A Psychoanalytical Approach

"Dreams are often most profound when they seem the most crazy"

- Sigmund Freud

The psychoanalytic approach to therapy is based on childhood development, unconscious thought, and repressed problems. Sigmund Freud was the founder of this theory and therapy methods. Although highly controversial, his theories and practice paved the way for many modern day versions of psychotherapy and personality development.

Those who don't know Freud's Psychoanalitical approach to counseling in depth will remember it for the constant references to sex. Concepts such as libido, unconscious sexual love between children and their parents, and oral fixations based on breast feeding are ideas that are only a part of what freud conjured through his thoughts, studies, and writings. His ideas on personality structure may be one of the most well known, and to me the most insightful, aspects of Freuds theories.

The ID: This is the side of our personality that is out of control. It see's what it wants and doesn't care how it gets it. The ID part of our personality is controlled by pleasure, or as Freud put it "the pleasure principle". This pleasure principle is "illogical, amoral, and driven to satisfy instinctual needs" (Corey,2013, pg 65).

The EGO: This is the rational, conscious side of a persons personality. It is controlled by the "reality principle" which "does realistic and logical thinking and formulates plans of action for satisfying needs" (Corey, 2013, pg 65).

The SUPEREGO: This part of the personality is kind of a middle ground for the ID and the EGO. Morality and consequences rule the superego. It goes off of societal standards and life lessons to make decisions basid on morals, attempting to trump the reality and peasure principles of the ID and EGO.

I focus on the ID, EGO, and SUPEREGO mainly because I really think it makes sense. Though Freuds contribution to psychotherapy was far greater, entering into conscious and unconscious thought on a level as never before. Azalyzing dreams, slips of the tongue, techniques that use free association, and projection. All of these ideas have brought forth a way to analyze the human inner psyche.

Psychosocial stages is another part of the psychoanalytical approach that was loosly established by Freud, but elaborated on by Erik Erikson. This theory states that the personality needs to go through stages in life, and each stage needs to be masterd before the next stage can effectively start. If a stage is not successfully completed, the personality disorders in adulthood would ensue.

Carl Jung was also another name in Psychoanayltical approach, and was a favorite of Frued' suntil he went in another direction from Frued's theories on Personality development. He tended toward outside influence of society making a marked inpression on personality development, which brought a whole new outlook and aspect to the approach. He took many of Freud's ideas, but looked at them on a conscious and unconscious level, giving something like dream analysis a whole new outlook.

Though Psychoanalysis can get a bad rap because it focuses , it does benefit on many levels. The stages of development can help a therapist look at the different stages of life and see where something may have gone wrong to see where to start therapy for healing. It also requires therapists to go through intensive training and psychoanalysis, because in this type of therapy the problems of thetherapist can be transfered to the patient unconsciously, so any bias's or issues the therapist have may be transfered into the patients therapy.

Reference

Corey, G. (2009). Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy. Belmont, C.: Brooks/Cole,

                Cengage Learning.