Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy

Many theoretical frameworks have been developed and stitched together over time to build the foundation that the field of psychology sits on. Brilliant minds have shaped these ideas into therapeutic treatment and mindful practice used by clinicians around the world across both individual and groupwork settings. One of the first contributors to this space was Dr. Sigmund Freud, a neurologist from Austria who is most famous for cultivating psychoanalytic theory, talk therapy, and dream analysis in the late 1800s. He was also one of the first to invite a discussion of energy and how it moves through humans as they experience their inner world. Psychoanalysis posits that one’s problems are caused by unresolved tensions at play between the unconscious and conscious mind, with the unconscious mind being the most powerful motivator for behavior. Freud believed that within each of us lies an intrapsychic management of our id, ego, and superego. He described the id as the unconscious part of us that seeks pleasure, urging for what we want - when we want it. On the other hand is our ego, which seeks reality and is the conscious part of ourselves we show to the world because it is most available to us. In turn, it is our superego that attempts to manage us and helps us adhere to societal rules and responsibilities. 

When we exhibit any behavior, we are ultimately making a choice.

Freud postulated that to understand one’s choice of behavior, one must first identify the need that is behind it. It is our needs that activate us into movement, and it is this movement that satisfies our system as a whole, allowing it to relax. Once another need arises in us, the cycle will repeat itself.

For example, people need food to survive. When we are hungry, we are driven to find food and eat it, gratifying our physical system. 

But what happens when our needs are not met? Freud shared that this is where ego defense mechanisms arise and energy within us gets bound up. All humans are taught differently by their caregivers and society at large how to move this energy. For some, they express it in healthy ways, such as going on a walk or talking it through within a safe relationship. Others don’t have those tools and stuff things down into their unconscious, leading them to thwart this energy and project it onto others. For example, someone thinks their partner is cheating because they, in fact, are themselves. All work around trauma in therapy is about unfastening this knotted energy to produce new resolutions or catharsis, unlocking the freedom to move forward and increasing one’s self-awareness.

Another important aspect of the psychoanalytic groundwork laid by Freud was his establishment of the five psychosexual stages of development, including: oral, anal, phallic, latent, and genital. He concluded that as we navigate childhood, we are tasked with completing each stage in order to bring our personalities into a sound place as adults. However, if the energy gets bound because a conflict is unresolved, we become stuck at this precise place in our growth. Freud coined this phenomenon as experiencing fixation.

The psychoanalytic approach can be applied in a variety of therapeutic settings and allows people to share what is authentically on their minds without interruption or judgment of anything that seeks to come forward. While not everyone agrees with Freud’s beliefs and ideals, his contributions to the field have enriched it forever. Are you yearning for this kind of understanding in your life?

This is what we encourage in group, a more spontaneous, liberating way of sharing thoughts and feelings and the opportunity for group members to share the impacts or associations that arise in relation to your share.