Psychoanalysis is a theoretical clinical branch that deals with explain the workings of the human mind, helping to treat mental disorders and neuroses. The object of study of psychoanalysis focuses on the relationship between unconscious desires and the behaviors and feelings experienced by people.
The theory of psychoanalysis, also known as "soul theory", was created by the Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud (1856 – 1939). According to Freud, a large part of the psychic processes of the human mind are in a state of unconsciousness, these being dominated by sexual desires.
All repressed desires, memories and instincts would be "stored" in people's unconscious and, through association methods, the psychoanalyst - professional who practices psychoanalysis - would be able to analyze and find the reasons for certain neuroses or the explanation of certain peculiar behaviors of his patients, by example.
Etymologically, the term psychoanalysis is a reference to the Greek psyche, which literally means “breath” or “breath”, but which has a more complex concept, related to modern ideas of what would be the spirit, ego and soul of people.
See also: the meaning of Psyche.
Psychoanalysis Theory
The basic principles of this theory developed by Freud would be summarized in the three main works published by neurologist: “Dream Interpretation” (1899), “Psychopathology of Everyday Life” (1904), and “Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality” (1905).
In short, Freud's study represents the so-called "general personality theory", which consists of a method of psychotherapy. In order to have a correct understanding of mental processes from the perspective of psychoanalysis, it is necessary to distinguish the three levels of consciousness of the human being:
Conscious: it is the state in which we know (are aware) of what we think, feel, speak and do. These are all ideas that individuals are aware of existing/thinking about.
Preconscious: it is the state of ideas that are unconscious, but which can become conscious again, if the individuals' attention is correctly directed towards them. Thoughts that are in this state, for example, can be perceived from dreams.
Unconscious: where all the repressed desires and ideas are kept, censored and inaccessible to the conscious state, but which end up affecting the behavior and feelings of individuals.
Thus, from observation, the psychoanalyst is able to identify traces of trauma, desires or ideas that have repressed to the patient's unconscious and that, as a consequence, cause behavioral disturbances and neuroses.
Unconsciousness Formation
Still according to Freud's Theory of Psychoanalysis, the human unconscious is subdivided into three elements that help balance and regulate the individual's behavior.
id: where instincts and drives related to pleasure are found, such as unconsciously carnal, material and sexual desires, for example.
ego: characterizes the personality of each individual, acting as the balance of the Id (principles of unconscious pleasures) and the superego (the moral rules that limit the extravagance of the Id).
Super ego: monitors the human mind, keeping it always alert to moral principles, preventing exaggerated deviations from occurring towards the Id.
Psychosexual Development
One of the most controversial points in Freud's study is the fact that the psychoanalyst affirms that the personality of individuals is related to the individual's sexual development during the first years of life.
For Freudian psychoanalysis, the human being goes through five stages to complete your psycho-sexual process, if there is any problem in the development of one of these phases, the result may appear in the form of future disturbances or neurosis, during adult life.
- Oral phase: during the first year of life, the baby feels pleasure by stimulating his mouth, either through a pacifier or by taking other objects towards his lips. If this phase is not correctly passed, according to Freud's theory, the person can develop obsessions, such as gluttony, talking too much and so on.
- anal phase: between the second and third year of life, the child is satisfied with the expulsion or retention of his feces. The exaggerated fixation on organization and cleanliness can be one of the consequences for the bad development of this sentence.
- phallic phase: between the fourth and fifth year of life, when the child discovers its sex and feels pleasure in handling its sexual organ. Freud also explains that it is at this stage that the so-called "Oedipus complex".
Learn more about the meaning of Oedipus complex.
- Latency phase: from the fifth to the twelfth year of life, when there is the construction of logical thinking and suppression of sexual impulses, making the individual have more control over his psychic life.
- Genital stage: from the twelfth year of life onwards, when the individual has already entered adolescence, changing interest from himself to that of other people or things around him. At this stage, connections and desires for other people begin, for social and human activities, for example.
Lacanian Psychoanalysis
It is seen as the “improvement” of the psychoanalytic method developed by Freud. Lacanian psychoanalysis was created by Jacques Lacan (1901 – 1981), a French psychoanalyst who believed that his psychoanalytic model was not a science but a “school”, where the patient is directed to identify the core of his being.
Contrary to post-Freudian psychoanalysts, Lacan's Psychoanalysis defended a “return to Freud”, using his texts and original ideas to formulate an updated rereading.
Unlike the Freudian bases, concentrated on knowledge of physics and biology, Lacanism is mainly focused on the structure of language and logic.
Psychoanalysis and Psychology
Psychoanalysis acts completely independently in psychology, the latter being a science responsible for studying mental processes and human behavior.
Psychoanalysis, on the other hand, consists of a specific method of therapeutic study (psychotherapy), which focuses on interpretation of the processes of the psyche at the level of the human unconscious, with the intention of treating mental disorders or neuroses, for example.
Learn more about psychology and Psychoanalyst.
The professional who graduates in psychology can theoretically specialize in different methods of therapeutic approach, such as psychoanalysis itself, the behaviorism and the gestalt.
See also: the meaning of behaviorism and of the gestalt.