organism by delaying the satisfaction of instincts until the moment when the opportunity to achieve discharge in a suitable way is found and / or appropriate conditions are found in the external environment. The reality principle enables the individual to inhibit, redirect, or gradually release the crude energy of the id within the social constraints and conscience of the individual. in his environment. All this is acquired in the process of "socialization"; in the language structural model psychoanalysis - through the formation of the Super-I. Freud divided the Super-I into two subsystems - I-ideal and Conscience.
Currently, the theory of psychoanalysis is used in two aspects. CLINICAL PSYCHOANALYSIS and APPLIED PSYCHOANALYSIS.
APPLIED PSYCHOANALYSIS
APPLIED PSYCHOANALYSIS - the use of psychoanalytic ideas and concepts in various areas of theoretical knowledge and practical actions of people. It is customary to distinguish between clinical psychoanalysis, which deals with mental illness and involves appropriate work with patients, and applied psychoanalysis. The latter is associated, as a rule, with the use of psychoanalytic ideas and concepts in the fields of philosophy, sociology, economics, politics, pedagogy, religion, art, including the study of various manifestations of the individual and collective unconscious, biographies of scientists, politicians, writers, artists.
Applied psychoanalysis is based on research activities Z. Freud. Already at the initial stages of the formation and development of psychoanalysis as such, the ideas put forward by him about the unconscious activity of a person were reflected not only in clinical practice, but also in the interpretation of works of art. So, in the letters to the Berlin doctor W. Fliess, written by Z. Freud in the 90s of the 19th century, there are reflections related to the peculiar interpretation of such world masterpieces as Sophocles' Oedipus Rex and Shakespeare's Hamlet, which received its further development in his first fundamental psychoanalytic work, The Interpretation of Dreams (1900) and in his subsequent works. Subsequently, he paid considerable attention to the psychoanalytic understanding of wit, primitive religion, art, culture in general, which was the subject of a number of works that marked the beginning of the development of what is now commonly called applied psychoanalysis. These include such works as Wit and its Relation to the Unconscious (1905), The Artist and Fantasizing (1905), Delusions and Dreams in I. Jensen’s Gradiva (1907), Leonardo da Vinci’s Reminiscence on Early Childhood (1910), Totem and Taboo (1913), The Future of an Illusion (1927), Dostoevsky and Parricide (1928), Dissatisfaction with Culture (1930), Moses the Man and Monotheistic Religion (1938);
Many followers of Z. Freud began to use psychoanalytic ideas and concepts in biographical (pathographic) studies, in comprehending the history of the formation and development of culture, political and social structure, which contributed to the formation of applied psychoanalysis as a specific activity that went beyond clinical analysis, medicine. Thus, in modern psychoanalytic literature, the division into clinical and applied psychoanalysis has been established.
However, it should be borne in mind that Z. Freud himself considered such a division of psychoanalysis into clinical and applied is not correct. In The Problem of Amateur Analysis (1926), he drew attention to the fact that "in reality, the boundary lies between scientific psychoanalysis and its application (in the medical and non-medical fields)". In this sense, clinical psychoanalysis is also applied, based on the use of psychoanalytic ideas and concepts in the process of therapeutic activity.
CLINICAL PSYCHOANALYSIS (PA)
Clinical PA refers to a psychodynamic approach to therapy and was originally used in practice to treat hysteria. PA has changed significantly since the time of Freud, so in the future we will call it MODERN PSYCHOANALYSIS or just PA.
According to Freud's definition, "any treatment based on the understanding and application of the concepts of transference and resistance can be called psychoanalytic." The modern definition of psychoanalysis is similar. Psychoanalytic therapy is a therapy that recognizes the existence of the unconscious mental processes, which studies the motives of human behavior and development, which uses the concepts of resistance and transference. The setting of therapy itself has also changed. In Freud's time, PA was performed 5-6 times a week. Now it is customary to call PA therapy with such a frequency of meetings, if the setting is one or two meetings during the week, then this type mental assistance is called psychoanalytically oriented therapy or psychoanalytically oriented therapy, which, however, does not belittle its therapeutic effect.
Key concepts of clinical psychoanalysis (e.g., therapeutic relationship, transference, countertransference, resistance, insight, defense mechanisms) and rules of the game (such as inviting the patient to freely associate and recount dream material, focus on the here and now interaction, the analyst's offer to the client - lie on the couch, all this has been applied by modern psychoanalysis since the time of Freud.
INDICATIONS FOR PSYCHOANALYTICAL THERAPY.
Various forms of hysteria; - anxiety neuroses; - phobias; - neurotic depression; - psychosomatic disorders; - dysthymia; - obsessive-compulsive disorders; - conversion disorders; - affective disorders; - mild to moderate personality disorders; - autonomic functional disorders with an established mental etiology; - mental disorders caused by emotional deficits in early childhood; - mental disorders resulting from extreme situations.
TO WHOM PSYCHOANALYSIS IS CONTRAINDICATED.
Psychoanalysis cannot help a person who does not want to change.
"Everyone hates me!"
Even when we're really surrounded bad people and they cause us suffering, often we unconsciously contribute to continuing to remain in this situation, or even to provoke it. When a person is sure that the causes of all his troubles lie in someone else, it is very difficult to help him. After all, if nothing depends on you, then you cannot change anything.
The mechanism of change in the process of psychoanalytic therapy is as follows: a person begins to become more aware of his feelings and see how they affect his behavior, decisions made, how they determine him. life strategies. Then he can change his behavior to certain situations or attitude towards particular people or things. To benefit from psychoanalysis or psychoanalytic therapy, it is not enough to want others to change. Only you can change yourself.
"You need to be treated!"
Also, you cannot force someone to undergo psychoanalysis. The great therapeutic potential of this method lies in the cooperation between analyst and client based on trust and respect. But it's impossible to trust, respect, and cooperate in a relationship you've been forced into.
If you think that one of your relatives needs the help of a psychoanalyst, you can offer him a specialist, show him the possibilities, support his decision. But don't force it. A person who is forced to go to a psychoanalyst will resist cooperation, and will rather be convinced that he will not be helped here than benefit.
In psychoanalysis it is impossible to get everything at once.
Changes: Fast! Effective! For life! Choose any TWO options
If your main priority is very rapid change, and its depth and sustainability are secondary to you, then psychoanalysis is probably not the most effective method to achieve your goals.
Some psychoanalysts may offer you focussed short-term therapy that may address specific issues. This makes sense when the problems are not very serious and exist in one specific area. If there are a number of problems affecting different areas of life, or if one of your goals is to get to know yourself better, then longer-term work is effective.
Psychoanalysis is a deep psychological method, i.e. deals with the unconscious layers of the human psyche. Its advantage lies in the ability to change a person's life at a very deep level, helping him to realize what is hidden not only from prying eyes, but even from himself.
Psychoanalytic therapy is like diving into the depths of the ocean. This process should not be infinitely long, but it should have such a pace that the body adapts to what is happening and does not get injured. In psychoanalysis, the pace of progress also depends to a large extent on the capabilities and needs of the client's psyche.
Along with the desire to get rid of suffering and achieve positive changes, the psyche of any person is inherent in resistance to change. Non-traumatic overcoming of this resistance takes time.
Psychoanalysis is difficult for people who are unable to talk about their feelings.
"When you do not know the words, there is nothing to know people." (Confucius).
Psychoanalysis is a conversational method of psychotherapy, i.e. therapy happens in conversation. For small child learn to understand speech and speak - the possibility of transition to a qualitatively new level understanding oneself, relationships with other people and the world. For an adult, talking about your feelings and finding names for your states is an opportunity to express and understand yourself much more.
Therefore, in psychoanalysis it is important that the client talks about what comes to his mind. The famous French psychoanalyst J. Lacan said that the unconscious is structured like a language. Thus, conversation opens the way in psychoanalysis to understanding the unconscious.
If a conversation is impossible for some reason, or a person experiences strong negative feelings when it is necessary to talk about himself, it makes sense to turn to other methods of psychotherapy (for example, art therapy, dance therapy, psychodrama, etc.)
Sometimes you don't need psychoanalysis
There are situations in life in which a person really needs help, but this is not psychoanalysis. What are these situations?
- Newly experienced mental and physical traumas, as well as situations of acute grief.
What is most needed here psychological support loved ones. In case this is not enough, you can connect a specialist who will provide crisis assistance. Sometimes it also makes sense not to refuse short-term pharmacological assistance, which can alleviate the excessive burden on the psyche.
- Drug or heavy alcohol addiction
In these cases, the person certainly has psychological problems and needs help. But in these states, tangible chemical dependence also plays an essential role. This must be understood and appropriate measures taken to combat it. This is what narcologists specialize in.
Most effective method to cope with these addictions are recognized programs built on the principles of "Alcoholics Anonymous" (12 steps).
- serious mental illness (psychosis, schizophrenia)
For people suffering from severe mental illness, modern pharmacology provides the opportunity to be in remission. It is very important that a person with a psychiatric diagnosis be in constant contact with an experienced psychiatrist who will be able to select pharmacological therapy adequate to the condition.
Psychological help in this case is also very important, but only such help is not enough.
A good psychoanalyst is interested in the fact that the client who turns to him receives the most effective help. The specialist will select the most suitable approach for you or recommend the appropriate specialist.
If you have hesitations and doubts about psychoanalysis, you can seek the advice of a psychoanalyst who can help you make a decision for or against.
Each of us had unusual, amazing dreams that we could remember in detail the next morning. The first thing that comes to mind after waking up to any person is to look at the meaning of the dream in the interpreter.
One of the most famous dream books developed by the founder of the theory of psychoanalysis, an Austrian scientist. Freud considered psychoanalysis the only tool capable of revealing hidden experiences, anxieties, fears that find expression in our dreams in rather bizarre forms.
So what is psychoanalysis? In his book "Introduction to Psychoanalysis", Freud wrote that the method is aimed at revealing the hidden, repressed experiences of the individual, which can lead to an increase in internal tension, deepening the conflict between the components of the personality, and as a result - to various kinds of mental disorders. Modern psychology considers the undoubted advantage of the method of psychoanalysis that a person is considered as a unity of opposites that are in constant struggle with each other.
A bit of history
The fate of Sigmund Freud was rather difficult. He was born on May 6, 1856 in the city of Freiberg, into a Jewish family. The boy was ambitious, dreamed of becoming a minister or a general. However, in those days in the Austrian Empire for Jews, the choice of specialties was small: jurisprudence or medicine.
Despite all the achievements of Freud, representatives of the scientific community of that time subjected psychoanalysis to harsh criticism, and many did not hesitate to call the author of the method a charlatan and a sexually obsessed maniac.
There are other interesting points in the biography of the psychoanalyst: for some time he studied beneficial features cocaine, treated for drug addiction this substance, urged to drink a small amount of powder dissolved in water to improve well-being. It is also known that Freud suffered from very funny phobias: he was afraid of the numbers 6 and 2, ferns and pistols, did not look into the eyes of his interlocutor, never discussed, believing that his opinion was the only true one.
Freud died at the age of 83 from a lethal dose of morphine. He suffered from a serious illness, the cause of which was excessive smoking. Many believe that the psychoanalyst resorted to euthanasia to avoid severe pain associated with this disease.
Theoretical foundations of the method
The history of psychoanalysis is as unusual as the biography of the scientist who developed this method. Working in Paris under the guidance of the prominent psychiatrist Jean Charcot, Freud was engaged in research and identification of the causes of neurosis.
To develop a new approach to the treatment of mental illness, Freud conducted his own research, and also used the data of other scientists. The theory of psychoanalysis is unique, it differs from other areas in that it does not consider individual problems of a person, but analyzes him as a whole person. Let us briefly consider the main provisions of psychoanalysis.
1. Classical psychoanalysis is based on the determinism of the biological component, namely on the postulate that physiological and sexual needs prevail over the rest. Modern psychology no longer pays such a significant role to these components.
2. Mental determinism speaks of the continuity of a person's spiritual life. Every act of a person has a hidden or explicit motive and is determined by previous events.
Psychoanalysis of personality is one of the most interesting developments of the scientist. Freud singled out three components in the structure of personality: Id, Ego and super-ego. The first component - Id - is a set of unique characteristics laid down at birth, it is a source of energy and an unconscious part of the personality. The second part - the Ego - is conscious, constantly in contact with the external environment. The third is the controller, the receptacle moral standards, rules, restrictions dictated by a civilized society.
The techniques of psychoanalysis consist of several stages: production, analysis, working alliance. At the stage of production, one can distinguish such methods of psychoanalysis as free association, resistance,. Each of these methods has its own characteristics and scope.
The first method of psychoanalysis uses associations to comprehend the deep unconscious processes of the human psyche. The data obtained are analyzed and used for therapeutic intervention in order to correct human behavior. The method involves the joint work of the patient and the doctor to reduce internal tension.
The third method of psychoanalysis involves holding sessions during which the patient voices any thoughts that come to mind. When talking with a psychotherapist, the patient subconsciously transfers the properties of his parents to the doctor. The success of the work in this case largely depends on how trusting relationships have developed between the attending physician and his ward.
The analytical stage is divided into four steps: confrontation, interpretation, clarification, elaboration. A working alliance involves the existence of a constructive and productive relationship between the patient and the therapist, aimed at purposeful problem solving at the analytic stage. It is worth mentioning the method of interpreting dreams, aimed at finding the truth hidden behind deformed images.
It is worth mentioning the works of other authors who also made a significant contribution to the development of the theory. He developed his own analytical psychoanalysis, taking Freud's calculations as a basis. The second direction - individual psychoanalysis - was founded and developed by an Austrian psychologist. Both scientists agreed that the prevalence of sexual impulses over the rest is unreasonably exaggerated, but the theory of the unconscious does have a serious scientific basis.
The Jungian approach is the most interesting and considers the desire for power as a driving motive as a way to compensate for feelings of inferiority. The Jungian method considers two types of the unconscious - collective and personal. It is widely known to divide people into two types: extrovert (directed outward) and (focused in itself).
Modern view of the theory
Modern psychoanalysis develops in three directions:
- Applied psychoanalysis is aimed at solving global social problems.
- Clinical - used to help people with psychological problems.
- Theoretical - psychology must develop, and for this it is necessary to develop new approaches to solving the problems facing science.
The concept of "psychoanalysis" in psychology is inextricably linked with the name of Freud, who made a significant contribution to the development of science, despite all the attacks from the adherents of the traditional approach of that time. Largely thanks to the work of this scientist modern psychology went far beyond the treatment of neuroses. The development of psychoanalysis led to the emergence of numerous varieties of the method, which confirmed the validity of Freud's main statement about the existence of the unconscious in the human psyche. Author: Natalia Kuznetsova
Initially, psychoanalysis arose as a method of studying and treating hysterical neuroses. The results of psychotherapeutic practice, as well as the analysis of various phenomena of normal mental life - dreams, erroneous actions, wit - were interpreted by Freud as the result of the operation of general psychological mechanisms.
The main premise of psychoanalysis is the division of the psyche into the conscious and the unconscious. Human behavior and thinking predetermine unconscious drives that are rooted in traumatic childhood experiences or come into conflict with existing moral and cultural norms in society. This is how intrapsychic conflicts arise. The resolution of these conflicts is carried out by ousting "evil", but natural inclinations and desires from the consciousness. Displaced from the consciousness of attraction and desire do not disappear without a trace. They are driven into the depths of the human psyche and one way or another, sooner or later they make themselves felt, causing tension.
What is psychoanalysis?
First, psychoanalysis is a method of treatment, and nowadays almost all psychoanalysts are doctors. The psychoanalyst tries to remove the patient's symptoms by freeing him from unnecessary doubts, unjustified feelings of guilt, painful self-accusations, false judgments and unreasonable impulses. In addition, he aims not only to calm the patient, but also to unravel his personality. But the analyst is only a guide and observer, and the patient is ultimately responsible for the outcome of the entire process.
Secondly, it is a method scientific observation and the study of personality, and especially desires, impulses, motives, dreams, fantasies, early development and emotional disorders.
Thirdly, it is a system scientific psychology, that is, the observations and representations of psychoanalysis can be used in an attempt to predict human behavior and outcome human relations such as marriage and relationships between parents and children.
How is psychoanalysis performed?
The process of psychoanalysis consists in the study and reorganization of the personality; this is done so that the individual can store his tensions with less difficulty until the time comes for them to be released. It is necessary to make the subconscient conscious and to bring unsatisfied tensions under observation. It is believed that in order to fully carry out this process, it should last at least a year and be from three to six sessions per week, each lasting about an hour. If the study lasts less than a year or the number of sessions is less than three per week, it is almost impossible to carry out the process effectively.
To conduct a psychoanalytic session, the patient lies down on the couch, and the analyst sits in his head so as to be out of sight. Thanks to this, the patient's psyche can work without being distracted. In turn, this method relieves the doctor of unnecessary tension: without being under constant supervision, he can better focus on what the patient is saying.
The so-called free association method is used. This means that the free expression of the free flow of ideas is not restrained and not changed by the usual censorship of consciousness (ideas of politeness, shame, self-respect).
In a state of free association, the patient's psyche is often overflowing with desires, feelings, reproaches, memories, fantasies, judgments, and new points of view, all of which appear at first sight in complete disarray. However, despite the apparent confusion and incoherence, every statement and every gesture has its own meaning in connection with this or that unsatisfied tension. Hour after hour, day after day, meanings and connections begin to emerge from the chaotic web of thoughts. Over a long period, certain central themes may gradually develop, relating to a number of tensions that have been unsatisfied since early childhood, long buried in the subconscious and inaccessible to conscious recognition, which form the basis of the patient's personality structure, the source of all his symptoms and associations.
The position of the analyst in relation to the patient must be strictly neutral. The main work of the analyst is, in a sense, that he shows the patient every time when he is deceiving himself; therefore, the doctor must always maintain a self-critical position, excluding any manifestations of sympathy and indignation for the patient, which would give him the opportunity to deceive the doctor and himself. The analyst's unwanted emotional attitude towards the patient is called countertransference.
The question often arises, can psychoanalysis harm anyone? The greatest danger is to treat a patient who is on the verge of psychosis, if the analyst is not aware of his true state. The analyst must also be careful in distinguishing neuroses from certain diseases of the brain and hormonal disorders.
Based on the materials of the book by E. Bern
"Introduction to Psychiatry and Psychoanalysis for the Uninitiated"
Psychoanalysis is not only a type of psychotherapeutic and clinical practice. At the same time he is philosophy about a person, social philosophy, belonging to the factors of an ideological order. It is in this sense that psychoanalysis has become an integral part of Western culture.
According to the definition of the psychological dictionary, psychoanalysis (psychoanalytic therapy) is a psychological trend founded by the Austrian psychiatrist and psychologist S. Freud at the end of the 19th century. Initially developed as a method of treatment of neuroses; then turned into a general psychological theory that placed in the center of attention driving forces mental life, motives, inclinations, meanings; subsequently became one of the important areas of philosophy of the XX century. It is based on the idea that behavior is determined not only and not so much by consciousness as by the unconscious. So, the term is used in three main senses:
1) theoretical direction in psychology;
2) a special methodology for the study of the psyche;
3) psychotherapeutic method: a set of ways to identify the characteristics of a person's experiences and actions due to unconscious motives.
The main technical means of psychoanalysis: 1) the associative method - the analysis of free associations; 2) dream analysis and interpretation of dreams - a method of dream analysis; 3) analysis and interpretation of various erroneous and unintentional (accidental) symptomatic actions of everyday life - a method of error analysis.
The philosophical dictionary gives the following definition:
Psychoanalysis is:
1) In the narrow sense of the word - a psychotherapeutic method developed by Z. Freud in the late 90s. XIX century for the treatment of psychoneuroses. Psychoanalysis as a method of therapy consists in identifying, then bringing to consciousness and experiencing unconscious traumatic ideas, impressions, mental complexes.
2) In the broad sense of the word, various schools of dynamic psychotherapy are called psychoanalysis. Moreover, we can talk not only about the theoretical platforms of these schools, but also about the institutionalized movement that is carried out on the basis of them. Psychoanalysis as a movement originates from a circle of supporters of S. Freud, who united around him in 1902 and founded the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society in 1908. Modern successors and continuers of this movement belong to the so-called "classical" or "orthodox" psychoanalysis - its most numerous, powerful and influential direction. In theoretical terms, classical psychoanalysis is Freudianism, in some respects refined and reformed in the 1930s and 1950s. Other areas (schools) of psychoanalysis, much less institutionalized and influential, were founded by students who had moved away from Freud - A. Adler, K. Jung, who only for a short time became close to him and the Vienna Society.
Consequently, the essence of psychoanalysis can be considered at three levels: as a method of psychotherapy, as a method of studying the psychology of personality, and as a system scientific knowledge about worldview, psychology, philosophy.
Freudianism - and this is its merit - sought to fill psychological knowledge about a person with a new life truth, create a theory and, on its basis, obtain information useful for solving practical, primarily psychotherapeutic problems. It is no coincidence that Z. Freud began his scientific demands with an analysis and generalization of psychotherapeutic practice and only then turned the accumulated experience into a psychological theory.
The concept of "psychoanalysis" was introduced into scientific literature at the end of the 19th century. to refer to a new method of studying and treating mental disorders. For the first time, this concept was used in an article on the etiology of neuroses, published in German on May 15, 1896. Laplanche and Pontalis' Dictionary of Psychoanalysis gives the following definitions of psychoanalysis: a research method based on the identification of unconscious meanings of words, actions, products of a person's imagination (dreams, fantasies , delirium); a method for treating neurotic disorders based on this study; a set of theories of psychology and psychopathology, in which the data obtained by the psychoanalytic method of research and treatment are systematized.
Psychoanalysis is a methodology based on the study, identification, analysis of the anxieties of the individual repressed from consciousness, hidden or suppressed, which obviously traumatized his psyche.
For the first time, the term psychoanalysis in psychology was introduced by Sigmund Freud, who worked on the study of unconscious processes occurring in the human psyche and on motivations deeply hidden in the human subconscious.
Based on the foundations of the methodology, human nature is considered from the point of view of the confrontation of the tendencies of the antipodes. It is psychoanalysis that makes it possible to see how unconscious confrontation affects not only personal self-esteem, but also the emotionality of a person, his connections with his immediate environment, individual social institutions.
Usually the source of the conflict is localized in the conditions of the individual's experience, and since people are both social and biological beings, their main biological aspiration is the search for pleasure while avoiding any form of pain.
A closer examination of the theory of psychoanalysis reveals the presence of three elementary, interdependent and complementary parts: conscious, preconscious and unconscious.
It is in the preconscious that a significant number of fantasy impulses and desires of the individual are concentrated. At the same time, if it is enough to focus on the goal, then it is quite possible to redirect such desires into the conscious. Those events that, due to the existing moral and moral guidelines of the individual, are denied by him as permissible, and perhaps, are regarded as painful and therefore move to the unconscious part.
It is this part of the acquired experience that is separated from the other two by a wall, in connection with which it is useful to understand that psychoanalysis is precisely focused on the existing relationships between parts of the conscious and the unconscious.
It is worth noting that psychoanalysis in psychology operates with deep analytical mechanisms, such as:
- the study of spontaneous actions performed in everyday life;
- research using independent associations, through the interpretation of dreams.
Psychoanalysis of Sigmund Freud
Human behavior is primarily regulated by his consciousness. Freud found out that behind the signboard of consciousness there is a certain layer of it, which is unconscious of the individual, but induces him to many lusts and inclinations. Due to the specifics of his activities, he was a medical practitioner, stumbled upon a whole layer of unconscious motives.
In many cases, it was they who became the source of nervous and mental illnesses. The discovery made contributed to the search for means that could help the patient get rid of the confrontation between the obvious and hidden in the depths of consciousness. The result was the psychoanalysis of Sigmund Freud - a means of spiritual release.
Not stopping at the treatment of neuropathic disorders, Freud, striving for the maximum revival of the mental health of patients, developed the theoretical principles of psychoanalysis and put them into practice.
Due to its uniqueness, the proposed technology for the restoration of mental health has gained wide popularity and popularity over time. In the classical version, psychoanalysis declared the birth of a completely new system psychology and often this event is called a psychoanalytic revolution.
Theory of psychoanalysis
The main idea of the theory of psychoanalysis by Z. Freud is that the motives of a person's behavior are mostly not realized by him and therefore are completely unobvious. The beginning of the twentieth century was marked by the emergence of a new mental model, which made it possible to look at the manifestation of internal psychological tension from a completely different angle.
Within the framework of the created model, three key components were identified, named: "It", "I", "Super-I". The object of gravity of each individual is "It", and all the processes occurring in it are completely unconscious. "It" is the germ of "I", which is molded from it under the influence of the environment surrounding the individual. At the same time, the “I” is a very complex set of identification with other “I”, which operates in the planes of the conscious, preconscious and unconscious, playing the role psychological protection at all these levels.
Existing protection mechanisms are already initially prepared to adapt subjects to requests external environment habitation, as well as to the inner reality. However, due to the wrong development of the psyche, the natural forms of adaptation within the family suddenly turn into the center of the emergence of serious problems. Any protection applied in parallel with the weakening of the influence of reality turns out to be an additional distorting factor. Due to extremely significant distortions, adaptive defense methods are transformed into a phenomenon of psychopathology.
Psychoanalytic direction
Modern psychology is characterized by a large number of vectors of application of the efforts of working psychologists, one of the main among them is the psychoanalytic direction, determined by the roots that go back to the primary research of Z. Freud. After them, Alfred Adler's work on individual psychoanalysis and Carl Jung's analytical psychoanalysis are best known.
Both supported the idea of the unconscious in their work, but were inclined to limit the significance of sexual urges. As a result, the unconscious was painted with new colors. In particular, Adler spoke of lust for power as a compensatory tool for feeling inferiority.
At the same time, Jung consolidated the concept of the collective unconscious, his ideas were not at all in the personified saturation of the psyche of the individual with the unconscious, but due to the influence of ancestors on him. Moreover, Freud assumed that the unconscious psyche of each subject is filled with phenomena that were pushed out of consciousness for one reason or another.
Methods of psychoanalysis
At its core, the concept of psychoanalysis is divided into three key stages that hide the methods of psychoanalysis. At the first of them, analytical material is developed, at the second it is researched and analyzed, the third involves working interaction based on the results of the study. When working out the material, the methods of free associations, reactions of transfer and confrontation are used.
The methodological principle of free associations is based on the ability to transfer one situation to another in order to identify and understand certain processes that occur at the deep levels of the psyche, and to a greater extent unconsciously. In the future, the extracted data is used to correct the mental disorders of the client through his awareness of the existing problems and their causes. An important point in the application of this technique is the joint purposeful activity of the psychologist and the client in the direction of combating the latter's feelings of psychological discomfort.
The technique is based on the patient voicing the thoughts that come into his head, even if these thoughts border on complete absurdity and obscenity. The effectiveness of the technique lies in the relationship that arises between the patient and the psychotherapist. It is based on the phenomenon of transfer, which consists in the unconscious transfer of the qualities of the patient's parents to the therapist. That is, a transfer is made in relation to the psychologist of those feelings that the client experienced at his early age to the subjects who were in his immediate environment, a projection of early childhood desires is performed on the substitute person.
The course of understanding the existing cause-and-effect relationships, the fruitful transformation of the accumulated personal views and principles with the rejection of the old and the formation of new behavioral norms, is usually accompanied by significant internal opposition from the patient. Resistance is an actual phenomenon that accompanies any psychotherapeutic intervention, regardless of its form. The essence of such confrontation is that there is a strong desire for unwillingness to touch the unconscious internal conflict with the parallel emergence of significant obstacles to identifying the real causes of personal problems.
At the stage of research and analysis, four consecutive steps are performed, which can be carried out in different order, these are: opposition, interpretation, clarification, working out.
The next stage is a working interaction, which is based on a strong relationship between the client and the psychiatrist, which makes it possible to achieve a purposeful coordination of actions within the framework formed as a result of the analysis. analytical situation. As for the methodology of interpreting dreams, it lies within the framework of the search for the deformed unconscious truths hidden behind every dream.
Modern psychoanalysis
The conceptual research of Sigmund Freud formed the basis of modern psychoanalysis, which at the moment is a dynamically progressing technology for revealing the innermost properties of the human essence.
Over a period of more than a hundred years, a significant number of changes have occurred that have radically changed the principles of the approach to psychoanalysis, as a result, a multi-tiered system has been built that embraces a variety of views and approaches.
As a result, an analytical tool has appeared that combines a number of complex approaches that are conducive to the study of aspects of a person's mental existence that are unconscious to man. Among the priority goals of psychoanalytic work is the release of individuals from unconsciously built restrictions that are the cause of the lack of progress in development.
At the present stage of development, there are three main directions in which the further development of psychoanalysis takes place, which exist as complements to each other, and not as separate unrelated branches.
Stand out:
- psychoanalytic ideas that build the basis for building factual approaches;
- applied psychoanalysis, aimed at analyzing and discovering general cultural phenomena, at resolving certain social problems;
- clinical psychoanalysis used for personalized support for those who are faced with a complex of personal barriers of a psychological nature, with neuropsychiatric disorders.
During the period of the formation of psychoanalysis, the concept of sexual drives, underdeveloped sexuality seemed to be the main one, but at the current stage of the development of methodology, the main preference is given to ego psychology, the idea of object relations, and this happens against the background of the ongoing transformation of the very technique of psychoanalysis.
Far from being the only treatment of neurotic states is the goal of psychoanalytic practices. Despite the use of psychoanalysis techniques to eliminate neuroses, its modern technologies make it possible to successfully cope with more difficult problems from everyday psychological difficulties to the most complex psychological disorders.
And in the end, it is worth noting that the most widespread branches of psychoanalysis, which include neo-Freudianism and structural psychoanalysis.