Psychoanalytic Approaches to Personality :: Psychoanalysis Psychology Freud essays

The area of psychology with perhaps the most controversial history, due to its completelacking of empirical evidence, psychoanalysis, has its origins in the teachings of SigmundFreud. Psychoanalysis is a form of therapy developed by Freud in the early 1900s,involving intense examinations into ones childhood, thought to be the origins of mostpsychopathology which surfaced during adulthood. Ideas round the subconscious, whichsaw the human race mind as being in continuous internal conflict with itself, and theories that allactions are symbolic, for in that location are no accidents, were in like manner major themes of thepsychoanalytic approach. Successful therapy was a long-term and costly process, whichmost people during that time, with the exception of the wealthy, could not afford.Sigmund Freuds main contribution to this new heavens of studying personality was in thearea of the understanding the unconscious, an aspect of the mind to which, he claimed, wedid not have ready acce ss to, but was the source of our actions and behavior. Freud believedthe human mind was divided into three parts the id, ego, and super-ego. The id is mans(generic meaning, referring to both sexes) instinctual, primitive, and hedonistic urges forpure pleasure, which the id was bent on experiencing, without regard to any consequences. The super-ego is mans senses of morality, first brought on by experiences with authoritativefigures and parents, which basically hold ideas of what is right and wrong, and is almost adirect paradox to the id. The ego, which can be seen as the intercessor between the id and thesuper-ego, takes into account the activities of the external world, and attempts to invokesome balance among all three parts of the mind, with failure resulting in neurosis of some agreeable.Freuds grouch III provides, what I believe to be another important theory inunderstanding personality from this perspective, stemming from his notion of parapraxes, orunintentional acts that are actually unconsciously intentional. Such is the case with thefamiliar Freudian slip, where something is said which is actually a distortion or paradox ofwhat is actually meant. This goes along with what are called symbolic acts, which areactions we take that, although we insist they have no meaning, or were accidental in nature,are actually intentional. For example, the act of forgetting is, according to Freud, a kind ofintentional defense mechanism, that we unconsciously use to repress memories, or put thingsout of our minds. Although much of Freuds work has been highly criticized by many of his detractors,there are certain aspects of his theories which I find quite important to the study of