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explain how freud’s treatment of psychological disorders led to his study of the unconscious mind.

by Ransom Grady Published 2 years ago Updated 2 years ago

Dr. Breuer found that her symptoms abated when he helped her recover memories of traumatic experiences that she had repressed, or hidden from her conscious mind. This case sparked Freud’s interest in the unconscious mind and spurred the development of some of his most influential ideas. Models of the Mind

In treating patients whose disorders had no clear physical explanation, Freud concluded that these problems reflected unacceptable thoughts and feelings, hidden away in the unconscious mind. To explore this hidden part of a patient's mind, Freud used free association and dream analysis.

Full Answer

Why did Freud study the unconscious mind?

Dr. Breuer found that her symptoms abated when he helped her recover memories of traumatic experiences that she had repressed, or hidden from her conscious mind. This case sparked Freud’s interest in the unconscious mind and spurred the development of some of his most influential ideas.

How did Sigmund Freud's treatment of psychological disorders lead to his view?

How did Sigmund Freud's treatment of psychological disorders lead to his view of the unconscious mind? In treating patients whose disorders had no clear physical explanation, Freud concluded that these problems reflected unacceptable thoughts and feelings, hidden away in the unconscious mind.

How did Freud develop his theory?

The term psychoanalysis is used to refer to many aspects of Freud’s work and research, including Freudian therapy and the research methodology he used to develop his theories. Freud relied heavily upon his observations and case studies of his patients when he formed his theory of personality development.

What is the contemporary view of Freud's psychodynamic theory?

Most contemporary psychodynamic theorists and therapists reject Freud's emphasis on sexual motivation. They stress, with support from modern research findings, the view that much of our mental life is unconscious, and they believe that our childhood experiences influence our adult personality and attachment patterns.

What did Freud think initially would unlock the door to the unconscious?

Initially, he thought hypnosis might unlock the door to the unconscious. However, recognizing patients' uneven capacity for hypnosis, Freud turned to free association, which he believed pro- duced a chain of thoughts in the patient's unconscious.

How did Freud believe people defended against anxiety?

How did Freud think people defended themselves against anxiety? For Freud, anxiety was the product of tensions between the demands of the id and superego. The ego copes by using unconscious defense mechanisms, such as repression, which he viewed as the basic mechanism underlying and enabling all the others.

What is the most important contribution of Freud's theory to contemporary psychology quizlet?

One of Freud's most important contributions is the idea that the unconscious mind holds the key to understanding conscious thoughts and behavior, and the role that dreams play in unlocking what is hidden or repressed beneath conscious awareness.

How has modern research developed our understanding of the unconscious?

How has modern research developed our understanding of the unconscious? current research confirms that we dont have full access to all that goes on in our mind, but the current view of the unconscious is not that of a hidden storehouse filled with repressed feelings and thoughts.

What is the best way to describe Freud's approach to psychology?

Freudian theory suggests that as children develop, they progress through a series of psychosexual stages. At each stage, the libido's pleasure-seeking energy is focused on a different part of the body. The oral stage: The libidinal energies are focused on the mouth.

What is Freud's defense mechanisms?

Anna Freud defined defense mechanisms as "unconscious resources used by the ego" to decrease internal stress ultimately. Patients often devise these unconscious mechanisms to decrease conflict within themselves, specifically between the superego and id.

What is the Biopsychological approach to psychological disorders?

The biopsychosocial approach systematically considers biological, psychological, and social factors and their complex interactions in understanding health, illness, and health care delivery.

What big ideas have survived from Freud's psychoanalytic theory in what ways has Freud's theory been criticized?

What are three big ideas that have survived from Freud's work in psychoanalytic theory? What are three ways in which Freud's work has been criticized? Freud first drew attention to (1) the importance of childhood experiences, (2) the existence of the unconscious mind, and (3) our self-protective defense mechanisms.

What are the three components of Freud's psychodynamic theory of personality and on what principle does each component operate?

Freud proposed that the mind is divided into three components: id, ego, and superego, and that the interactions and conflicts among the components create personality (Freud, 1923/1949). According to Freudian theory, the id is the component of personality that forms the basis of our most primitive impulses.

What is Freud's theory of the unconscious?

According to Freud (1915), the unconscious mind is the primary source of human behavior. Like an iceberg, the most important part of the mind is the part you cannot see. Our feelings, motives and decisions are actually powerfully influenced by our past experiences, and stored in the unconscious.

Who spurred Freud's interest in the unconscious mind?

Dr. Breuer found that her symptoms abated when he helped her recover memories of traumatic experiences that she had repressed, or hidden from her conscious mind. This case sparked Freud's interest in the unconscious mind and spurred the development of some of his most influential ideas.

Which approach which began with Freud sees the unconscious mind and motives as more powerful than conscious awareness?

Additionally, this view sees the unconscious mind and motives as much more powerful than the conscious awareness. Psychoanalysis traditionally used dream interpretation to uncover the unconscious thoughts, feelings, and impulses as a main form of treatment of neurosis and mental illness.

What is the stage of development that Freud did not mention?

Lacan proposed that there is an important stage of development not covered by Freud called the “mirror stage.” This aptly named stage is initiated when infants look into a mirror at their own image. Most infants become fascinated with the image they see in the mirror, and may even try to interact with it.

Why did Freud believe that the mind is in constant conflict?

Freud believed these three parts of the mind are in constant conflict because each part has a different primary goal. Sometimes, when the conflict is too much for a person to handle, his or her ego may engage in one or many defense mechanisms to protect the individual.

What is the difference between psychodynamic theory and psychoanalytic theory?

Psychodynamic theory and psychoanalytic theory have quite a bit in common; in fact, psychoanalytic theory is a sub-theory of psychodynamic theory. “Psychodynamic” refers to all psychological theories of human functioning and personality and can be traced back to Freud’s original formulation of psychoanalysis.

What is psychoanalytic theory?

Psychoanalysis is a type of therapy that aims to release pent-up or repressed emotions and memories in or to lead the client to catharsis, or hea ling (McLeod, 2014).

How often does psychotherapy take place?

Psychotherapy can be undertaken with a variety of length and duration combinations, from once a month to several times a week. On the other hand, psychoanalysis is almost always applied in an intensive manner, often requiring three to five sessions a week for several years (Lee, 2010).

What did Freud believe about the ego?

Freud hypothesized that an individual must successfully complete each stage to become a psychologically healthy adult with a fully formed ego and superego. Otherwise, individuals may become stuck or “fixated” in a particular stage, causing emotional and behavioral problems in adulthood (McLeod, 2013).

How many stages of development did Freud propose?

Freud proposed that children develop in five distinct stages, each focused on a different source of pleasure: First Stage: Oral—the child seeks pleasure from the mouth (e.g., sucking); Second Stage: Anal—the child seeks pleasure from the anus (e.g., withholding and expelling feces);

What did Freud's study of the unconscious mind show?

Define personality, and explain how Freud's treatment of psychological disorders led to his study of the unconscious mind. Psychologists consider personality to be an individual's characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting. In his private practice, Freud found that nervous disorders often made no neurological sense.

What did Freud believe about the unconscious?

However, recognizing patients' uneven capacity for hypnosis, Freud turned to free association, which he believed pro- duced a chain of thoughts in the patient's unconscious. He called the process (as well as his theory of personality) psychoanalysis. Freud believed the mind is mostly hidden.

What is the final complaint of humanistic psychology?

A final complaint is that humanistic psychology fails to appreciate the reality of our human capacity for evil. Its naive optimism may lead to apathy about major social problems. Discuss psychologists' interests in personality types, and describe research efforts to identify fundamental personality traits.

What did Freud find?

In his private practice, Freud found that nervous disorders often made no neurological sense. Piecing together his patients' accounts of their lives, he concluded that their disorders had psycho- logical causes. His effort to understand these causes led to his "discovery" of the unconscious.

What stage of sexuality did Freud believe in?

Some psychoanalysts in Freud's era believed that girls experienced a parallel Electra com- plex. The latency stage (6 years to puberty), in which sexuality is dormant, gives way to the genital stage (puberty on) as sexual interests mature.

What are Freud's psychosexual stages?

Freud maintained that children pass through a series of psychosexual stages during which the id's pleasure-seeking energies focus on distinct pleasure-sensitive areas of the body called erogenous zones. During the oral stage (0-18 months), ...

What is Freud's theory of personality?

Terms in this set (17) Define personality, and explain how Freud's treatment of psychological disorders led to his study of the unconscious mind. Psychologists consider personality to be an individual's characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting. In his private practice, Freud found that nervous disorders often made no neurological ...

What is the Unconscious Mind?

Sigmund Freud established the unconscious mind as the store of feelings, urges, memories, and thoughts, outside a person's conscious realization. While Freud developed a theory seeking to explain the unconscious mind, he did not come up with the idea of the unconscious mind. Freud furthered his studies to the theory of ego, id, and superego.

Psychology of the Unconscious

The psychology of the unconscious was discussed at length by Freud. According to Freud, the unconscious is a potent part of the human mind. It is the source of human behavior and acts as a reservoir for human thoughts and memories. Freud established that humans are fully aware of what happens in their conscious minds.

What is Freud's belief in unconscious thoughts?

These misstatements are believed to reveal underlying, unconscious thoughts or feelings. Freud believed that while the unconscious mind is largely inaccessible, the contents can sometimes bubble up unexpectedly, such as in dreams or slips of the tongue.

What is Freud's theory of psychoanalysis?

The term psychoanalysis is used to refer to many aspects of Freud’s work and research, including Freudian therapy and the research methodology he used to develop his theories. Freud relied heavily upon his observations and case studies of his patients when he formed his theory of personality development.

What did Freud believe about the slip?

While most of us might believe this to be a simple error, Freud believed that the slip showed the sudden intrusion of the unconscious mind into the conscious mind, often due to unresolved or repressed feelings.

What is unconscious in psychology?

The unconscious contains contents that are unacceptable or unpleasant, such as feelings of pain, anxiety, or conflict. Freud likened the three levels of mind to an iceberg. The top of the iceberg that you can see above the water represents the conscious mind. The part of the iceberg that is submerged below the water, but is still visible, ...

What are Freud's three levels of consciousness?

Freud's Three Levels of Mind. Unconscious Thoughts. The Preconscious Mind. The famed psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud believed that behavior and personality were derived from the constant and unique interaction of conflicting psychological forces that operate at three different levels of awareness: the preconscious, conscious, and unconscious.

How do conscious and unconscious minds operate?

One way to understand how the conscious and unconscious minds operate is to look at what is known as a slip of the tongue. Many of us have experienced what is commonly referred to as a Freudian slip at some point or another. These misstatements are believed to reveal underlying, unconscious thoughts or feelings.

What is the role of the preconscious mind?

Role of the Preconscious Mind. The contents of the conscious mind include all of the things that you are actively aware of. The closely related preconscious mind contains all of the things that you could potentially pull into conscious awareness.

What did Freud conclude about unconscious thoughts?

In treating patients whose disorders had no clear physical explanation, Freud concluded that these problems reflected unacceptable thoughts and feelings, hidden away in the unconscious mind. To explore this hidden part of a patient's mind, Freud used free association and dream analysis. Click again to see term 👆.

What is Freud's view of the unconscious?

But his concept of repression, and his view of the unconscious as a collection of repressed and unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memories, cannot survive scientific scrutiny. Freud offered after-the-fact explanations, which are hard to test scientifically.

What did Freud draw attention to?

They give Freud credit for drawing attention to the vast unconscious, to the struggle to cope with our sexuality, to the conflict between biological impulses and social restraints, and for some forms of defense mechanisms (false consensus effect/projection; reaction formation) and unconscious terror-management defenses.

What do trait theorists see in personality?

Trait theorists see personality as a stable and enduring pattern of behavior. They describe our differences rather than trying to explain them. Using factor analysis, they identify clusters of behavior tendencies that occur together. Genetic predispositions influence many traits.

What do psychologists believe about our childhood experiences?

They stress, with support from modern research findings, the view that much of our mental life is unconscious, and they believe that our childhood experiences influence our adult personality and attachment patterns. Many also believe that our species' shared evolutionary history shaped some universal predispositions.

What is Freud's anxiety?

For Freud, anxiety was the product of tensions between the demands of the id and superego. The ego copes by using unconscious defense mechanisms, such as repression, which he viewed as the basic mechanism underlying and enabling all the others.

Who proposed the social cognitive perspective?

Albert Bandura first proposed the social-cognitive perspective, which emphasizes the interaction of our traits with our situations. Social-cognitive researchers apply principles of learning, cognition, and social behavior to personality.

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