Psychoanalysis & Psychodynamic Psychology
ii. Psychodynamic theories of emotion
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| ii. Psychodynamic theories of emotion As with motivation, psychodynamic theory posits that emotions can be, and often are, unconscious. This used to be a controversial proposition, but is now well supported by experimental, as well as clinical, evidence. The idea of unconscious emotions may seem surprising until one thinks about commonplace events such as not realizing that one is angry or sad until emotions erupt unexpectedly, or talking to someone who is clearly scared but does not realize it. A central aspect of contemporary psychodynamic clinical theory is that many mental disorders are based on unconscious emotions with which people are struggling, such as unconscious rage or guilt. A. Discharge/drive theory of emotion—Freud originally viewed emotion as a strictly conscious process that consisted of the feelings experienced when instincts were discharged or gratified. This early view had many problems, and Freud revised it when he developed the structural theory of emotion. B. Structural theory of emotion—In this theory (with the Id, Ego, and Superego as psychic structures, emotions are understood as responses of the Ego to the internal and external environment which have an evolved, adaptive function. Anxiety is seen as the basic negative emotion (or affect. It serves the purpose of signaling us to dangerous situations and preparing us to respond. Other important negative emotions are depressive affect, guilt, shame, and envy. All of these have an adaptive role, but they can also become overwhelming and may trigger defense mechanisms that may push them out of awareness. In psychodynamic therapy, therapists try to help patients learn to tolerate unpleasant emotions without being overwhelmed or resorting to maladaptive defense mechanisms. Common defense mechanisms include the following: 15 • Repression: Motivated forgetting • Denial/minimization: Ignoring or minimizing particular facts • Projection: Attributing one’s own feelings to someone else • Rationalization: A false but personally acceptable explanation for one’s behavior • Displacement: Transferring a feeling about one situation or person onto another situation or person • Reaction-formation: Turning an unacceptable feeling into its opposite • Isolation of affect/intellectualization: Avoiding painful feelings by focusing only on ideas • Compartmentalization: Keeping different parts of one’s emotional life separate • Undoing: Using ritualized behavior to create an illusion of control • Dissociation: Trancelike detachment • Splitting: Viewing self or others as all-good or all-bad toward off conflicted or ambivalent feelings • Withdrawal/avoidance: Emotional or behavioral flight from painful situations • Fixation: Clinging to a particular developmental phase • Regression: Returning to an earlier developmental phase • Turning against the self Redirecting an unacceptable hostile impulse toward someone else toward oneself instead Sublimation Redirecting unacceptable impulses into a socially approved activity See Activity 4: Defense Mechanisms Quiz (p. 29) See Activity 5: Draw a Picture Projective Test (p. C. Object-relations and attachment theories of emotion—These theories focus especially on the emotions that are central to human relationships and help regulate them. For example, intense anxiety is a natural infant response to the absence of a parental caretaker, and depressive affect is a natural response to the loss of interpersonal relationships. These theorists view emotions as communicative responses that facilitate needed human contact and thus serve adaptive survival functions. Download 283.67 Kb. Share with your friends:
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