Psychodynamic Therapies> Psychoanalysis

Psychoanalysis is a psychotherapy developed by Sigmund Freud. Personality has three parts: Id (instinctual desires), Ego (reason), and Superego (moral conscience). Unacceptable desires of the Id are repressed into the unconscious, but they remain active and cause anxiety, leading the Ego to use defence mechanisms.

• Psychoanalysis helps individuals gain insight through extensive self-reflection.
• Overcoming repression reveals hidden feelings and impulses, resolving mental conflicts.
• Releasing emotions frees energy previously wasted on defence mechanisms.
• This energy supports constructive activities and healthy personality growth.

• Psychoanalysis holds tremendous significance in treating mental diseases.
• Fine (1973) describes it as the greatest 20th-century intellectual revolution in the social sciences.
• It provides a research tool via the unconscious concept for psychological investigation.
• Successful treatment results in a healthy, happy mental state and positive life attitude.
• Hornstein (1992) notes it as the most famous form of psychotherapy.

• Time-consuming and expensive, often requiring daily sessions for 1–3 years.
• Mainly accessible to financially capable individuals.
• Based on Freud’s theories, which lack strong scientific evidence.
• Suitable mainly for highly intelligent, verbal, and motivated clients.
• Focuses more on past experiences than present problems.

• Assumes insight alone can solve problems, but research by Paul Rozin (1996) shows insight does not always change behaviour.
• Changing maladaptive thoughts and repressed urges requires great effort and persistence.
• Presents a biased view of human nature by focusing mainly on past experiences.

• Classical Freudian psychoanalysis is rarely used today due to its disadvantages.
• Neo-Freudians and Freud’s students developed modified versions used more often.
• Therapy involves face-to-face sessions focusing on present problems and past conflicts.
• Clients re-experience past conflicts to resolve them in a healthier way.

• Psychoanalysis, developed by Sigmund Freud, explains personality through the Id (desires), the Ego (reason), and the Superego (morality).
• Repressed desires in the unconscious mind cause anxiety and lead the Ego to use defence mechanisms.
• Therapy helps clients gain insight into hidden feelings and conflicts through self-reflection.
• It is an important psychological theory that introduced the concept of the unconscious mind.
• However, it is time-consuming, expensive, and lacks strong scientific evidence.
• Today, modified psychoanalytic therapies are used that focus on both past conflicts and present problems.