Ever since the defense mechanism of sublimation was coined by Freud in “Three Essays” (1905), the psychological community has been particularly interested further investigating the validity of this concept and reforming new theories around it. Sublimation today is described as a mature defense mechanism at which socially unacceptable impulses are transformed into socially acceptable aims. Freud referred to sublimation as a necessary component for a healthy psychological condition and as the most complete drive density. Being such a critical element of Freudian psychoanalysis, the concept has received a substantial amount of attention by the psychological community. The concept of sublimation is, at its surface, generally convincing and logical. …show more content…
In “The Neuro-Psychoses of Defense”, Freud introduces his study of defense mechanisms. Freud defines a defense mechanism in psychoanalysis as a “defensive mechanism developed by the ego under pressure of the superego and external reality that allows us to fight anxiety”. Some examples of Freudian defenses that are still accepted today include repression, denial, projection, displacement, and regression. Anna Freud and other psychologist’s elaborated on the concept. Defense mechanisms are an essential component in modern clinical psychology, as “no mental status or clinical formulation should be considered complete without an effort to identify a patient’s dominant defense mechanism” (3). Defense mechanisms are today grouped into Narcissistic, Anxiety, Immature, and Mature. The use of Narcissistic, Anxiety and Immature defense mechanisms are considered less healthy than Mature defenses and are often used by emotionally unstable individuals in order to cope with stress. Mature defenses ‘result in optimal …show more content…
For example, adolescents are often forced into therapy by their parents or school as a result of an inability to cope with stress in a socially acceptable way. Patients at this stage are too old to engage in play therapy, where therapists analyze a child’s behavior during play and when presented with toys. Also, patients acting out during adolescence are often too young to obtain the maturity to verbalize their emotions in a socially acceptable form. Art therapy is useful at this stage of development because similar impulses expressed in play therapy are expressed through drawings, meanwhile not requiring verbal communication. Art therapy introduces the mature defense mechanism of sublimation to the patient, guiding them to achieve better self control as they learn to communicate their impulses through art and talking about their art. A particular form of therapy is managed in groups, and adolescents are encouraged to engage in conversation about their drawings while they are creating them. This creates an environment of low anxiety, allowing patients communicate internal conflict and disregard their normal defense mechanisms that are used to conceal these emotions. The defense mechanism of sublimation is apparent in this process, as the use of color, composition, space and shapes to provide an
Sigmund Freud believed that he “occupies a special place in the history of psychoanalysis and marks a turning point, it was with it that analysis took the step from being a psychotherapeutic procedure to being in depth-psychology” (Jones). Psychoanalysis is a theory or therapy to decode the puzzle of neurotic disorders like hysteria. During the therapy sessions, the patients would talk about their dreams. Freud would analyze not only the manifest content (what the dreamer remembers) of the dreams, but the disguise that caused the repressions of the idea. During our dreams, the decision making part of personality’s defenses are lowered allowing some of the repressed material to become more aware in a distorted form. He distinguished between
The psychoanalytic perspective grew out of subsequent psychoanalytic theories (1901, 1924, and 1940) following decades of interactions with clients with the use of an innovative procedure developed by Sigmund Freud that required lengthy verbal interactions with patients during which Freud probed deep into their lives. In a nutshell, the psychoanalytic perspective looked to explain personality, motivation, and psychological disorders by focussing on the influence of early childhood experiences, on unconscious motives and conflicts, and on the methods people use to cope with their sexual and aggressive urges. The Biological perspective on the other hand looks at the physiological bases of behaviour in humans and animals. It proposes that an organism’s functioning can be described in terms of the bodily structures and biochemical processes that cause behaviour. This paper attempts to examine the similarities and differences between the psychoanalytic perspective and the biological perspective with the key focus on the core assumptions and features of these perspectives as well as their individual strengths and weaknesses.
“Art therapy is a form of therapy in making of visual images (paintings, drawings, models etc.) in the presences of a qualified art therapist contributes towards externalization of thoughts and feelings which may otherwise remain unexpressed”(Walter & Gilory, 1992).
Freud’s approach trauma is based in the treatment of hysteria. According to Ringel and Brandell, Freud and Breuer, considered an “external event” as responsible of determining hysterical symptoms. The common component between hysteria and trauma is the outcome of fright. Freud and Breuer emphasis the importance of cathartic experience as a way of decreasing or vanishing the effect. The “cathartic method” that was developed by Breuer, assisted to release of inhibited emotions. Freud believed that the libido, necessary to be relished for the symptoms to be improved (p. 43).
Freud thought that neurosis was largely a function of the repression of unacceptable ideas and impulses, and it would be natural for clients to resist the emergence of these ideas during the course of therapy (King & O’Brien, 2011). As repressed thoughts began to emerge, the client would seek any convenient distraction or diversion ((King & O’Brien, 2011). Who better than the person of the therapist, who is both conveniently, present in the immediate conscious experience of the client and is also the inquisitor responsible for activating these unwelcome thoughts (King & O’Brien, 2011). Furthermore, this resistance could be served almost equally well by hostility (negative transference) or love (positive transference) (King & O’Brien, 2011). Freud was of the view that a person’s internal representation of relationships was constructed using a template laid down in childhood (King & O’Brien, 2011).
Coined by theorist Sigmund Freud, the psychodymanic approach to therapy revolves around the interaction between the conscious and the unconscious. It is believed that the mind is made up for three entities; the Id, Ego,& Superego. The id is known for its pleasure seeking drive and impulsiveness. Often referred to as the “devil on your shoulder” the id exhibits very little self control and is often linked with the unconscious mind. Driven by sex, violence, and impulsivity, the id has been known to encourage risky behavior that normally would not occur. If the id were dominant, a person would behave in a devious, and socially unacceptable manner. Contrary to the id, the superego acts as the “angel on ones shoulder”. As stated in Day,2008, “when the superego is in charge, we are perfectionistic and uptight and demand too much of ourselves.” The superego acts as the conscience by reflecting social standards learned through observation. When the superego is allowed to take control, it sets such high expectations and demands, that is is too difficult to reach such high standards. The only way to stop the pendulum of the psyche from swinging to either extreme is the presence of the ego. The ego is the mediator between the superego and the id, providing moral reasoning and the principal of reality. The reality principle acknowledge that one must not act out id impulses, but also realizes that one cannot live up to the demands of the superego (Day, 2008). The ego helps moderate between these two extremes with the use of defense mechanisms.
This is a counselling method used to help youngsters communicate their inner experiences through using toys and play. Nondirective play therapy is a non-pathologizing technique founded on the belief that youngsters have the internal drive to attain wellness (Petruk, 2009). Play therapy is grounded on the theory that play is a youngster’s language, the toys considered the words a youngster uses to express or show their inner experiences and how they experience and perceive the world. Within a play session, and throughout the course of sessions, themes develop in the youngster’s play, giving the therapist insight into the child’s feelings, thoughts, experiences, and interpretations of their world (Petruk,
Sigmund freud hypothesised the theory of psychoanalyse to treat the symptoms of neurosis and mental illness. Freud “contradicted and in some ways, reversed the prevailing opinions of the learned as well as the common people on many issues of human existance and culture”(Wollheim 1995 p9) Freud gave the common man the opportunity to question thoughts and analyse their own needs and desires through their unconcious. (Lear 2005). Freud's beyond the pleasure principle writings (1920) and later in his The Ego and the ID (1923), stressed the importance of the unconcious and how the mind was built upon a tripartite structure of the ID, Ego and Super-ego. Freud believed that the ID, a biological component of the personality concentrated on the pleasure principle. Freud described this as “everything that is inherited, that is present at birth, that is laid down in the consitution” (freud 1923 p61) freud hypothesises that these are instinctual and that impulses should be satisfied instantly, irrespective of the conseqence. Freud believed that the Ego mind aimed to control the ID by being logical in thought, aiming to mediat...
Freud's theory of psychoanalysis, however, does have its problems. One of its drawbacks is that it is based on the assumption that repressed conflicts and impulses do in fact exist. Today this assumption is being challenged, and is provoking intense debate.
Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis, conceptualized defense mechanisms. He stated that defense mechanisms were our way of avoiding anxiety that is often caused by unreasonable impulses that originate from the id and result in guilt. The guilt is then incorporated into the super ego’s moral conscience and is later applied as a reaction to the experience. In other words, we use defense mechanisms as a way of dealing with everyday life to protect ourselves from feelings of anxiety or guilt, which may arise from feeling threatened, or from our id or superego becoming too demanding. Defense mechanisms are not under our conscious control, and are non-voluntary. Later, his daughter Anna Freud classified the defense mechanisms into different categories according to their properties. The four categories are, healthy or mature defenses, unhealthy or the immature defenses, the neurotic defenses and the Pathological defenses.
Defense mechanism, in psychoanalysis, any of a variety of unconscious personality reactions which the ego uses to protect the conscious mind from threatening feelings and perceptions. Sigmund Freud first used defense as a psychoanalytic term (1894), but he did not break the notion into categories, viewing it as a singular phenomenon of repression. His daughter, Anna Freud, expanded on his theories in the 1930s, distinguishing some of the major defense mechanisms recognized today. Primary defense mechanisms include repression and denial, which serve to prevent unacceptable ideas or impulses from entering the conscience. Secondary defense mechanisms-generally appearing as an outgrowth of the primary defense mechanisms-include projection, reaction formation, displacement, sublimation, and isolation.
Trauma, as defined by the American Psychological Association, is an emotional response to a terrible event like an accident, rape or natural disaster. In order to process and overcome a traumatic experience, most seek a therapist. This is especially true for individuals who have dealt with childhood sexual abuse. There are different types of therapy and therapists that exist that individuals go to. Art therapy is a kind of psychotherapy that uses art as it’s main technique of communications in order to improve the emotional and mental well being of the patients. It combines the areas of human development, visual art such as drawing, sculpture, painting and other kinds of art and the artistic process with counseling and psychotherapy.
Freud substituted the systems of the topographic model with the three agencies of the structural model when it became evident that defenses were unconsc...
When the id's desires come into conflict with the superego's admonishments, the ego may use any one or more of a series of defence mechanisms to deal with the struggle. Defence mechanism are psychological strategies used by the unconscious mind to distort, deny, or manipulate reality in order to defend against feelings of anxiety and unacceptable impulses to maintain one's self-schema. Sigmund Freud was one of the first founder of the concept of defence mechanism. Defence mechanism should not be confused of being as a conscious behaviour as they are completely unconscious and the person is completely unaware when using the defence mechanism (McLeod). The circumstances and the frequency with which the mechanism is used can determine if the defence
Personality is an individual’s characteristic pattern of feeling, thinking and acting. Psychodynamic theories of personality view human behavior as a dynamic interaction between the conscious mind and unconscious mind, including associated motives and conflicts (Myers & Dewall, pg# 572, 2015). These theories focus on the unconscious and the importance of childhood experiences. Psychodynamic theories are descended from Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalysis, which is his ideology of personality and the associated treatment techniques. Psychoanalysis attributes thoughts and actions to unconscious motives and conflicts. This theory also includes the techniques used in treating psychological disorders by seeking to expose and interpret unconscious tensions. He proposed that childhood sexuality and unconscious motivations influence personality. Freud’s historically significant psychoanalytic theory became part of the human cultural legacy.