Sigmund Freud

“The twig of personality is bent at an early stage.”

•          Freud identified 5 stages of personality development (psychosexual stages): 

Oral

1. 0 to 18 months
2. Pleasure centres on the mouth – sucking, biting, chewing
3. Weaning can lead to fixation if not handled correctly
4. Unresolved conflicts can lead to oral activities in adulthood 

Anal

1. 18 to 36 months
2. Pleasure focuses on coping with demands to control bowel & bladder elimination
3. Toilet training can lead to anal fixation (anal-retentive or expulsive behaviours in adulthood) if not handled correctly

       Phallic

1. 3 to 6 years
2. Pleasure is in the genitals
3. Coping with incestuous sexual feelings (Oedipus or Electra complex can occur)
4. Fixation can lead to excessive masculinity in males and the need for attention or domination in females 

Latency

1.        7 years to puberty 
2.        Sexuality is repressed and dormant
3.        Children participate in hobbies, school and same-sex friendships
4.    During these stages the Id focuses on pleasure sensitive body areas called erogenous zones 

Genital

1. •          Puberty onwards
2. •          Maturation of sexual interests
3. •          Sexual feelings re-emerge and are oriented toward others
4. •          Healthy adults find pleasure in love and work
5. •          Fixated adults have their energy tied up in earlier stages

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Defence Mechanisms

•          Failure to resolve psychological conflict amongst Id, Ego, and Superego
-> anxiety
-> unconscious mental processes employed by the ego to reduce anxiety (i.e., defence mechanisms)

•          Repression

•          Regression

•          Displacement

•          Reaction Formation

•          Projection

•          Rationalisation

•          Sublimation

Psychoanalytic Assessment

•          Access to unconscious is via

–        free association,

–        dreams,

–        slips of the tongue

–        Ideal: ‘Psychological x-Ray’

•          Projective Tests:

–        Presents ambiguous stimuli and then ask person to describe or tell a story about it