What is Psychoanalytical Method?

George Alvarez 04-10-2023
George Alvarez

The psychoanalytic method is the method created by Freud to perform therapy, to understand the human mind and to interpret the functioning of society. But, what is the psychoanalytic method: meaning today How do the stages of this method work in practice, and what are the collaborations of other psychoanalysts?

Dividing the psychic apparatus to better understand the psychoanalytic method

One of the most relevant influencers of the psychoanalytic method was Sigmund Freud, who dedicated his works to the study of the human mind. In particular, we highlight human unconscious This is because he is a true holder of mnemic traces.

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However, just knowing the contents of the unconscious was not enough, it was necessary to bring them into consciousness.

But how to do this? What is the relationship between the mental systems and the personality of the being? How to perform psychoanalysis? These were only some of the thousands of questions asked by Freud, by professionals and society .

In order to clarify these doubts, Freud divided the psychic apparatus into three large systems, which make up the psychic topography. That is, they show the interrelationships of these systems and their relationship with consciousness.

Some mechanisms within the psychoanalytic method

The first of these systems was the Unconscious, which acts by the primary process. Its main characteristic is the tendency to present total and immediate discharge of mental energies.

This system covers the psychic elements whose accessibility to consciousness is very difficult or impossible. That is, impulses and feelings of which the individual has no conscience .

Therefore, the most common ways to access this content are through:

  • dreams
  • free association in the dialog process
  • failed acts
  • chistes
  • projective tests
  • history of neurotic and psychotic symptoms

Through these artifices the contents repressed in the unconscious pass to the preconscious, after passing through the mechanisms of displacement, condensation, projection and identification They manifest themselves in the conscious.

Pre-Conscious and Conscious

The second system was the Pre-Conscious, which comprises the mental elements readily accessible to consciousness. They are governed by the secondary processes. In it are also thoughts, ideas, past experiences, impressions of the external world, and other impressions that can be brought to consciousness. However, through verbal representations .

The System pre-conscious is the intersection between the unconscious and the third Conscious system.

O Conscious in turn, includes everything that is conscious at a given moment.

The three instances proposed by Freud

An intersystemic censorship operates between the ICs and PCs, which enables the PC to exclude undesirable elements from the IC system and refuse them entry into the Cs system.

In order to facilitate even more the understanding of these processes, the fact was defined as happening in the conscious. Thus, it is recorded in the preconscious and repressed in the unconscious, and in order for a psychic act to be conscious, it is necessary for it to go through the levels of the psychic system .

However, Freud noticed that this pathway did not always occur in an efficient manner. It was as if there were some barriers that impeded or limited it. Noticing this, Freud subdivided the psychic system into three instances:

  • Id
  • Ego
  • Superego

These would be submerged in the three systems of the psychic topography, mentioned above: the Conscious system comprises part of the ego, the Pre-conscious, most of the ego and the Unconscious, all three instances including the repressed unconscious .

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The Superego as mediator

In this new classification there is a direct relationship with the personality of the being. sexual or aggressive origin .

They are modified by the impact or interaction of internal impulses and external stimuli and become part of the ego. Its main function is to coordinate internal functions and impulses and make them express yourself in the outside world without conflict So, to carry out its function, the ego relies on the action of the superego.

It allows it to be developed in a socially possible way, that is, acting as a mediator between him and the moral constraints and all the perfection impulses.

This was the psychic reality of the human being, according to Freud's vision. However, even after dividing and subdividing the psychic apparatus, he still questioned himself: How could a psychoanalyst help man with his psychic problems? Many speculations were made and the most accepted and adopted by clinical psychoanalysts up to the present day is the rehearsal treatment.

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The procedures of the psychoanalytic method

This treatment is called preliminary interview is a pre-selection, that is, in it the prospective patient brings his or her complaint to the psychoanalyst.

This participation is minimal, because the professional's intention is to formulate a hypothesis about the individual's psychic structure, that is, to classify it into neurosis, perversion or psychosis Moreover, it will be the patient himself who will introduce his own signifiers.

After this interview, the psychoanalyst will direct the transference to that specific analyst, in which case he will rectify the demand, transforming the demand for love or cure brought by the subject into a demand for analysis. Or, if he doesn't want to accept the patient, for whatever reason, he will dismiss this possible patient.

Accepting this demand for analysis, the being becomes a patient and the analyst will proceed to the analysis itself. To conduct this analysis, he will make use of some techniques, among them the diagnostic hypnosis .

It, together with the free associations, the patient's overcoming of resistance, and the production of an analytic system will allow the unconscious contents to be brought into consciousness.

Conclusion

Faced with an in-depth evaluation about this psychoanalytic method This means that its focus is on the removal of the causes of that problem, although it does not focus only on the roots of the phenomena.

This transforms the disease into a transference neurosis, and by eliminating this neurosis, the initial disease is eliminated and the patient is cured.

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George Alvarez

George Alvarez is a renowned psychoanalyst who has been practicing for over 20 years and is highly regarded in the field. He is a sought-after speaker and has conducted numerous workshops and training programs on psychoanalysis for professionals in the mental health industry. George is also an accomplished writer and has authored several books on psychoanalysis that have received critical acclaim. George Alvarez is dedicated to sharing his knowledge and expertise with others and has created a popular blog on Online Training Course in Psychoanalysis that is widely followed by mental health professionals and students around the world. His blog provides a comprehensive training course that covers all aspects of psychoanalysis, from theory to practical applications. George is passionate about helping others and is committed to making a positive difference in the lives of his clients and students.