Freuds Psychosexual Development - Essay Example

Treatment Paper on Freud’s Psychosexual Development Table of Contents I. A Biographical Discussion of Freud’s Psychosexual Development …. 3 II. Underlying Assumptions and Theory on Freud’s Therapy ..................... 4 III. Description of the Treatment Techniques ………………………..…….. 6 IV. Goals Associated with the Therapy ……………………………………… 7 VI. Discussion ………………………………………………………………….. 7 V. Conclusion ……………………………………………………………..….. 8 References …………………………………………………………………………10 - 11 A Biographical Discussion of Freud’s Psychosexual Development Sigmund Freud, an Australian neurologist and psychiatrist, was born in Moravia back in May 6, 1856. (Gresser, 1994: 8) During his early years in school, Freud was known to be one of the most outstanding students who graduated with honors. After high school, Freud decided to establish his career by working as neurological researcher before he became a psychologist. (Gresser, 1994: 11) As a medical student, Freud learnt a little about psychoanalysis. (Freud, 1996: 189) Eventually, he expanded his knowledge on psychoanalysis by going through extensive research studies and maintaining an active participation in conferences conducted in different universities. According to Freud (1996: 128), good treatments are the ones that are scientifically proven to be effective in treating psychological or mental diseases. In line with the importance of scientific-based psychoanalysis as well as the personal interaction with other people, Freud developed the psychoanalytic theory by applying his knowledge on physiology and neurology. This theory contributed a lot in the study of psychoanalysis. (Freud, 1996: 187) Eventually, Freud published the book entitled ‘The Interpretation of Dreams’ wherein the author outlines the theory of mind in 1899. The author also published ‘The Psychopathology of Everyday Life as well as the ‘Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality’. Although psychoanalysis is considered as a better quality treatment by a lot of psychoanalysts in treating mental disorders and the unconscious mental process, there is a growing conflict with regards to the point-of-views of psychoanalysis and psychiatry in terms of the importance of emotions in the overall well-being of a person. Underlying Assumptions and Theory on Freud’s Therapy Among the most commonly known theory of Freud includes the study of the unconscious mind and defense mechanism aside from the typical concept of id, ego, and super ego. The study of the unconscious mind; which refers to the part of a person’s life wherein he / she is unaware of; is normally used in the study of psychiatry. The theory behind id, ego and super ego contributes a lot in understanding the rationale behind the human defense or adaptive mechanisms. Basically, the id which resides in the human unconscious mind operates the pleasure principle that sends immediate desire for pleasure and gratification to the brain; whereas the ego operates the reality principle as well as being responsible in balancing the gratification demands of the id in relation to the limitations of both the social and physical circumstances. (Thomas, 2001) The super ego is referring to one’s own conscience and the ego idea. It is the conscience that automatically reminds a person of the negative actions that are not universally acceptable in the culture of our society. In other words, the super ego maintains a standard of perfection in each individual. (Green & Piel, 2002: 49) The process in which the ego controls the id based on the socially acceptable manner is called the defense mechanism. In the absence of the said mechanism, it will be very hard to control the impulses coming from the id. For example: It is hard for a person without defense mechanism to control his/her own sexual desire. As a result, there is a higher possibility that this person will engage into sexual activities at a very young age. Based on Freud’s theory of psychosexual development, the personality of a person develops in five overlapping stages from the time of birth up to adulthood stage. The first three stages of human development are known as the oral – since birth up to 1-1/2 years old; anal – 1-1/2 to 3 years old; and the phallic – between 4 to 6 years old are considered as the ‘pregenital stages’ whereas the latency – from 6 years old to puberty; and Genital – from puberty onwards are the ‘genital stages’ in life. (Murray & Zentner, 2001: 238) According to Freud, each individual should achieve a satisfactory progression in each stage in order to prevent stagnation in the psychosexual developmental growth of a person. For instance, a baby should experience pleasure and satisfaction in feeding and toilet training during the infant-stage development in order to improve the child’s self-control. Upon having a satisfying experience during the oral and anal stages, the child could eventually develop into phallic stage wherein the child will become aware of his/her own genitals and curiosity on sexual topics. It is also at this stage wherein the child will have an Oedipus1 and Electra2 complex. (Murray & Zentner, 2001: 238) Ideally, each individual progresses through the tasks of each stage as he / she learns to balance his / her own id, ego and super ego. In case a problem arises in each of the five stages, it is expected that a person could experience a delay or prolonged progression throughout his / her own psychosexual development. In line with strengthening the functioning of ego within a person, Freud’s psychoanalysis, the theory of erotic transference and love as well as the interpersonal therapy can be used in treating psychosexual developmental problems. (Blackwell Publishing, n.d.: 344) Description of the Treatment Techniques It is possible for a person to unconsciously change topic or forget about something as a sign of resistance on recalling painful events in life. In order to uncover these unconscious events, Freud suggests that recalling dreams could be a symbolic of a significant person or situation that has greatly affected the dreamer or the use of positive transference-charged relationship with the patients. (Blackwell Publishing, n.d.: 344) Physical and emotional gestures of love such as kissing, hugging or touching begins at a very early stage in our life. Eventually, the love between parent-and-child develops into a romantic love with another person outside the family circle. Basically, the phenomenon behind the physical and emotional attraction between a man and a woman could develop into a close relationship between the patient(s) and a psychiatrist. In the process, it is easier for the therapist to develop and establish interpersonal relationship as well as an open communication with his / her patient. By being able to encourage the patient to openly talk about their personal problems, the therapist could easily find a solution behind the main cause of psychological and emotional problems. In the absence of establishing a positive transference relationship between the patients and the therapists, there is a higher possibility that the treatment result will be neutral. This can result to further frustration in some patients who have long time been searching for an effective solution to their problems. Goals Associated with the Therapy One of the main goals of psychoanalysis that was developed by Freud is to help each individual to have a better insight about their unconscious or maladaptive behavior in relation to their emotions or suppressed feelings in order to enable them to develop and strengthen their ego more than the id or even the superego. (Blackwell Publishing, n.d.: 343 - 344) In the process of improving the functioning of the ego, a person could develop his/her own psychosexual maturity. In other words, the main concern of Freud is to remove the barriers that blocks the psychosexual development in each individual. By simply removing the obstacles that hinders the developmental growth of a person, it will be easier to influence the patient into the process of reconstruction as well as further development. Discussion Sometimes our negative feelings such as anxiety, anger, conflict and pain are usually stored in our unconscious mind as we try to forget about our negative experiences in life. However, most of us fail to acknowledge that these negative feelings and thoughts are powerful enough to unconsciously influence our current and future actions as well as decisions in life. In line with Freud’s theory behind the main cause of psychosexual developmental problems, psychiatrists and therapists should be aware that one of the best ways to effectively address the root cause of most psychological and emotional problems can be addressed by focusing on the patients’ unconscious mind. By sincerely listening to the patients’ story, psychiatrists can determine the factors that have a significant impact over the patients’ psychosexual development. Conclusion Freud explains the theory behind psychosexual development using the five stages of development. Failure to enable a child to have a good experience in each developmental stage could develop as a barrier in a person’s psychosexual maturity. The concept behind Freud’s proposed treatment is to remove the main cause of the problem prior to the application of the reconstruction or a problem solution. Enabling each therapist to develop an open communication with the patients could result to hastening the each patient’s recovery period. Among Freud’s proposed treatment includes the use of dreams; the application of recollection, repetition, and working through; interpersonal relationship; as well as taking advantage of the transference-charged working relationship between the therapist and patients. Considering that there is more than one treatment possible treatment procedure that could cure psychosexual disorders, there is simply no right or wrong in selecting the best treatment method. Instead, psychiatrist should be able to determine which among these methods suites the need of each patient. In line with the benefits of building an interpersonal relationship with the patients, the study of Weissman and Markowitz (1994) reveals that the application of therapy methods that deals with the establishment of interpersonal relationships is very effective in treating negative emotions such as depression. Minimizing the negative feelings of the patients will make it easier for them to participate with the treatment procedures. *** End *** Bibliography: Blackwell Publishing. (n.d.). Retrieved March 6, 2008, from Intropsych: Chapter 16 - Therapy: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/intropsych/pdf/chapter16.pdf Freud, S. (1996). Sobre O Ensino da Psicanálise Nas Universidades (1919 [1918]). ESB, Vol. XVII (1917 - 1919). Rio de Janeiro: Imago. Gresser, M. (1994). Dual Allegiance: Freud as a Modern Jew. New York: State University of New York Press. Kozier B., Erb G., Berman A., and Snyder S. (2004) ‘Fundamentals of Nursing’ Upper Saddle River, New Jersey. Peason, Prentice Hall. References: Green, M., & Piel, J. (2002). Theories of Human Development. A Comparative Approach. In Kozier B. et al. (eds) ‘Fundamentals of Nursing’ Peason, Prentice Hall. Murray, R., & Zentner, J. (2001). Health Promotion Strategies Through the Life Span, 7th Edition. In Kozier B. et al. (eds) ‘Fundamentals of Nursing’ Peason, Prentice Hall. Thomas, R. (2001). Recent Theories of Human Development. In Kozier B. et al. (eds) ‘Fundamentals of Nursing’ Peason, Prentice Hall. Weissman, M., & Markowitz, J. (1994). Interpersonal Psychotherapy: Current Status. In Blackwell Publishing. (n.d.). Retrieved March 6, 2008, from Intropsych: Chapter 16 - Therapy: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/intropsych/pdf/chapter16.pdf Read More