Psychoanalysis Essay

1125 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: History and Systems of Psychology

Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) is considered the father of psychoanalysis, and one of the most influential thinkers of the early 20th century. Psychoanalysis is a method of therapy based on a dialogue between patient and doctor, its purpose to find the repressions in the unconscious mind. Freud insisted that instead of treating neurotic behaviour as incomprehensible, one should rather treat it as behaviour that is meaningful. He came to an explanation to unconscious thoughts and desires that could explain human behaviour and mental states. Hence the significance which he attributed to obsessive behaviour, dreams and slips of the tongue – all of these are determined by reasons hidden in the mind. They reveal themselves in concealed form in which would otherwise not be known to us.
Freud’s theory is best illustrated by his model of the structure of the mind (or personality). There is the first topography of the mind which is the conscious, preconscious and unconscious. Following the second topography where he distinguished three structures within, which he called Id, Ego and Super-Ego.
The Id is the initial structural component of Freud’s model of the mind. Urges, desires and impulses comes from this part of the personality and is located in the unconscious part of the mind. By using the imagery of an iceberg, it would be the well below the surface of awareness. It contains the most basic primitive impulses and demands satisfaction driven by our libido, our sexual energy.
The ego is the second apparatus of the mind, and is created by interactions between the id and the super-ego. Again in the iceberg imagery it lays just under the surface in the topography of pre-consciousness – material that can easily be recalled. It has the task of...

... middle of paper ...

...re, through psychoanalysis, is to help the patient become aware of unresolved conflicts in the unconscious mind and to confront them directly. It may be said to be a form of self-understanding. Research today constantly proves that dreams do contain meaningful information, and that dreams is a gateway to convey deep seeded issues of the mind. The limitations of Freud’s theories are that they state no scientific proof or further evidence, meaning that is difficult to state what counts as a cure for these neurotics. Dreams are individual as certain symbols and images have different meanings to different people. The value of Freud’s theories can be immensely appreciated by the individual as it allows the mind to tell (through conveyed symbols) of its own hidden psyche. Although the question of the effectiveness of psychoanalysis remains till this day open and debated.

Show More
Related

  • William Golding's Lord Of The Flies

    1124 Words  | 3 Pages

    Sigmund Freud was born in 1856 to Jewish Galician parents in the Moravian town of Pribor in the Austrian Empire (“Sigmund Freud” n. pag). During his education in the medical field, Freud decided to mix the career fields of medicine and philosophy to become a psychologist (“Sigmund Freud” n. pag). During his research as a psychologist, he conceived the Structural Model Theory, which he discussed in his essay Beyond the Pleasure Principle. The theory states that the human psyche is divided into three main parts: the id, ego, and super-ego (“Id, Ego, and Super-ego” n. pag). He concluded that the id was the desire for destruction, violence and sex; the ego was responsible for intellect and dealing with reality; and the super-ego was a person’s sense of right and wrong and moral standards (Hamilton, n. pag). Freud argued that a healthy individual will have developed the strongest ego to keep the id and super-ego in check (“Id, Ego, and Super-ego” n. p...

    Read More

  • Sigmund Freud's Psychological Theories

    352 Words  | 1 Pages

    Freud’s theory is based on the idea that ones personality is derived from conflicts that stem from both our conscious and unconscious mind. To better understand how these conflicts arise he divided the mind into theoretical categories which include the id, ego, and superego.

    Read More

  • Psychodynamic Theory

    857 Words  | 2 Pages

    In addition to Freud’s stages of development his best-known concepts are those of the id, ego, and superego (Crain, p. 268). The id personality called ‘the unconscious” is the personality that focuses on maximizing pleasure and minimizing pain through reflexes and drives such as hunger or bladder tensions (Crain, pp. 268-269). The id concept is impulsive, chaotic and unrealistic.

    Read More

  • Sigmund Freud: The Father of Psychoanalysis

    1581 Words  | 4 Pages

    Sigmund Freud, also known as the father of psychoanalysis, was born May 6th of 1856 in Freiberg, Moravia. A few years later he moved to Vienna, Austria and years after to England. Sigmund Freud was known for connecting psychological issues with sexual issues. Freud demonstrated a broad perspective on things involving dreams, religion, and cultural artifacts. He focused on different states of the mind, such as unconsciousness. Freud relied on a local sexual repression issue to create theories about human behavior all together. Although many people would agree that Sigmund Freud’s theories are controversial, he is said to be one of the most influential scientists with great work concerning psychology. His theories and ideas of psychoanalysis still have a strong impact on psychology and early childhood education today.

    Read More

  • Freudian Psychoanalysis and the Awakening

    995 Words  | 2 Pages

    Freud's theory of psychoanalysis defined a human's personality and then outlined causes and affects that these traits had on the person's thoughts, actions, and relationships. As he developed his knowledge of the human psych, he named three different parts belonging to it: the Id, the Ego, and the Superego. The Id is what drives the instinctual and need-based responses of a human, the Ego is the controlled and realistic force, and the Superego is what dictates and adheres to morality and social correctness. According to Freud, these three section of a human's psyche must maintain balance or the subject will fall to internal chaos and turmoil.

    Read More

  • Biography of Sigmund Freud

    2812 Words  | 6 Pages

    Sigmund Freud has been heralded as one of the greatest thinkers of the twentieth century. He is renowned for his discoveries about the human mind, particularly dreams, fantasies, and the role of the unconscious. Even though many of his theories were (and are) viewed as controversial, his ideas revolutionized the way people think about themselves. The potency of his notions have permeated almost every discipline, including literature, art, and medicine. This paper will examine the life, the influences, and the impact of Sigmund Freud. It will begin by discussing who he is, his personal history, and then talk about his role in the development of psychoanalysis. Next it will discuss some of the individuals who greatly inspired Freud. Finally, it will move on to talk about some of those upon whom Freud was an influence.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Sigmund Freud's The Allegory Of The Cave

    1021 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Sigmund Freud’s “An Outline of Psychoanalysis”, we encounter the id, ego and the superego. Freud explains that our id controls everything “that is inherited, that is present at birth, that is laid down in the constitution” (Freud 14). Our natural instincts are controlled by the id. The fight for survival is driven by the id in our psyche. The ego “preforms by taking control over the demands of the instincts” (Freud 15) it seeks a safe

    Read More

  • Sigmund Freud's Psychoanalytic Theory of Dreams

    1185 Words  | 3 Pages

    During the transition from the nineteenth to the twentieth century, a psychologist named Sigmund Freud welcomed the new age with his socially unacceptable yet undoubtedly intriguing ideologies; one of many was his Psychoanalytic Theory of Dreams. Freud believed that dreams are the gateway into a person’s unconscious mind and repressed desires. He was also determined to prove his theory and the structure, mechanism, and symbolism behind it through a study of his patients’ as well as his own dreams. He contended that all dreams had meaning and were the representation of a person’s repressed wish. While the weaknesses of his theory allowed many people to deem it as merely wishful thinking, he was a brilliant man, and his theory on dreams also had many strengths. Freud’s theories of the unconscious mind enabled him to go down in history as the prominent creator of Psychoanalysis.

    Read More

  • A Comparison of the Main Approaches to Personality Psychology

    2250 Words  | 5 Pages

    The basis of this approach is that psychological factors play a major role in determining behaviour and shaping personality. Freud argued that personality is composed of three major systems the id, the ego, and the superego. The id (biological part of personality) is present at birth and consists of inherited instincts and all psychological energies. The id operates according to the pleasure principle, seeking to reduce tension, avoid pain and obtain pleasure. The ego (executive part of personality) is conscious part of the mind, the “real” us.

    Read More

  • Sigmund Freud: The Comparison Of The Id, Ego And Superego

    935 Words  | 2 Pages

    His research on children was lacking, as was his use of empirical studies, his research was male-dominated and also lacked universality. The theory of the id, ego and superego develops from birth into childhood; therefore, the use of case studies on adults and the lack of empirical study does not seem feasible enough to have developed this theory. First of all there is no guarantee that the memories of these adults in their childhood would be accurate, there was not any factual, re-testable data so it lacked reliability and validity, secondly each case and person’s experience is different and therefore cannot be used to determine the development of an entire population. Freud’s theory was further biased due to him overlooking social and environmental aspects, which prevent universality; he was a European man who researched other upper middle class Europeans whose everyday living and circumstances differed greatly from others in society.

    Read More

  • Psycho Essay

    1107 Words  | 3 Pages

    Film Critique: Hitchcock’s superb ground-breaking thriller Psycho (1960), has inspired almost three generations of film through its unique, pioneering, methods of music, cinematography, acting, lighting and prop/setting. As like many other classic film Psycho (1960) changes the way film makers and the audience view the film and and has a lasting impact on the film industry especially in regards to dogma surrounding violence and nudity during that era. Psycho (1960) is a fundamental classic as it uses these usual mediums in totally new, revolutionary forms, as well as implementing ulterior meaning into every element of the films’ composition rather than simply using props etc. as the backdrop of the story. This article hopes to analyse key mise-en-scene elements within various scenes throughout

    Read More

  • Sigmund Freud's Theory Of Psychoosexual Development

    1724 Words  | 4 Pages

    Sigmund Freud was one of the original pioneers in the field of Psychology. The work that he accomplished throughout his lifetime laid a foundation for many theorists after him. The theorists that worked in Psychology, after Freud, were able to form their own thoughts, ideas, and hypotheses about the human mind after learning from his work. Sigmund Freud’s major contribution in the field of Psychology was his theory about the human psyche; which he called the Id, the Ego, and the Super-Ego. This theory was based on the human personality and its formation. Many of Freud’s analysis strategies became common practice in the field of Psychology and are still used today. Sigmund Freud will always be one of the most influential figures in the

    Read More

  • Iceberg Model Of Personality

    700 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Id “knows no judgments of value: no good and evil, no morality (Freud, The Dissection of the Psychical Personality, 2004, p. 84).” This means that the Id is the part of the personality that is unorganized in the processes and only contains the instincts for biological needs for the person to live. Since the Id has no sense of morals, does not know good or evil, its main goal is to get the person whatever it needs by any means possible to thrive. The way to remember that the Id has no judgments of value is to think of it as a child. A child wines and cries until they receives food, drink or human touch. The child is so unruly that it needs somebody to control it and this would be the Ego. The Ego’s functions on the reality principle that means it keeps the Id under control by organization of the processes in the personality. The Ego is the mediator between the Id and superego which will be discussed later. Since the ego is considered a mediator it could be remembered as the brains of the operation. It keeps the Id under control by educating it and showing that if a need must be met there is a specific way to obtain it. Next is the Superego, Freud considered “the origin on conscience,” meaning that the Superego specific function is to act as the person’s conscience between good and evil (Freud, The Dissection of the Psychical Personality, 2004, p. 74). The Super ego balances out the Id

    Read More

  • The Ego and the Id

    1504 Words  | 4 Pages

    Over the years, people have wondered what goes on in a person's mind that guides them to meet their needs. Sigmund Freud developed a system of personality that boldly attempts to explain the course of personality and what was it origins. Freud theory assumes that one's personality is shaped and some powerful inner forces motivate one's behavior. According to Freud, personality differences commence from the different ways in which people deal with their underlying drives. By picturing a continuing battle between antagonistic parts of personality, Freud was able to develop three systems that make up the total personality. The three systems of personality are the id, ego, and the superego. If the three systems work together in harmony and unite together to form one complete organization, it enables one to create a positive transaction with the environment. If the systems are fighting with each other, one is said to be dissatisfied with himself or the world. By examining the ego, the id, and the superego, one should see how these three systems of personality play an important role in the development of one's personality. In doing so one should understand what conscious and unconscious, and the functions of the id, ego, and superego.

    Read More

  • The Three Elements of Personality by Sigmund Freud

    783 Words  | 2 Pages

    Sigmund Freud was one of the trailblazers of modern-day psychology. After several years of clinical practice, Sigmund Freud became concern about finding a new way to cure his patients. He developed a new way of treatment, the psychoanalytic therapy based on the existence of the unconscious. According to his theory, our behavior is driven by sexual and destructive feelings. Freud mentions in his psychoanalytical theory of personality there are five stages of psychosexual stages structure of personality. However, the three main elements of a personality are id, ego and superego, which come together to generate intricate human behavior. The three essential parts of human psyche are listed below.

    Read More

More about Psychoanalysis Essay

Open Document