Psychoanalytic perspective

Psychoanalyse first started to receive serious attention under Sigmund Freud, who formulated his own theory of psychoanalysis in Vienna in the s.

This perspective of psychoanalysis was dominant in America for approximately a year span until the s.

Meanwhile, in Europe, various theoretical approaches had been developed. Current Psychoanalytic Treatment Approaches Today, the ego psychology that was dominant in American psychoanalytic thought for so many years has been significantly modified and is also currently strongly influenced by the developing relational point of view.

Psychoanalysis - Wikipedia

The diverse schools of therapeutic approach currently operative in America include influences from British object relationists, "modern Freudians", the theories of Klein and Bion, self-psychology, the Lacanians, and more. Truly, a kaleidoscope of approaches is now available at psychoanalytic institutions in the United States.

Many psychoanalysts believe that the human experience can be best accounted for by an integration of these perspectives. Whatever theoretical perspective a psychoanalyst employs, the fundamentals of psychoanalysis are always present—an understanding of transference, an interest in the unconscious, and the centrality of the psychoanalyst-patient relationship in the healing process.

Attachment Theory The term "attachment" is used to describe the affective feeling-based bond that develops between an infant and a primary caregiver. The father of attachment theory, John Bowlby, M. It is important to note that attachment is not a one-way street. As the caregiver affects the child, the child also affects the caregiver.

Freud, Sigmund | Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy

Transference Transference is a concept that refers to our natural tendency to respond to certain situations in unique, predetermined ways--predetermined by much earlier, formative experiences usually within the context of the primary attachment relationship.

These patterns, deeply ingrained, arise sometimes unexpectedly and unhelpfully--in psychoanalysis, we would say that old reactions constitute the core of a person's problem, and that he or she needs to understand them well in order to be able to make more useful choices. Transference is what is transferred to new situations from previous situations.

Freud coined the word "transference" to refer to this ubiquitous psychological phenomenon, and it remains one of the most powerful explanatory tools in psychoanalysis today—both in the clinical setting and when psychoanalysts use their theory to explain human behavior.

Transference describes the tendency for a person to base some perceptions and expectations in present day relationships on his or her earlier attachments, especially to parents, siblings, and significant others.

Because of transference, we do not see others entirely objectively but rather "transfer" onto them qualities of other important figures from our earlier life.

Thus transference leads to distortions in interpersonal relationships, as well as nuances of intensity and fantasy. The psychoanalytic treatment setting is designed to magnify transference phenomena so that they can be examined and untangled from present day relationships.

These experiences can range from a fear of abandonment to anger at not being given to fear of being smothered and feelings of One common type of transference is the idealizing transference.

We have the tendency to look towards doctors, priests, rabbis, and politicians in a particular way—we elevate them but expect more of them than mere humans. Psychoanalysts have a theory to explain why we become so enraged when admired figures let us down.

The concept of transference has become as ubiquitous in our culture as it is in our psyches. But this explanatory concept is constantly in use. For example, in season three of the television series Madmen, one of the female leads is romantically drawn to a significantly older man just after her father dies.

She sees him as extraordinarily competent and steady. Some types of coaching and self-help techniques use transference in a manipulative way, though not necessarily negatively. Essentially, this person accepts the transference as omnipotent parent and uses this power to tell the client what to do.

Often the results obtained are short lived. Resistance Along with transference, resistance is one of the two cornerstones of psychoanalysis. As uncomfortable thoughts and feelings begin to get close to the surface--that is, become conscious--a patient will automatically resist the self-exploration that would bring them fully into the open, because of the discomfort associated with these powerful emotional states that are not registered as memories, but experienced as fully contemporary—transferences.

The patient is thus experiencing life at too great an intensity because he or she is burdened by transferences or painful emotions derived from another source, and must use various defenses resistances to avoid their full emotional intensity.Desy Safán-Gerard, Ph.D., is a Training and Supervising Analyst at the Psychoanalytic Center of California in Los initiativeblog.com has led a threefold life in music, painting and psychoanalysis.

Her book is based on her papers and presentations in the USA, Europe and South America over the last forty years. Spending time in nature, by watching a sunset, gazing at the ocean or mountains, sitting in a park, escaping to the countryside or a nature retreat, or even just spending a few minutes to stare out the window, provides us with the opportunity to rest, reflect, and restore our very sel.

Philosophy of Dreaming. According to Owen Flanagan (), there are four major philosophical questions about dreaming: 1.

How can I be sure I am not always dreaming? For the past century psychoanalysts have attempted to understand the psychology of art, artists and aesthetic experience. This book examines how contemporary psychoanalytic theory provides insight into understanding the psychological sources of creativity, Modern Art and modern artists.

About the TPS&I

Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis, was a physiologist, medical doctor, psychologist and influential thinker of the early twentieth century. Working initially in close collaboration with Joseph Breuer, Freud elaborated the theory that the mind is a complex energy-system, the structural.

Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis, was a physiologist, medical doctor, psychologist and influential thinker of the early twentieth century. Working initially in close collaboration with Joseph Breuer, Freud elaborated the theory that the mind is a complex energy-system, the structural.