Dr. Ann Freud Theory On Ego Psychology Essay

The British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) define counselling, along with psychotherapy, as being “umbrella terms that cover a range of talking therapies” (BACP, 2012: 1). In addition, counselling is provided by practitioners who “work with people over a short or long term to help them bring about effective change or enhance their wellbeing” (BACP, 2012: 1). Those who practice counselling in a professional manner undergo intensive training and personal development, the latter of which has been “defined in terms of self-awareness and change” (Wheeler, 1996: 75). These changes, according to Johns, “influence the

Many people will, at some point in their lives, find themselves in the role of a counsellor without having a true understanding of the concept of counselling or what the role of the professional counsellor entails. There is a big difference between a professional counsellor and a person who uses some counselling skills as part of their role, for example their role as a friend or colleague. A professional counsellor is a highly trained individual who is able to use a different range of counselling approaches with their clients (Anon, 2001).

Psychological egoism is the view that people are always selfish. When was the last time you did a good deed? Did you do it for its own sake, or for your own? The egoist says that all of us are necessarily self-regarding. I shall argue that this view is incorrect.

Sigmund Freud’s theory of development focuses on the unconscious mind. Freud divided different stages of our lives into three systems such as the id, ego, and superego. The id is an important part of our personality because as newborns, it allows us to get our basic needs met. (Cherry, 2017). The ego is the stage of reality that functions in the conscious, preconscious, and unconscious mind. According to Freud, the ego develops from the id and ensures that the impulses of the id can be expressed in a manner acceptable in the real world. The last stage of personality is the superego. The superego is our sense of right and wrong. There are two parts of the super ego: the ego ideal which include rules and standards for good behaviors, as well as the conscience which are bad behaviors that result in punishments. (Cherry 2017). Freud also proposed that psychological development in children takes place in a series of fixed psychosexual stages: oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital. (McLeod, 2008). The first five years of life are extremely important to the formation of adult personality. To satisfy social demands, the id must be controlled followed by the ego and super ego.

Freud's model of the psyche posits that the id is the original and animalistic part of the mind that contains sexual and aggressive drives (Mcleod, 2014). The ego is the realistic part that intercedes between the id and the super-ego and the super-ego acts to determine what is right from wrong. In the case of the id, my first instinct was to steal the food I saw on the table, regardless of the consequences, my id did not care, it just wanted to get what it needed. However, my ego stepped in and calmed the id for me to not get up and grab the burger. Just like the id, my ego also wanted to gain pleasure, to satisfy my hunger, however, unlike the id, it developed a more realistic strategy of obtaining what I needed. The ego, however, has

This essay will attempt to highlight and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the three main theories of counselling within the module covered this term. The three approaches in discussion are psychodynamics, cognitive behavioural and humanistic.

Sigmund Freud, originally a neurologist, is a well-known psychologist that developed the field of psychoanalytic psychology. Although he died in 1939 his theories and practices live on and many psychologists will still consult Freud’s ideas when faced with specific cases. Freud was a firm believer in the notion that sex and aggression is the root of motivation for all human behavior and many people agree with him, but one of his former collogues, Alfred Adler, would come to disagree with this idea. Freud was very specific that his colleagues must adhere to all of his principles to become psychoanalysts, but because Adler disagreed with these motivations for behavior, as well as the psychosexual stages, it encouraged him to seek independence and work on developing his own theories. Instead of sex and aggression being the root, Adler, with his history of disability and brushes with death could not help but see things differently.

Psychoanalytic criticism is built upon Sigmund Freud’s psychological theories of the unconscious, the desires, and the defenses. The father of psychoanalysis began his work in the 1880’s, treating the chaos of hysteria first, listening to his patients talk through their problems. From his studies, he came to conclusion that a person’s behavior is affected by their unconscious, "...the notion that human beings are motivated, even driven, by desires, fears, needs, and conflicts of which they are unaware..." (Purdue University). Freud conserved that our desires and our unconscious conflicts induce our three areas of the mind that grapple with our dominance as we grow from infancy, to childhood, to adulthood. The id being known as "...the house of the drives", the ego, "...one of the major defenses against the power of the drives..."  (Purdue University), and the superego, being the point of the unconscious that houses judgment.

Freudian psychoanalytic theory of personality development suggests that human behavior is because of the interactions among three main components of the human mind. The components include id, ego, and superego. The theory has great emphasis on the role of unconscious psychological conflicts that help shape human behavior and personality. The development of personality depends on the conflicting interaction of the main components of the human mind. The conflicts arising and the desire to resolve the conflict determines our actions and approach to a variety of issues. The decision made regarding presenting conflicts determines how we resolve the conflicts arising from overarching behavioral tendencies including our biological drives and pleasure seeking motivations versus our socialized internal control over our desires.

At the start psychology was not a science; it was ‘made up’. In pre-historic age it was believed any behaviour that swayed from ‘the norm’ was due to demonic spirits possessing the brain. Advances in treatments and medicine, allow us to recognise how barbarous this belief was. The progress of these advances was clear by the opening of the first experimental laboratory in 1879 by Wilhelm Wundt. Wundt’s establishment of psychology as an academic discipline exaggerated how obsolete the previous way of thinking was. His book defined the view that all mental experience can be understood as a combination of simple elements or events. These improvements have modernised into a simple definition – Psychology is the scientific study of the mind and behaviour. In psychology four different schools of thought have developed to explore multiple thought based on the mind and behaviour; Psychoanalytic, Behaviourist, Cognitive and Biological.

Anna Freud, daughter of Sigmund Freud, was one of six siblings actually interested in psychoanalysis. Anna began by studying language and eventually became a teacher. It wasn’t until she attended a meeting with the Vienna Psychoanalytic society that she began to do analytic training. Her background in teaching lead her to the study of child psychology. Although her father focused mainly on adults and how adults influenced children, Anna wanted to use this kind of psychoanalysis to focus on children. After he passed away she wanted to continue to study psychoanalysis, which brought her to write multiple papers and books about her theories (Fine, 1985). Anna Freud was an important part of developing psychoanalysis, and her work can still be seen today.

Freud starts by clarifying the personality model he developed, which consists of the “id, the ego, and the superego” (Beystehner). According to Freud, the id is the most unsophisticated and primitive part of our entity (Storey), additionally, the unconscious part of the id is due to the brain’s ability to suppress instincts that people are born with, as well as things that are retained from birth. The ego is the conscious part of the mind, as opposed to the id, which is the part of the mind that is in charge of restraining pressures and the instincts within it. The ego is in charge of controlling impulses, and it also to functions as a connection between the id and the outside population (Beystehner). The ego is developed out of the id, and symbolizes sensibleness and soundness of mind as opposed to the passions of the id (Storey). Lastly, the superego is in charge of managing orders from the id, as well as, managing the restraints of pleasure and fulfillment achieved. The superego also depicts the impact and sway people in authoritative positions, “such as parents, teachers, and role models, as well as the impact of racial, societal, and cultural traditions” (Beystehner)

One of Sigmund Freud’s greatest contributions to the field of Psychology was his theory of personality. Considering this, Freud based his theory that a human 's behavior is the interaction of three components of the mind: the id, ego, and superego. The id is the utmost primitive; it develops first to cater the needs of the person, and it is also a component of the unconscious mind. The ego is the decision-making component of the personality. Furthermore, it is the most reasonable, taking to account, it operates on the principle of reality trying to satisfy its needs. Lastly, the superego. The superego is the segment that reflects the rules taught by parents or guardians. It is the conscious, knowing the difference between right and wrong, also, striving for perfection.

Psychoanalytic – Freud- Psychoanalytical theory was formulated by Freud based on how the human mind functions. He believed that there were factors outside of the individual person’s awareness (unconscious thoughts, feelings and experiences) that influence their emotions, behaviour and actions, and that their past experiences, and their future. The Psychoanalytical Theory highlights the importance of the unconscious mental processes and childhood development issues as they relate to childish impulses, childish wishes, juvenile desires and the anxiety of reality. The Psychoanalytical Theory is also based on the idea that a person’s personality is formed throughout the childhood years, that children go through certain stages at certain points of their childhood and depending on how well the child copes with each of these stages, their adult personality will be affected. This influences current practise as Freud’s observations into the link between our unconscious actions and our mind

May is a 17 year old high school student in Malaysia. Her parents view education as a very important aspect in life and a way to achieve success, hence are compelling May to achieve good grades in her studies. As her parents think she should concentrate on her studies they are against the idea of her earning extra pocket money to buy some of the things she wants by taking up a part-time job. Furthermore, they disapprove of her boyfriend of two years as they feel that he might be a distraction to her studies. Also, her parents object her ambition of being a hairdresser, as they think she has the potential to one day become a