by Ruth Snowden
Fromm suggested that there were various basic human needs which went far beyond the purely biological needs that Freud claimed to rule all our behaviour. If these needs were not met, then mental health problems could arise:
Relatedness – we all need other human beings to relate to in our lives – in other words we all need love. If this need is not met, a person may try to find love in other ways, for example by submitting to somebody harsh and domineering, as in the battered wife scenario, or by giving their life over totally to religion.
Creativity – the urge to be creative may appear in all kinds of ways, such as having children, writing books, painting or gardening. If this need is not met, people may become destructive instead, for example, they might start vandalizing telephone boxes, which gives them a feeling of power.
Rootedness – everybody needs to have roots, a sense of belonging somewhere. As we grow up and leave our mothers we need to find a different sense of belonging. Negative aspects of this need could lead to religious fanaticism, or agoraphobia, where a person feels safe only in their own tiny world.
Sense of identity – as well as belonging to a group, we need a sense of individuality. Sometimes people will do crazy things in order to get noticed, or they may cling to a group and try taking their identity from belonging to it.
A frame of orientation – this is about understanding the world around us, and our own place in it. Society helps us with this through education and social conditioning.
HARRY STACK SULLIVAN
H. S. Sullivan believed that the personality was influenced by society. This is called the ‘culturalist view’. Sullivan said that a person felt happy and ‘good’ if their behaviour fitted in with societal norms. If the reverse was true then the person felt ‘bad’ and insecure. This interactive view meant that it was no good trying to treat a mentally ill person in isolation, away from society. He saw the personality not as a unique, isolated thing, but more as an interaction between people. There is probably a lot of truth in this because we all see each other differently and react to one another in different ways.
Sullivan said that the early relationship between parent and child was not primarily about sex, as Freud had suggested, but about the quest for security. This was certainly true for Sullivan himself, who was starved of affection as a child and had few playmates – an interesting contrast to Freud’s own start in life.
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Insight
You might also like to read about the work of Jacques Lacan (1901–1981), who was a prominent French analyst.
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Psychoanalysis today
Many modern therapies have their roots in psychoanalytic thinking, but these are now so many and so diverse that it is not really possible to identify one single therapy that can be called psychoanalysis. Because of this difficulty people have recently tried to define what constitutes psychoanalysis, as distinct from the innumerable other therapies. Some of the main distinguishing features are:
It is a general theory of psychology that applies to both ‘normal’ people and neurotics.
Psychoanalysts follow Freud’s idea that people have a mental apparatus that reacts to stimuli from both the external world and the world within.
Psychoanalysis is concerned with the ways in which people adapt by coping with these various stimuli, and the conflicts that arise as a result.
Mental events are seen as being subject to the law of cause and effect, according to Freud’s determinist view.
Psychoanalysis assumes the existence of the unconscious, so that there are some aspects of mental life that are not accessible to the conscious mind.
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Insight
There are many different forms of psychotherapy around today which have their roots in Freud’s talking-cure approach. Three of the major schools are:
psychodynamic psychotherapy, which concentrates on exploring childhood emotional issues and emphasizes the relationship between client and therapist.
cognitive behavioural therapy, which is more short-term and goal-orientated, concentrating on replacing dysfunctional beliefs and behaviours with more helpful ones.
humanistic therapy, which focuses on the individual person, and their personal development, rather than on particular analytical techniques.
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The question of whether or not psychoanalysis is actually effective as a treatment for neurotic disorders is not easy to answer. It is hard to say what constitutes a ‘cure’. Many people still have neurotic symptoms and behavioural problems after many years of analysis, so why do they continue to go and see their analyst, and spend a lot of money on treatment? The answer is probably quite straightforward: as in the case of the Wolf Man, many people find their sessions helpful because they at last find someone they can trust who will sit and listen to their problems without being shocked and judgemental. In this way they often find that although they still have psychological problems, they are able to cope with them more effectively, and often form much better relationships with other people as well.
In the early days of psychoanalysis people expected to see radical changes in the whole personality – there was general debate about whether or not someone had been ‘completely analysed’. Nowadays it is recognized that this is an unrealistic expectation. However, it is almost certainly true to say that people who visit psychoanalysts, rather than suffering in silence and hoping the problem will go away, are often much more likely to recover from their difficulties. What psychoanalysis can do is help people to accept themselves and cope with their problems rather than becoming overwhelmed by them. The Wolf Man himself commented that if you looked at psychoanalysis critically it is all pretty unrealistic – nevertheless, he maintained that it had helped him immeasurably in coping with life and he regarded Freud as a genius.
Freud’s prolific output of writing and the way he constantly changed his mind about what he thought in his relentless search for truth show us that he was very much an ideas man. He was, on the whole, more interested in the theories that lay behind psychoanalysis, rather than in their application. And, as we have seen throughout this book, he was always anxious to be seen as a detached, analytical observer – a true scientist. Nowadays, psychotherapy has moved more towards studying the importance of relationships in an individual’s life from an early age, particularly emphasizing the relationship with the mother – as Freud never did.
Psychoanalysts still believe, as Freud did, that good sexual relationships are essential to health and happiness, but they believe that the ability to achieve good relationships in adulthood depends very much on the ability of the child to relate to parents, or other caretakers, in early life. This means that modern analysts are particularly concerned with looking at transference during the course of analysis, because this is a way of uncovering the dynamics of a person’s early relationships. Freud, on the other hand, was rather reluctant to look too deeply into transference, because this would tend to undermine his status as a detached observer. There is some evidence, however, that later on in life he did begin to admit that he often became emotionally important to his patients.
Freud’s patients tended to come to him with specific hysterical or obsessional symptoms. The modern patient is more likely to come with more general problems, to do with relationships or generally coping with life. This has led to further debate – is psychoanalysis just about removing tiresome neurotic symptoms, or is it really more about developing self-awareness? Many analysts since Freud have taken the latter view, in particular Jung, who developed his own ‘analytical psychology’.
Many people have criticized Freud, saying among other things that:
he places far too much emphasis upon sex
he claims to be scientific and yet his findings are often vague, inaccurate and based upon small samples of data
many of his ideas were not actually original
psychoanalysis doesn’t work – in fact, it may even make people worse
&
nbsp; the movement has tended to have a very closed-shop attitude, claiming that you cannot grasp the theories properly unless you are an analyst yourself
the theories are annoyingly self-fulfilling – any attack on them can be argued to be proof that they are true because it just shows that the attacker is suffering from repression.
Peter Fonagy, Professor of Psychoanalysis at University College London, has created a new department that aims to address this type of criticism. Proper scientific research is being carried out in order to test psychological therapies in a way that Freud never did. The results so far have been interesting and are tending to challenge some of the other more modern therapies. For example, they showed that if unpublished results from drug company research were taken into consideration, the risks of giving anti-depressants to teenagers usually outweighed the advantages. Another study showed that when the part of the brain responsible for our instinctive drives is damaged, dreaming stops. This might give weight to Freud’s theory that dreams express our deep, instinctive needs.
Whatever criticism it may receive, it seems that psychoanalysis in one form or another is here to stay. It is more popular than ever, especially in America. There are many books on the subject and the ideas involved are now much more accessible to the general public than they were previously. Some of the theories have been so completely absorbed into everyday thinking that its very language has become subtly incorporated into ordinary speech – we all use phrases such as ‘Freudian slip’, ‘death wish’ and ‘anally retentive’.
Freud would no doubt have been gratified by the continuing wide interest and debate that have stemmed from his revolutionary ideas. Without Freud, perhaps we would not yet have begun to understand such things as:
the importance of childhood experiences in the development of the adult personality
the existence of the unconscious and its huge influence over human behaviour
the way we all use defence mechanisms to protect our egos
the importance of dreams in understanding our true thoughts and feelings
the fact that talking about a problem often leads to helping to resolve it.
The last years of Freud’s life must have been difficult to endure. He had undergone 33 operations since the initial discovery of a malignant growth on his jaw and palate in 1923. When he was old and infirm, he had to flee his homeland for a foreign country. He finally died of cancer on 23 September 1939. His ashes were laid to rest at the crematorium at Golders Green in London, in one of his favourite Greek urns. A fitting end for a great thinker.
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THINGS TO REMEMBER
Freud emphasized three aspects of the therapy process: the free-association technique
transference and counter-transference
the analysis of dreams.
Little Hans, Rat Man and Wolf Man are some of Freud’s most famous case histories.
The psychoanalytical movement grew slowly from humble beginnings in Vienna to become a movement of international importance.
Right from the start there were arguments and disagreements within the group. Many people broke away, mainly because they disagreed with Freud’s emphasis on the importance of the sexual.
Carl Jung was one of those who broke away from Freud and developed his own system, called analytical psychology. (See Jung – The Key Ideas, by the same author.)
Many other influential psychologists and psychiatrists have been inspired by Freud and have developed his ideas further.
Psychoanalysis is still thriving today, although it has evolved into many different forms. Three major modern approaches are the psychodynamic, cognitive behavioural and humanistic approaches.
Psychoanalysis undoubtedly helps many people to run their lives more effectively: this is probably mainly because an analyst has time to sit and listen in a non-judgemental way.
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Glossary
abreaction The freeing of repressed emotions.
abstract Existing in thought rather than in solid matter.
affect An emotion attached to an idea.
amnesia A total or partial inability to remember.
aphasia A neurological disorder where the patient is either unable to recognize words, or unable to pronounce them.
bourgeois Middle-class, materialistic and conservative.
cathartic method A method of therapy involving the freeing of repressed emotions.
complex A related group of ideas that are usually repressed and may cause emotional problems and conflicts.
concrete Existing in a material form.
condensation Fusion of two or more ideas in a dream.
conscious mind The part of the mind that is aware of its actions and emotions.
conversion hysteria The transformation of repressions into physical symptoms.
defence mechanism An unconscious way of protecting the ego against undesirable affects.
denial Refusing to accept the reality of a situation.
determinist Someone who believes that all events follow a rigid pattern of cause and effect.
displacement The shifting of emotions attached to one idea onto a different idea.
dynamic model A simplified description of a system, emphasizing motives and drives.
dynamic psychology A method that emphasizes that there are motives and drives for behaviour.
ego The part of the psyche which reacts to external reality and which a person sees as the ‘self’.
Eros The life instinct: the basic source of all drives concerned with self-preservation and enjoyment.
erotogenic zone An area of the body where certain stimuli, especially rubbing, produce feelings of pleasure.
fixation Getting stuck at a particular stage in sexual development.
free-association A process where the client is given a word and then tells the analyst all the ideas that come to mind.
free-association technique A method used in psychoanalysis where the patient is encouraged to say whatever he or she feels, without censorship.
histology The branch of anatomy dealing with the structure of tissues.
homologous Fundamentally similar in structure and development.
hypnosis A state similar to sleep or deep relaxation, where the patient is still able to respond to the therapist and is open to suggestion.
hysteria A nervous disorder with varying symptoms.
id The unconscious part of the psyche that is concerned with inherited, instinctive impulses.
introjection Absorbing into oneself the characteristics of another person.
latency period The period of development when sexual activity is dormant.
latent content The part of a dream that is not consciously remembered before analysis.
libido Sexual drive.
manifest content The part of a dream that is consciously remembered.
mechanistic view Seeing a person as a machine whose behaviour is determined by physical or chemical causes.
monotheistic Adjective describing a religion whose doctrine holds that there is only one god.
neurology The branch of biology that studies the structure and functions of the nervous system.
neuropathology The study of diseases of the nervous system.
neurosis A minor nervous or mental disorder.
Oedipus complex The desire of the child to possess sexually the parent of the opposite sex, while excluding the parent of the same sex.
organic disease Disease that relates to particular body structures or functions.
overdetermined When more than one root cause is present.
parapraxis General term for a Freudian slip, e.g. a slip of the tongue, or forgetting someone’s name.
philosophy A system of learning that investigates the underlying nature and truth of knowledge and existence.
positivism A way of thinking that limits knowledge to that which is directly observable.
preconscious The region of the mind between conscious and u
nconscious, where material is stored away but readily accessible.
projection Attributing taboo urges or faults to someone else.
psyche The mind, soul, or spirit.
psychiatry The study and treatment of mental illnesses.
psychoanalysis A system of psychology and method of treating mental disorders, developed by Sigmund Freud.
psychology The scientific study of the mind and behaviour.
psychopathology The study of abnormal mental processes.
psychosis Severe mental disorder.
rationalization Finding an excuse for behaviour that is more acceptable to the ego than the real reason.
reaction formation Covering up an impulse by displaying the opposite behaviour.
reductionism Analysing complex things into their simple constituents.
regression Reverting back to an earlier behaviour or developmental stage.
repetition compulsion An inner drive that causes an individual to repeat actions.
repression The process of banishing unpleasant or undesirable feelings and experiences to the unconscious mind.
resistance A process that prevents unconscious ideas from being released.
sexual aim The sexual act that a person is driven towards.
sexual object A person or thing from which the sexual attraction comes.
sublimation An unconscious process by which libido is transferred to a non-sexual, socially acceptable or safe activity.
super-ego The part of the mind that acts like an ‘inner parent’, giving us a conscience and responding to social rules.
symbolization Using an object or idea to represent a different object or idea.