The Development of Personality
ORAL STAGE (First year)
Related to later mistrust and rejection issues
ANAL STAGE (Ages 1-3)
Related to later personal power issues
PHALLIC STAGE (Ages 3-6)
Related to later sexual attitudes
LATENCY STAGE (Ages 6-12)
A time of socialization
GENITAL STAGE (Ages 12-60)
Sexual energies are invested in life
The Structure of Personality
THE ID — The Demanding Child
Ruled by the pleasure principle
THE EGO — The Traffic Cop
Ruled by the reality principle
THE SUPEREGO — The Judge
Ruled by the moral principle
The Unconscious
Clinical evidence for postulating the unconscious:
Dreams
Slips of the tongue
Posthypnotic suggestions
Material derived from free-association
Material derived from projective techniques
Symbolic content of psychotic symptoms
NOTE: consciousness is only a thin slice of the total mind
Ego-Defense Mechanisms
Ego-defense mechanisms:
Are normal behaviors which operate on an unconscious level and
tend to deny or distort reality
- Help the individual cope with anxiety and prevent the ego from
being overwhelmed
- Have adaptive value if they do not become a style of life to avoid
facing reality
Psychoanalytic Techniques
Free Association
Client reports immediately without censoring any feelings or thoughts
Interpretation
Therapist points out, explains, and teaches the meanings of whatever is revealed
Dream Analysis
Therapist uses the "royal road to the unconscious" to bring unconscious material to light
Transference and Countertransference
Transference
The client reacts to the therapist as he did to an earlier significant other
This allows the client to experience feelings that would otherwise be inaccessible
ANALYSIS OF TRANSFERENCE — allows the client to achieve insight into the influence of the past
Countertransference
The reaction of the therapist toward the client that may interfere with objectivity
Resistance
Resistance
Anything that works against the progress of therapy and prevents the production of unconscious material
Analysis of Resistance
Helps the client to see that canceling appointments, fleeing from therapy prematurely, etc., are ways of defending against anxiety
These acts interfere with the ability to accept changes which could lead to a more satisfying life