Understanding Key Concepts in Freudian Psychology
The Unconscious
The unconscious is a part of the psychic apparatus, included in the first topography. It contains desires, instincts, and memories denied access to consciousness. Its content primarily represents drives.
The Id
The id is one of the three instances described by Freud in his second topography. It represents the instinctual pole of personality, with unconscious contents. The pleasure principle guides its activity, and primary processes dominate it.
The Setting (Fixation)
Fixation involves strong libido attachments to people and objects, influencing satisfaction and organization according to developmental stages. Freud identified two conditions for fixation: historical factors and constitutional factors.
Libido
Libido is a biological force (energy) that motivates specific responses or behaviors. Derived from the Latin word for desire, it encompasses all aspects related to “love,” as defined by Freud.
Neurosis
Neurosis is a psychogenetic condition where symptoms symbolize psychic conflict, rooted in childhood history. These symptoms represent compromises between desire and defense mechanisms.
The Preconscious
The preconscious, in Freud’s first topography, describes elements that escape current consciousness without being strictly unconscious. Freud also defines it as “descriptive” unconscious, accessible to consciousness.
Drive (Push)
A drive is a requirement that arises from the body’s psychic life, demanding fulfillment and propelling the human psyche. According to Freud, an instinct originates from bodily arousal. It’s a dynamic process with a “push” that directs the body toward an end, eliminating tension through an object. Thus, the drive possesses power, a goal, and an object.
Repression
Repression is a defense mechanism where unacceptable experiences or desires are pushed into the unconscious because they cannot be integrated into the personality or cause displeasure. This process requires constant effort to maintain unconsciousness.
Resistance
In psychoanalytic therapy, resistance refers to anything in the analysand’s acts and words that opposes access to their unconscious. Freud viewed it as a manifestation of the ego against painful representations.
The Superego
The superego is one of the personality instances described by Freud in his second topography. Its functions include moral conscience, self-observation, and the formation of ideals. Freud correlated superego formation with the decline of the Oedipus complex.
Trauma
Trauma is an event in a subject’s life characterized by its intensity, the subject’s inability to respond adequately, and the lasting effects it causes on the psychic organization. For Freud, a traumatic incident increases internal conflict and brings intolerable conflicts to consciousness.
The Ego
The ego, distinct from the id and superego in Freud’s second topography, exists in a dependent relationship between the id’s demands and the superego’s imperatives. It mediates, acting in the person’s best interests, though its autonomy is relative. The ego operates under the reality principle and secondary processes. One can distinguish between the Ideal and Real Self.