Psychoanalysis & Psychodynamic Psychology
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| ii. Freud’s early model A. Freud’s early clinical experiences—Young Dr. Freud was particularly influenced by a case described to him by a Viennese colleague, Dr. Josef Breuer (1842–1925). Anna O (whose real name was Bertha Pappenheim) had serious symptoms of hysteria—physical symptoms without a physical cause. Breuer hypnotized Anna O. and asked her to tell him as much content outline 10 as possible about circumstances that had led to her symptoms. Anna O, under hypnosis, was able to tell Breuer about upsetting events that clearly explained her symptoms, events she had previously been unable to remember. After she described these upsetting events and expressed the emotions that had originally been associated with them, the symptoms disappeared. B. Freud’s theory of the mind—From the example of Anna O. and similar experiences with his own patients, Freud came to the conclusion that there must be a division within the mind, since patients with hysterical disorders were unaware of some of the memories, thoughts, and feelings that emerged under hypnosis. Furthermore, Freud argued that being unaware of such memories (which were invariably unpleasant) was connected to having pathological symptoms and that when these memories and feelings were verbally expressed, the symptoms disappeared. Freud’s idea that the mind is divided into an acceptable (usually conscious) part and an unacceptable usually unconscious) part and that certain dynamic tensions or conflicts between these two parts can cause mental symptoms is at the core of psychoanalytic theory. Freud also developed a theory about the contents of the Unconscious, its origin in childhood psychosexual development, and how and why it is repressed, or pushed out of conscious awareness. Freud viewed consciousness as simply the tip of the iceberg of mental life, with the unconscious part of the mind represented by the bulk of the iceberg, hidden underwater. C. Freud’s interest in normal phenomena—Another major development in the early part of Freud’s career was his discovery, through studying dreams, jokes, art, and other phenomena, that the division in the mind between the unacceptable (unconscious part) and the acceptable (conscious part) exists in everyone, not just in people with mental disorders. Freud thought that most mental disorders were exaggerations of universal mental conflicts and that pathology results only when a person has failed to find a good solution to these universal emotional conflicts. Download 283.67 Kb. Share with your friends:
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