The Concepts of Trauma and Memory Central to the Historical Development of Psychoanalytic Ideas - Essay Example

In what ways are the concepts of trauma and memory central to the historical development of psychoanalytic ideas? There are many psychoanalytic models which focus on inner conflicts. Freud is considered to be the father of psychoanalysis. A large body of research has resulted due to frenetic exploration of these ideas by critics and psychologists around the globe. Many interesting assumptions have been introduced as a result of this exploration. One famous assumption is that for development of many popular psychoanalytic ideas, the concepts of trauma and memory play a central role. This means that trauma and memory are two very influential elements which underpin the efforts of myriad popular theorists to develop or advance their psychoanalytic concepts. According to psychoanalytic theory, trauma is any event which is so intense that the subject is unable to reasonably respond to it. Such an event is defined by “the upheaval and long-lasting effects that it brings about in the psychical organization” (LaPlanche & Pontalis 1973, p. 465). A psychoanalyst would describe memories as conscious representations of the past. This essay focuses on explaining how the concepts of trauma and memory can be considered central to development of psychoanalytic ideas. Following discussion will include different psychoanalytic theories to scrutinize the extent to which this assumption can be considered true. It will be explored how trauma and memory are involved in shaping these theories and how consumed the theorists were by these ideas. Each psychoanalytic theory will be separately tied to the main idea of this essay and in the end, it will be stated if the evidence sufficiently proves the main idea or not. Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic perspective focuses on the nature of effects produced by unconscious thoughts and childhood experiences on one’s personality. It is easy to appreciate that this perspective of great psychological importance stems from the concept of memory. According to Freud, myriad childhood experiences in early family life can produce repercussions. They can also play a momentous role in structuring a road-map for the future (Cherry 2013). His positive impression of women and the way he acknowledges their beauty and intelligence in his psychoanalytic work stems from one very important early experience. For example, Freud’s biological mother was several years younger than his father and when once he co-incidentally saw his mother nude as a child, deep impressions of attraction and love were casted on his mind. It was because of this experience that he later unconsciously used the theme of love to form the bedrock of his theories (Friedman & Schustack 2009, p. 70). This is a very powerful example which proves the thought that the concepts of trauma and memory play a central role in the historical development of psychoanalytic ideas. Frued stresses on the important of memories by conveying this message that “children are shaped by their social environments” (Shaffer 2009, p. 45). All other psychoanalytic theories are said to have taken Freud’s lead (Bretherton 1992, p. 759) which suggests that the concepts of trauma and memory also form the bedrock of their ideas. Freudian theories of repression and memory enhance our concept of trauma and memory. This theory erupts from Freud’s early clinical experiences. Freud observed that his patients of hysteria were unable to remember that they had ever undergone sexual abuse as children because unconsciously, they had strictly repressed those painful memories as a way to survive. These patients remained anxious and complained of viewing troublesome image which were actually memories reminiscent of the past. Such memories are earlier defined as conscious representations of the past from a psychoanalytical perspective. This concept of repressed memories motivated Freud to facilitate his “patients’ recall of forgotten traumatic incidents, thereby relieving the patients’ symptoms” (Freud 1910, pp. 22–23). This is the history of the repression theory and which clearly shows how this theory is related to concepts of trauma and memory. However, this theory has also faced criticism on grounds that this is not based on a really concrete story. It is also claimed that this theory originates “not only from the impression created by Freud’s contemporary accounts, but also from misleading retrospective reports in his general expositions” (Esterson 2003). John Bowlby is known as an influential child psychiatrist and psychoanalyst. He is also the first attachment theorist. The idea promoted by attachment theory is that the kind of interactions or attachments a person has as a child leave a lasting impression on the mind and hold powerful potential to shape his/her behaviors as an adult (Cherry 2013). When there are not good “cumulative experiences with other people” (McCormack, Hudson & Ward 2002), a child is bound to develop a distorted sense of attachment or psychological connectedness. This is commonly seen in case of sex offenders. Several case studies of such offenders show that trauma in childhood plays a potential role in negative development. The case study presented by Wilcox, Foss, and Donathy (2005) based on the behavioral analysis of a high-profile sex offender is one example. An exploration of origins or historical development of this attachment theory by John Bowlby shows that it is influenced by Freud and other notable psychoanalytic thinkers. It also suggests that its roots are embedded in the concept of trauma. This suggests that the concept of trauma is central to the historical development of Bowlby’s psychoanalytic idea. Research also suggests in accordance with Bowlby’s beliefs that offenders’ parent-child attachment relationships are mostly affectionless (McKillop et al. 2012, p. 591). For example, in the case study of Wilcox et al., Mr. Z who is a sex offender, had a very rough childhood full of trauma. Such traumatic experiences and lack of secure attachments construct a roadmap for very consequential isolation (Grotpeter & Elliott 2002) which in later life fills a person with extreme aggressiveness as a way of getting even with others (Wilcox et al. 2005, p. 309). This proves that such ideas of trauma and childhood memories are central to the historical development of many popular psychoanalytic ideas. The theory of intimacy deficits is another psychoanalytic idea which is also based on the foundation of trauma and memory. The main idea behind development of this theory is that traumatic childhood experiences often negatively interfere with a person’s ability of self-analysis. This is why such unfortunate people tend to blame certain external factors to compensate for dark and acutely distressing loneliness which resides inside them. A large body of research supports the relationship between early interpersonal experiences and intimacy deficits (Ward et al. 1995). For example, Marshall is popular for proving on basis of a large body of research evidence how intimacy deficits are linked to sexually aggressive behaviours. The concepts of trauma and memory form the backbone of this theory also. The conclusions drawn by Marshall concentrate on the active role played by childhood intimacy issues in driving a person toward practical implementation of mutilated fantasies. Criminals often recount memories of how many offenses they committed over time stemmed from some traumatic relationship. By focusing on these roots of trauma and memory, intimacy theorists developed this idea that criminals are substantially deficient in intimacy which subjects them to social isolation (Marshall 1989, p. 491). Object relations theory is another theory which enumerates the central role of trauma and memory in its development. This theory relates the ups and downs of relationships to internal representations. Human relationships are profoundly affected by the way these internal representations are organized. These representations relate to the way we think and feel. Whenever there are object relations problems, there is problem in the way a person perceives emotional connection, empathy, stability, and sense of security. Melanie Klein is often credited with the concept of inner representations who claimed that behavioural development is essentially dependent on “the relationships between young child and the objects in its environment” (Bell 2011). It was Freud actually who first mentioned this concept in his drive theory (Greenberg 1983, p. 3). Problems with identity and self are faced by people when they are not able to feel warmth, empathy, trust, and closeness. This inability to experience warm-ethics usually occurs when there is no constancy of parental figures in childhood. This is why a high degree of stress is laid by object relations theorists on constancy of parental figures especially when a child displays destructive behaviour to enhance his/her ability to acquire control. As suggested earlier in case of Bowlby’s attachment theory, absence of kind parents leaves a negative imprint on a child’s mind eventually rendering him/her unable to feel empathy and kindness for others. This proves that like other psychoanalytic theories, object relations theory is also developed by deriving information from concepts of trauma and memory. Erik Erikson introduced his eight-stage theory of human development to emphasize the importance of good parenting. Like other psychoanalysts who built their concepts on the foundation of memory and trauma, Erikson also stressed that for good socio-emotional development in childhood, warm, responsive, and sensitive parenting should be considered absolutely essential. Social interaction shapes human personality and behaviour (Neeraja 2008, p. 192). If there is good parenting, then it translates into a healthy social interaction, which ensures healthy personality development in children. It is increasingly likely for those children to develop a warped sense of emotional closeness who are unfortunate enough to have warm and responsible parents. This absence makes up for traumatic toddlerhood and painful memories. A healthy outcome in adulthood depends increasingly on the mother’s behaviour toward a person in childhood. Even if challenges arrive in the form of anxiety and distress displayed by a child, they can be resolved significantly by warm and sympathetic caregiving both at home and nursery. Modelling good behaviour is very important in this context. When parents or teachers model appropriate behaviour as implied by Erikson’s theory, children acquire this attribute from them and try to imitate them. Social relationships can create good and bad memories. Erikson stressed that social relationships influence personality development not only in childhood, but throughout life (Cherry 2014). Concluding, all psychoanalytic models are used to explain human behaviour of different kinds. They seek to help people understand why people, though same on the surface, tend to act in different ways practically. Drawing on concepts from trauma and memory, Freud and following psychoanalysts formulated their critically acclaimed theories. This is how they managed to revolutionize our thinking about how consequential childhood memories and any kind of trauma can be in adulthood. Also, the importance of mother-child bond is stressed by all psychoanalysts because it is a very important bond. It can disrupt through separation which is a trauma or it can leave good impression on a mind by way of happy memories. Early experiences greatly influence the structural growth of a developing person. This is why mother-child bond is considered so critically important by psychiatrists that a research study of 1965 claimed that “a baby alone does not exist” (Winnicott cited in Malekpour 2007, p. 81). The concept of our personal identity is achieved through the early child-parent relationship. References: Bell, N 2011, The ideas of Melanie Klein and Object Relations Theory, viewed 16 May 2014, Bretherton, I 1992, ‘THE ORIGINS OF ATTACHMENT THEORY: JOHN BOWLBY AND MARY AINSWORTH’, Developmental Psychology, vol. 28, pp. 759-775. Cherry, K 2013, Attachment Theory: The Importance of Early Emotional Bonds, viewed 16 May 2014, Cherry, K 2014, Personality Development, viewed 16 May 2014, Freud, S 1910, ‘Five lectures on psychoanalysis’, Standard Edition, vol. 11, pp. 9–55. Friedman, HS & Schustack, MW 2009, Personality: Classic Theories and Modern Research, 4th ed, Allyn & Bacon, Inc. Greenberg, J 1983, Object Relations in Psychoanalytic Theory, Harvard University Press. Grotpeter, JK & Elliott, DS 2002, Violent Sexual Offending, viewed 16 May 2014, Esterson, A 2003, Freud’s Theories of Repression and Memory, viewed 18 May 2014, Laplanche, J & Pontalis, JB 1973, The Language of Psycho-Analysis, Tr. Donald Nicholson-Smith, Norton, New York. Marshall, WL 1989, ‘Intimacy, loneliness and sexual offenders’, Behaviour, Research and Therapy, vol. 27, no. 5, pp. 491-503. McCormack, J, Hudson, SM & Ward, T 2002, ‘Sexual offenders’ perceptions of their early interpersonal relationships: an attachment perspective’, The Journal of Sex Research, vol. 39, no. 2, viewed 16 May 2014, McKillop, N, Smallbone, S, Wortley, R & Andjic, I 2012, ‘Offenders’ attachment and sexual abuse onset: a test of theoretical propositions’, Sexual Abuse, vol. 24, no. 6, pp. 591-610. Malekpour, M 2007, ‘EFFECTS OF ATTACHMENT ON EARLY AND LATER DEVELOPMENT’, The British Journal of Developmental Disabilities, vol. 53, no. 105, pp. 81-95. Neeraja, K 2008, Essentials of Mental Health and Psychiatric Nursing, Jaypee Brothers Publishers. Shaffer, DR 2009, Social and Personality Development, 6th ed, Cengage Learning, USA. Ward, T, Hudson, SM, Marshall, WL & Siegert, R 1995, ‘Attachment Style and Intimacy Deficits in Sexual Offenders: A Theoretical Framework’, Sex Abuse, vol. 7, no. 4, pp. 317-335. Wilcox, DT, Foss, CM & Donathy, ML 2005, ‘A case study of a male sex offender with zoosexual interests and behaviours’, Journal of Sexual Aggression, vol. 11, no. 3, pp. 305-317. Read More