Classic Freudian psychoanalysis. Classical psychoanalysis

Each of us had unusual, amazing dreams, which the next morning we could remember in detail. The first thing that comes to mind after waking up for any person is to look in the interpreter for the meaning of the dream he saw.

One of the most famous dream books was developed by the founder of the theory of psychoanalysis, an Austrian scientist. Freud considered psychoanalysis to be the only tool capable of revealing hidden experiences, anxieties, and fears, which are expressed 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 identifying the hidden, suppressed experiences of an individual, which can lead to an increase in internal tension, a deepening of the conflict between the components of the personality, and, as a result, to various types of mental disorders. Modern psychology considers the undoubted advantage of the method of psychoanalysis to be that a person is considered as a unity of opposites that are in constant struggle with each other.

A little history

The fate of Sigmund Freud was quite difficult. He was born on May 6, 1856 in the city of Freiberg, into a Jewish family. The boy was ambitious and dreamed of becoming a minister or general. However, in those days in the Austrian Empire, the choice of specialties for Jews was small: jurisprudence or healing.

The future founder of psychoanalysis entered the University of Vienna and jumped from faculty to faculty. Freud's tossing and turning did not last long; soon he finally chose medicine. Freud was an extraordinary person: it is known for certain that he spoke eight languages fluently, was a member of prestigious scientific communities, and had a phenomenal memory. Freud is the author of a huge number of scientific works; in addition, he introduced the term cerebral palsy into medicine, and became known as the author of a revolutionary approach to the treatment of various types of mental disorders.

Despite all of Freud’s achievements, representatives of the scientific community of that time harshly criticized psychoanalysis, and many did not hesitate to call the author of the method a charlatan and a sex-crazed maniac.

There are other interesting points in the biography of the psychoanalyst: for some time he studied the beneficial properties of cocaine, treated drug addiction with this substance, and encouraged drinking 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 correct 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 the 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 neuroses.

The scientist discovered that a person’s behavior and actions are controlled not only by his consciousness, but also by a certain unconscious component that comes into confrontation with the norms and rules established by society. According to Freud, this confrontation led to the emergence of various types of disorders.

To develop a new approach to the treatment of mental illness, Freud conducted his own research and also used data from other scientists. The theory of psychoanalysis is unique; it differs from other directions in that it does not consider individual problems of a person, but analyzes him as an integral personality. Let us briefly consider the main principles 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 others. Modern psychology no longer pays such a significant role to these components.

2. Mental determinism speaks of the continuity of a person’s mental life. Every human act has a hidden or explicit motive and is determined by previous events.

3. Identification of three components of mental life: conscious, preconscious component and. The first component is what a person experiences, feels and thinks; the preconscious is the focus of fantasies and desires; third - what is repressed from consciousness, suppressed by the internal censor of the personality. Psychology, from Freud's point of view, should pay special attention to this complex mechanism.

Personality psychoanalysis is one of the most interesting developments of the scientist. Freud identified three components in the structure of personality: Id, Ego and super-Ego. The first component - Id - is a set of unique characteristics inherent 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 repository of moral norms, rules, restrictions dictated by a civilized society.

Psychoanalytic techniques consist of several stages: production, analysis, working alliance. At the production stage, one can distinguish such methods of psychoanalysis as free association, resistance, etc. 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 is analyzed and used for therapeutic effects to correct human behavior. The method involves the patient and doctor working together to reduce internal tension.

The process of understanding cause-and-effect relationships, changing personal attitudes, and developing an atypical type of behavior often encounters a negative reaction in patients—resistance. This phenomenon is generally recognized and is expressed in the desire to prevent the real sources of the problem from being identified. According to Freud, such resistance is unconscious, it is a consequence of attempts to recreate repressed experiences in consciousness.

The third method of psychoanalysis involves conducting sessions during which the patient voices any thoughts that come to mind. When talking with a psychotherapist, the patient subconsciously transfers the characteristics of his parents to the doctor. The success of work in this case largely depends on how trusting the relationship has developed between the attending physician and his ward.

The analytical stage is divided into four steps: confrontation, interpretation, clarification, elaboration. A working alliance presupposes the existence of a constructive and productive relationship between the patient and the psychotherapist, aimed at purposefully solving problems at the analytical stage. It is worth mentioning the method of dream interpretation, aimed at finding the truth hidden behind deformed images.

The philosophy of psychoanalysis is such that this method is not only a strictly scientific concept, but is also used in therapeutic practice to heal the mental illnesses of patients. Freud believed that the fundamentals of psychoanalysis he developed should become an indisputable truth for all practitioners. Analysis of unconscious processes occurring in the human psyche, the concept of resistance and suppression, the Oedipus complex, sexual development - this is the real subject of research for any psychotherapist.

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 others was 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 that people are divided into two types: extrovert (directed outward) and (focused inward).

Modern view of the theory

At the present stage of development, psychology has a fairly diverse toolkit for studying the problems of the human psyche. However, it is psychoanalysis that enjoys undoubted authority, the main provisions of which have undergone some changes under the influence of such prominent scientists as Adler, Jung,. Thus, less importance began to be attached to sexual impulses, the unconditional influence of the unconscious on the human psyche was recognized, and the concept of the collective unconscious appeared.

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 adherents of the traditional approach of that time. Largely thanks to the works of this scientist, modern psychology has gone 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: Natalya Kuznetsova

Psychoanalysis on its own in the context of the article is 28 questions that everyone who wants to always be on the crest of the wave should periodically ask themselves. The questions below will help you put things in order in your head and tune your unconscious mind so that, under any circumstances, you can make decisions that lead to success. Moreover, it is useful for both successful and less successful people to ask themselves these questions. If the situation is successful, such self-analysis will help to minimize possible mistakes in business and not fail. If you have difficulties, it will help you find the right way out and reach the top. You will be able to understand yourself, understand what you are doing wrong and continue to go the right way.

Although the suggested self-analysis is a useful thing, don't overdo it. Excessive enthusiasm for it can lead to the wrong direction. In addition, in order to get the desired result, you need to be as honest with yourself as possible, which few people can do right away out of habit without the help of a specialist. Also, it is not a fact that you will correctly understand or correctly interpret all your answers to the proposed questions. Therefore, take your time, don’t bother, just follow the instructions and little by little analyze the material obtained as a result of questioning yourself. If you have any difficulties or anxiety, you should definitely contact a psychologist or psychotherapist.

Ask yourself questions gradually, not all at once, but in series. Consider the answers to each series of questions (3–5 questions from the list) for at least 2–3 days. Write down any answers (in a notepad, on a tape recorder, etc.) that come to your mind during these days. Analyze the responses received. Then move on to the next series of questions.

How old do you feel?
What’s better: to regret what you’ve done or to regret what you could have done and never tried?
Which things are more important in your life: those that you like to do or those that you don’t like? Why?
What is more in your life: conversations or real deeds?
If absolutely everything were possible, what would you change in your life? Rank the answers in order of importance. What comes first for you? What's stopping you from doing this?
What would you like to do even if you yourself have to pay for the opportunity to do this business?
Do you really believe in what you are doing, do you believe that you will succeed, or are you trying to believe?
If you had a couple of months left to live, what would you change in your life?
What in this life are you doing differently from others? What's special about you?
Is there something in your life that you no longer need and it’s time to let go?
If you called the elevator and it is already on its way to you. Will your continued pressing of the elevator call button speed up its arrival?
What can you thank life for?
What will you do if your fear becomes real?
Do you remember something that really upset you 5 years ago? What significance does this event have for you now?
What is your happiest memory in the near future? And 10 years ago?
What will make you feel like a confident, self-sufficient person?
What five steps are you ready to take now to achieve your goal?
If you now take the risk of doing what you want. What do you have to lose?
Is it possible to know exactly what is good and what is evil? Give your reasons.
If you now received as a gift a very large sum of money, which would be enough for you to live comfortably for the rest of your days. Would you quit your current job?
What is more important to you: to have a highly paid job that takes up almost all of your time, or to have a less paid job, but which you like and which leaves a lot of free time for others?
If you could only visit one person you know, who would you go to?
Are you living or existing?
Are you afraid of making mistakes? Why? Remember what mistakes taught you at least something?
If you knew that no one would judge you, what would you change in your life?
What do you like? Your treats? Interests? Favorite activities?
Are you going through life where you want to go or is someone leading you along their own path?
What do you want? Why do you need this? What can you do now to achieve this?

Psychoanalysis is a methodology based on the study, identification, and analysis of an individual’s repressed, hidden or suppressed anxieties that have clearly traumatized his psyche.

The term psychoanalysis in psychology was first introduced by Sigmund Freud, who worked on the study of unconscious processes occurring in the human psyche and motivations deeply hidden in the human subconscious.

Based on the fundamentals of the methodology, human nature is viewed from the point of view of the confrontation of antipodal tendencies. It is psychoanalysis that makes it possible to see how unconscious confrontation affects not only personal self-esteem, but also the emotionality of the individual, his connections with his immediate environment, and individual social institutions.

Usually the source of 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 simultaneously avoiding any form of pain.

A closer look at the theory of psychoanalysis reveals the presence of three elementary, interdependent and mutually reinforcing parts: conscious, preconscious and unconscious.

It is in the preconscious that a significant number of the individual’s fantasy impulses and desires are concentrated. Moreover, if you focus enough on the goal, then it is quite possible to redirect such desires into the conscious. Those events that, due to the existing moral guidelines of the individual, are denied by him as acceptable, and perhaps are regarded as painful and therefore move to the unconscious part.

It is this part of the acquired experience that turns out to be separated from the other two by a wall, and therefore it is useful to understand that psychoanalysis is precisely focused on the existing relationships between the parts of the conscious and unconscious.

It is worth noting that psychoanalysis in psychology operates with deep analytical mechanisms, such as:

study of spontaneous actions performed in everyday life;
research using independent associations through dream interpretation.

Psychoanalysis by Sigmund Freud

Human behavior is, first of all, regulated by his consciousness. Freud found out that behind the sign of consciousness there is a certain layer of it, unconscious by the individual, but prompting him to many lusts and inclinations. Due to the specific nature of his activity, he was a practicing doctor and came across a whole layer of unconscious motives.

In many cases, they became the source of nervous and mental illnesses. The discovery 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 Sigmund Freud's psychoanalysis, a means of spiritual liberation.

Without stopping at the treatment of neuropathic disorders, Freud, striving for the maximum restoration of the mental health of patients, developed the theoretical principles of psychoanalysis and introduced them into practice.

Due to its uniqueness, the proposed technology for restoring mental health has gained widespread fame and popularity over time. In the classical version, psychoanalysis announced the birth of a completely new system of psychology, and this event is often called a psychoanalytic revolution.

Theory of psychoanalysis

The main idea of S. Freud's theory of psychoanalysis is that the motives of a person's behavior are mostly unconscious to him and therefore 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 perspective.

Within 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 embryo of the “I”, which is molded from it under the influence of the environment surrounding the individual. At the same time, “I” is a very complex set of identification with other “I”, which operates on the planes of the conscious, preconscious and unconscious, playing the role of psychological protection at all these levels.

The existing defense mechanisms are already initially prepared to adapt subjects to the demands of the external environment, as well as to internal reality. However, due to improper development of the psyche, forms of adaptation that are natural within the family suddenly turn into the center of the emergence of serious problems. Any defense applied in parallel to weakening the influence of reality turns out to be an additional distorting factor. Due to extremely significant distortions, adaptation methods of defense are transformed into the phenomenon of psychopathology.

Psychoanalytic direction

Modern psychology is characterized by a large number of vectors for applying the efforts of working psychologists, one of the main among them is the psychoanalytic direction, determined by its roots in the primary research of S. Freud. After them, the most famous are the works on individual psychoanalysis by Alfred Adler and on analytical psychoanalysis by Carl Jung.

Both supported the idea of the unconscious in their works, but were inclined to limit the significance of sexual impulses. As a result, the unconscious was painted with new colors. In particular, Adler spoke about the lust for power as a compensatory tool for feelings of inferiority.

At the same time, Jung consolidated the concept of the collective unconscious; his ideas were not about the personalized saturation of the individual’s psyche with the unconscious, but due to the influence of his ancestors. 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, which hide the methods of psychoanalysis. In the first of them, analytical material is developed, in the second, its research and analysis takes place, and the third involves working interaction based on the research results obtained. When developing material, the methods of free associations, transference reactions 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 occurring at the deep levels of the psyche, mostly unconsciously. In the future, the extracted data is used to correct the client’s mental disorders through his awareness of 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 relationships that arise between the patient and the psychotherapist. It is based on the phenomenon of transference, which consists in the unconscious transfer of the qualities of the patient’s parents to the therapist. That is, a transfer is carried out in relation to the psychologist of those feelings that the client experienced in his early age towards the subjects who were in his immediate environment, a projection of early childhood desires is carried out onto a substitute person.

The process of understanding the existing cause-and-effect relationships, the fruitful transformation of accumulated personal views and principles with the abandonment of previous ones and the formation of new behavioral norms, is usually accompanied by significant internal opposition on the part of the patient. Resistance is an actual phenomenon that accompanies any psychotherapeutic intervention, regardless of its form. The essence of this confrontation is that there is a strong desire to reluctance 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 successive steps are performed, which can be carried out in different orders, these are: opposition, interpretation, clarification, development.

The next stage is working interaction, which is based on a strong relationship between the client and the psychiatrist, which makes it possible to achieve targeted coordination of actions within the framework of the analytical situation formed as a result of the analysis. As for the methodology of dream interpretation, it lies within the framework of the search for deformed unconscious truths hidden behind each dream.

Modern psychoanalysis

The conceptual research of Sigmund Freud formed the basis of modern psychoanalysis, which currently represents dynamically progressing technologies for revealing the hidden properties of the human essence.

Over a period of more than a century, 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, covering a wide variety of views and approaches.

As a result, an analytical tool has emerged that combines a number of integrated approaches that facilitate the study of the unconscious aspects of a person’s mental existence. Among the priority goals of psychoanalytic work is the release of individuals from unconsciously built restrictions that are the cause of lack of progress in development.

At the present stage of development, there are three main directions along which the further development of psychoanalysis occurs, which exist as complements to each other, and not as separate, unrelated branches.

Stand out:

psychoanalytic ideas that form the basis for constructing actual approaches;
applied psychoanalysis, aimed at analyzing and identifying general cultural phenomena and solving 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 neuropsychic disorders.

During the period of the formation of psychoanalysis, the main concept seemed to be sexual desires, underdeveloped sexuality, but at the current stage of development of the methodology, the main preference is given to ego psychology, the idea of object relations, and this happens against the backdrop of the ongoing transformation of the technique of psychoanalysis itself.

The goal of psychoanalytic practices is not only the treatment of neurotic conditions. Despite the use of psychoanalytic techniques to eliminate neuroses, its modern technologies make it possible to successfully cope with more complex 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.

What secrets does our psyche hide? Why do they say that “we all come from childhood”? Why do we stubbornly step on the same rake and can’t get out of the vicious circle of relationships that don’t suit us? Where do dreams come from and what are they trying to tell us?

These and many other questions concerning the mental life of a person are answered by psychoanalysis, created at the beginning of the 20th century and which undermined the psychology of consciousness to the core.

The revolutionary views of Sigmund Freud, a brilliant scientist of the early 20th century, not only revolutionized the science of psychology, but also had a huge impact on the entire Western culture. Meanwhile, it cannot be said that the choice of the field of activity, which Freud would later indulge in with all the passion characteristic only of great talents, was made by him consciously.

Sigmund Freud (born 1856) came from a poor Jewish family, and therefore, even having brilliantly graduated from high school in Vienna, he did not have the opportunity to do anything other than medicine and law - these were the unspoken anti-Semitic rules of those times. Freud chose the medical faculty of the University of Vienna. From the very beginning, he wanted to engage more in scientific research, but financial difficulties forced him to start practicing. Freud managed to work as a surgeon, and as a therapist, and as a family doctor, but he chose psychiatry and neuropathology.

Freud was unusually efficient: his legacy consists of 24 volumes of scientific works. He constantly developed and revised his views, passionately asserting and confirming with practical research the truth of his guesses and insights. A circle of young doctors gathered around Freud, many of whom subsequently developed their own ideas and created their own schools of psychological thought. It was not easy to get along with him - he tyrannically demanded devotion and loyalty from his comrades and despotically expelled those who dared to criticize his theory or offer new, in Freud's opinion, erroneous views on the psyche. Perhaps his Jewish origin, which automatically made him a person of the lower class, and the need to defend his opinion, instilled in Freud from his youth “fighting” qualities and the ability to resist the majority.

In the last years of his life, Freud struggled with constant pain caused by a serious illness - facial cancer. Over the course of 15 years, he underwent thirty-three operations, but did not stop working: conducting research, giving lectures, publishing works. The more famous his views became, the more criticism he received, and the more forcefully Freud countered the arguments of his opponents. In 1933, the Nazis burned a pile of his books, to which Freud reacted with humor, noting that this was progress, and that in the Middle Ages they would have burned him. In 1938, after the Nazis captured Austria, Freud was allowed to leave for England, where he died a year later.

The history of psychoanalysis

At the beginning of his career, Sigmund Freud was lucky enough to work with such outstanding scientists as the famous European physiologist Ernst Brücke, the doctor Joseph Breuer, who successfully practiced hypnosis, and the famous neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot. (Yes, yes, the same Charcot, whose shower is still used today to treat neuropsychiatric disorders). Some ideas and thoughts that arose during this initial period of activity were subsequently developed in Freud's scientific works.

In particular, the attention of the young scientist and practicing physician Sigmund Freud was attracted by the fact that some of the symptoms manifested in patients with hysteria could not be explained from a physiological point of view. For example, a person “lost sensation” in one area of his body, although nerve conduction in neighboring areas remained healthy. Another example that not all processes occurring in the psyche can be explained by the reaction of the nervous system or an act of human consciousness was the observation of the behavior of people subjected to hypnosis. Now everyone understands that a person in a hypnotic state can be given an order to perform certain actions, and after waking up the person will unconsciously strive to carry out the order. If you ask a person why he wants to perform this action, he will give completely logical reasons. That is, the psyche itself “comes up” with explanations for actions, even if there is no objective need for these actions. In Freud's time, the understanding that a person's conscious actions can be controlled by reasons hidden from consciousness was a real discovery. Before Freud, the concepts of “unconscious” or “subconscious” did not exist at all! These observations served as the impetus for the development of psychoanalysis - that is, the analysis of the human psyche from the point of view of its driving forces, causes and consequences, the influence of previous experiences on subsequent life and on neuropsychic health.

Basic principles of psychoanalysis

The entire theory of psychoanalysis is based on Freud's assertion that in the nature of mental (mental) life there are no interruptions or inconsistencies. Every thought, desire, feeling or action has its own reason - a conscious or unconscious intention. Previous events and experiences influence subsequent ones. Even if some mental experiences, in a person’s opinion, are not justified by anything, there are hidden connections that establish one conscious event with another.

Therefore, the human psyche can be divided into three areas: consciousness, preconscious, unconscious.

The area of the unconscious belongs to instinctive elements that have never been in consciousness and will never be accessible to it. Also here, experiences, feelings and thoughts that have not passed the “censorship” are forced out of consciousness, that is, perceived by a person as forbidden, dirty, and not having the right to life. The unconscious is not subject to time. Early childhood memories, if they suddenly come back into consciousness, remain as vivid as at the time of their inception.
The preconscious is a part of the unconscious that can easily become accessible to consciousness.
Consciousness includes what we are aware of at every moment of time in our lives.

The main active forces of the psyche, according to Freud, are instincts - tensions that direct the body towards a specific goal. There are two main instincts:

Libido (from Latin “desire”) – the energy of life;
Aggressive energy or death instinct.

In psychoanalytic theory, most of the “libido” is considered, which is basically sexual in nature. Libido is living energy, the occurrence, quantity, movement and distribution of which can explain observed mental disorders or features in a person’s behavior, thoughts and experiences.

In human personality, according to psychoanalysis, there are three structures: It (Id), I (Ego) and Super-I (Super-Ego).

It (Id) is everything inherent in a person from the beginning - heredity and instincts. The id does not obey the laws of logic; everything in it is chaotic and disorganized. However, the Id undoubtedly influences the Ego and Superego. Id is a blind king whose power is unlimited, but who is forced to rely on subordinates to carry out his will.

I (Ego) is that part of the personality that is in direct contact with others. The ego develops from the id as the child begins to recognize himself as an individual. The ego feeds on the juices of the Id, protecting it like the bark protects a tree. The interaction of the Ego and the Id can be represented by the example of a sexual need: the Id would discharge this need through direct sexual activity, the Ego is called upon to decide when and under what conditions such activity would be appropriate. The ego restrains or redirects the instinctive id, ensuring physical and mental health, as well as personal security.

The Super-I (Super-Ego) - in turn develops from the Ego. The super-ego is a repository of moral norms and laws, these are restrictions and prohibitions imposed on the individual. According to Freud, the superego has three functions: conscience, introspection and the formation of ideals.

The id, ego and superego are called upon to jointly achieve one goal: to maintain a balance between the desire for increased pleasure and the danger of displeasure.

The energy born in the Id finds expression in the Ego, and the Super-Ego defines the boundaries of the Ego. Since the demands of the id, the superego and the external reality to which the personality must adapt are often contradictory, conflicts inevitably arise in the personality.

Intrapersonal conflicts can be resolved in several ways:

Dreams;
Sublimation;
Compensation;
Blocking using “protection mechanisms”

In dreams one can find expressions of desires that were not fulfilled in real life. Recurring dreams may indicate some unfulfilled need, which is an obstacle to a person’s free self-expression and his further psychological growth.

Sublimation is the redirection of libidinal energy to socially approved goals. Often such goals are creativity, intellectual or social activity. Sublimation can be called a successful defense. Sublimated energy creates what is commonly called civilization.

Anxiety arising as a result of unsatisfied desire can be resolved by directly addressing the problem. In this case, the energy that does not find a way out is directed to overcoming difficulties, to reducing their consequences, to compensating for the lack of something. A striking example of organic compensation is the development of perfect hearing in visually impaired or blind people. The human psyche can do the same: for example, with a lack of abilities and a strong desire to certainly achieve success in a chosen activity, a person may develop unprecedented performance or excessive assertiveness.

For example, such a situation as the loss of love and recognition, with the impossibility of gaining approval again, can cause severe anxiety and worry - create unbearable tension. This tension can find a way out in dreams, or be directed towards creativity: creating poetry, drawing pictures, and so on. Or in such a situation, a person can directly try to win favor and direct his efforts to obtain approval from someone - everyone knows cases when some people compensate for failures in their personal lives with extremely successful careers.

But in other cases, the resulting tension is distorted or rejected using such defense mechanisms as repression (suppression), denial, rationalization, reaction formation, isolation, projection and regression, overcompensation.

In the example we gave with the loss of love, the defense mechanisms can be illustrated as follows:

Repression (suppression): – Was there love? I do not remember…
Denial: - There was no love!
Rationalization: – I loved (loved) the wrong person, it was a mistake.
Reactive education (distortion of need): – My best man is my cat!
Isolation: – Love is not for me.
Projection (attributing one’s thoughts and feelings to others): – No one loves anyone, no one knows how to truly love... (We read: no one loves me...)
Regression (transition to earlier stages of development): – I now have only one love – delicious food.
Overcompensation (excessive compensation) – I am for free sexual relationships without restrictions!

Psychoanalysis is Sigmund Freud's brilliant attempt to understand and describe those components of mental life that seemed incomprehensible in the pre-Freudian period.

From the time of its creation to the present day, the word “psychoanalysis” has been used to refer to:

procedures for studying mental processes;
method of treating neurotic disorders;
scientific discipline.

Psychoanalytic practice

Perhaps, when hearing the word “psychoanalysis,” a picture will pop up in many people’s heads, often anecdotally used in cinema:

Indifferent with an absolutely neutral expression on his face, sometimes bearded (so that no emotions are visible at all), the analyst sits at his desk, and the patient sits in a reclining chair or on a couch, almost with his back to the analyst, and tells something about his life. . The analyst occasionally makes remarks, but in general does not interfere or force the patient's flow of speech. From the nature of what is happening, it is clear that while the patient is pouring out his soul, the psychoanalyst is immersed in his own thoughts and does not follow the process too closely.

The meaning of all this action is not very clear, and often people are sincerely surprised why psychoanalysts are “paid so much money!”

In fact, the psychoanalysis procedure looks almost the same outwardly, with the exception that at the moment of the patient’s story the analyst is extremely focused - after all, it is at this moment that he analyzes in “real time” everything that the patient entrusts to him. During psychoanalysis, the client really does not sit opposite the analyst, but slightly to the side, but so that, if desired, he can turn his head and see the expression on his face. There are definitely emotions on the analyst’s face, and these emotions should show the person: “I accept everything you say, I don’t judge, I don’t moralize, I don’t pass judgment.”

The analyst's main task is to release subconscious thoughts and feelings so that they can be worked with consciously. This is why an atmosphere of relaxation and trust is created on the one hand and complete neutrality on the other. The rule of neutrality also lies in the fact that in psychoanalysis any personal contact between the patient and the analyst is prohibited: no handshakes, not to mention more. The patient does not have to know the details of the psychoanalyst’s personal life; it is enough that he knows his professional data.

The goal of psychoanalysis is to release blocked energy and allow it to be freely realized, making a person freer and happier. It is believed that by understanding the causes of suppressed drives and realizing the presence of complexes, it is possible, although not without difficulty, to find acceptable forms of expression of the Id, as well as to make the human Ego strong, independent and more independent of the Super-Ego.

Freud's works and psychoanalysis are often criticized today, but the concepts he introduced: It (Id), I (Ego), Super-Ego (Super-Ego), libido, sublimation, and defense mechanisms are today understandable not only to scientists, practicing psychologists, psychotherapists and psychiatrists , but also simply culturally educated people. Psychoanalysis is reflected in literature and art, including cinema, in anthropology, ethnography, pedagogy and sociology.

Psychoanalysis as a method of psychotherapy originated in Europe at the end of the 19th century. and from the very beginning was subjected to severe criticism by S. Freud’s contemporaries, mainly due to the limited reduction of a person’s personality to drives: Eros (life) and Thanatos (death), but there were also followers and students who revealed psychoanalysis from completely different sides.

What is psychoanalysis?

Who founded psychoanalysis - this question is asked only by people far from psychological knowledge. The founder of psychoanalysis is the Austrian psychoanalyst S. Freud, who was a bold innovator for his time. Psychoanalysis (German Psychoanalyse, Greek psyche - soul, analysis - decision) is a method of treating patients with mental disorders (hysteria). The essence of the method is the verbalization of thoughts, fantasies and dreams, which are interpreted by a psychoanalyst.

Psychoanalysis in psychology

During the heyday of psychoanalysis (19th - early 20th centuries), therapy lasted several years and was not affordable for everyone; modern psychoanalysis is a relatively short-term (15 - 30 sessions, 1 - 2 rubles per week) method. Previously, psychoanalysis was used only in medical institutions (psychiatric) for the treatment of neuroses; today, using this method, you can work with a different range of psychological problems.

Basic principles of psychoanalysis:

an individual’s behavior is based on unconscious irrational drives, often originating at an early stage of development (traumatic situations in childhood);
awareness of these drives triggers defense mechanisms of resistance;
the conflict between the conscious and repressed material into the unconscious leads to neuroses and depression;
awareness of what is happening in the unconscious, with the help of a psychotherapist, frees the patient from the influence of unconscious material and leads to recovery.

Freud's psychoanalysis

As a result of many years of observation of his patients, S. Freud noted how much the suppressed unconscious affects a person’s mental state and behavior. Freud developed a schematic structure of the psyche in 1932, highlighting the following components:

The id (it) is the area of unconscious desires for life and death.
Ego (I) – conscious thinking, development of defense mechanisms).
Superego (Super-I) is an area of introspection, a moral censor (introjection of the parents’ value system).

Freud's methods of psychoanalysis at the initial stage consisted of using hypnosis to identify unconscious mechanisms; the psychiatrist later abandoned them and developed others that are successfully used in modern psychoanalysis:

study of motives of behavior through the patient’s free associations;
interpretation;
analysis of “resistance” and “transfer”;
elaboration.

Jung's psychoanalysis

Jungian psychoanalysis or analytical psychology K.G. Jung (S. Freud's favorite student, with whom there was a painful breakup due to his views on psychoanalysis) is based on the following principles:

The human unconscious is normally in balance.
Problems arise due to imbalance; this leads to the emergence of complexes that carry a negative emotional charge, which is displaced by the psyche into the unconscious.
Individuation is the process of the patient’s awareness of his uniqueness and (promotes healing), the “path to himself”, carried out with the help of a psychoanalyst.

Lacanian psychoanalysis

Jacques Lacan is a French psychoanalyst, a controversial figure in psychoanalysis. Lacan called himself a Freudian and constantly emphasized that Freud's teachings are not fully revealed and it is important to constantly re-read his works in order to comprehend his ideas. J. Lacan preferred to teach psychoanalysis orally, at seminars. Lacan considered the “Imaginary – Symbolic – Real” scheme to be basic:

imaginary – human self-identification (mirror stage);
symbolic – differences, and awareness on the other side of the image of the Other, which contains the symbolic;
the real – Lacan believed that the encounter with the real is possible through trauma.

Existential psychoanalysis

Classical psychoanalysis - the main ideas were subjected to the French philosopher and writer J.P. Sartre, the founder of existential psychoanalysis, criticized and Freudian libido was replaced by the original choice. The main meaning of existential analysis is that a person is an integrity, with a certain meaning, at every moment he makes a choice of himself in relation to being. Choice is personality itself. Fate is formed from elections.

Methods of psychoanalysis

Modern psychoanalysis has undergone changes both in the management of patients and in the types of therapy used, but the basic techniques continue to be used with success:

Free association method. The patient lies on the couch and voices all the thoughts that come to mind.
Method of dream interpretation. S. Freud's favorite method, about which he said that dreams are the royal road to the unconscious.
Method of interpretation. This technique allows you to bring unconscious processes to the level of consciousness. The patient (analysand) speaks, and the psychoanalyst analyzes and conveys the meaning, which is either confirmed and any events related to the meaning are recalled, or is not accepted by the patient.

Classic psychoanalysis

Orthodox personality psychoanalysis or Freudianism is based on the basic techniques of S. Freud. At the present stage, it is rarely used in its pure form in therapy; it is mainly neo-Freudianism - a synthesis of methods from various directions. The goal of classical psychoanalysis is to resolve internal conflicts and complexes formed at an early age. The main method of Freudianism is the flow of free associations:

the patient is invited to say whatever comes to his mind without logic, even those things that cause shame;
the therapist deciphers the derivatives of the unconscious and conveys the true meaning to the patient in an understandable form.

Group psychoanalysis

Group psychoanalysis is an effective type of therapy that uses psychoanalytic methods. Group psychotherapy promotes:

development through empathy for other group members sharing their pain and psychological trauma;
spiritual healing;
a person's self-acceptance.

Group psychoanalysis - the concept was introduced by psychoanalyst T. Barrow in 1925. Modern group psychotherapy is meetings once a week for 1.5 - 2 hours. Goals of analysis groups:

creating a safe space for group members where they can freely talk about painful issues;
identifying hidden authentic affects;
through the depth of communication, resolution of internal contradictions and conflicts.

System-vector psychoanalysis

Modern personality psychoanalysis undergoes changes over time. Soviet psychologist V.A. Ganzen develops system matrices of perception, on the basis of which his student V.K. Tolkachev develops 8 vectors (types) of the psyche. Today, Yu. Burlan is working in this direction. Based on system-vector psychoanalysis, each person has a predominant one of 8 vectors:

muscular;
oral;
anal;
visual;
olfactory;
cutaneous;
sound;
urethral.

Books on psychoanalysis

Studying psychoanalytic techniques and techniques is impossible without reading the relevant literature. The best books on psychoanalysis:

« Humanistic psychoanalysis» E. Fromm. The anthology compiled by the German psychoanalyst will be of interest to students of humanitarian universities studying psychoanalysis. E. Fromm reconsiders such well-known phenomena in psychoanalysis as the Electra and Oedipus complex, narcissism, and the motives of unconscious motives.
« Ego and psychological defense mechanisms» A. Freud. A book by the daughter of a famous psychoanalyst, who continued her father’s work in the field of child psychoanalysis. The work describes a new approach to revealing the internal emotional traumas of a child.
« Archetype and symbol» K.G. Jung. Hidden in every person are the archetypes of the collective unconscious: Persona, Anima and Animus, Shadow, Self and Ego.
« Runner with the Wolves» Female archetype in myths and tales. K.P. Estes. Psychoanalytic direction based on the analysis of fairy tales. The author invites women to look inside themselves and find that natural, wild and unbridled part that has been forgotten.
« Liar on the couch» I. Yalom. A talented psychoanalyst is also successful in the craft of writing. Subtle humor and dramatic moments taken from his own practice - the reader sees that the psychoanalyst is the same person with his own problems.

Films about psychoanalysis

Psychoanalysis is a topic of interest to many eminent directors, and among those who like to know themselves, psychological films arouse considerable interest; often after watching such films, their own insights arise that help to untangle the tangle of problems. Films about psychoanalysis that are worthy of attention:

"The Son's Room / La stanza del figlio". The Italian psychoanalyst Giovanni has everything in order in his life, he is in demand in his profession, but disaster struck - his son died, and Giovanni is trying to find meaning.
"Psychoanalyst / Shrink". Henry Carter is a successful psychoanalyst, there are a lot of celebrities waiting to see him, but in his personal life not everything is so smooth. Henry's wife commits suicide, and the psychoanalyst comes to the conclusion that he can no longer help his patients.
"A Dangerous Method". The film's script is based on the real and controversial relationship between S. Freud, his student C. Jung and patient Sabina Spielrein.
"Patients / In Treatment". A series in which each episode is a psychotherapy session using various classical techniques, including psychoanalysis. The film will be useful both for psychologists and for people interested in psychology.
“When Nietzsche Wept / When Nietzsche Wept”. The film is about the development of psychoanalysis in Europe, based on the novel of the same name by the famous Hungarian psychoanalyst Irvin Yalom.