...“Evaluate the extent to which Freud's theory of psychosexual development can help us to understand a client's presenting issue.” The main aim of this essay is to demonstrate an understanding of Freud’s theory of psychosexual development and how this theory may help us to explain and identify adult neurotic behaviour. I shall be evaluating the pros and cons of psychosexual theory and the extent to which it helps us to understand a client’s presenting issue. I shall also define and consider the relationship between the Id, Ego and Superego and the way in which these constructs of our psyche are in many ways representative of earlier experiences and of those early situations and conflicts we had faced. Lastly, I will examine some of the criticisms that have been leveled at Freudian theory in order to evaluate it. In Freudian psychology, psychosexual development is a central element of the psychoanalytic sexual drive theory; that human beings, from birth, possess an instinctual libido (sexual energy), that develops in five stages. Each stage – the oral, the anal, the phallic, the latent, and the genital – is characterized by the erogenous zone that is the source of the libidinal drive. Sigmund Freud proposed that if the child experienced sexual frustration in relation to any psychosexual developmental stage, s/he would experience anxiety that would persist into adulthood as a neurosis, a functional mental disorder Freud (1905) stressed that the first five years of life are...
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...Evaluate the extent to which Freud’s theory of psychosexual development can help us to understand a client’s presenting issue? (Word count 2,749 excluding bibliography, references) Sigmund Freud’s theory of psychosexual development is based on the idea that parents play a pivotal role in the sexual and aggressive drives that form in the early years of their child’s development. Freud (Freud & Philips 2006) proposed that psychological development in childhood takes place in a series of fixed stages - psychosexual stages. Each stage represents the fixation on a different area of the body and as a person grows physically, certain areas of their body become important as sources of potential frustration, pleasure or both. Freud referred to the instinct or drive which resulted in these fixations as the ‘libido’ and the areas of the body as the ‘erogenous zones’. Freud believed that life was built around a series of tensions and pleasures; believing also that all tension was due to the build-up of this libido, or sexual energy and that all pleasure came from its release (McLeod 2008). In describing human personality development as psychosexual Freud meant to convey that what develops is the way in which sexual energy accumulates and is released as we mature biologically. McLeod further explains that Freud used the term 'sexual' in a very general way to mean “all pleasurable actions and thoughts”. I believe this is a crucial point in helping understand what Freud was saying;...
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...became before him. Words he introduced through his theories are now used by everyday people, such as anal (personality), libido, denial, repression, cathartic, Freudian slip, and neurotic. Freud was the founding father of psychoanalysis, a method for treating mental illness and also a theory which explains human behavior. Psychoanalysis is often known as the talking cure. Freud would encourage his patients to talk freely regarding their symptoms and to describe exactly what was on their mind. The case of Anna O marked a turning point in the career of Sigmund Freud. It even went on to influence the future direction of psychology as a whole. Anna suffered from hysteria, a condition in which the patient exhibits physical symptoms (e.g. paralysis, convulsions, hallucinations, loss of speech) without an apparent physical cause. Her doctor Josef Breuer succeeded in treating Anna by helping her to recall forgotten memories of traumatic events. Breuer discussed the case with his friend Freud. Out of these discussions came the germ of an idea that Freud was to pursue for the rest of his life. In Studies in Hysteria (1895) Freud proposed that physical symptoms are often the surface manifestations of deeply repressed conflicts. However Freud was not just advancing an explanation of a particular illness. He was proposing a revolutionary new theory of the human psyche itself. This theory emerged slowly as a result of Freud’s clinical investigations and it led him to propose that...
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...understanding of Freudian theories and their contributions to psychological therapies. The theory of psychosexual development is contentious and the aims of this essay is explore what legacy Freud has given to modern therapy and whether it is at all helpful in the understanding of client presenting issues. Sigmund (Sigismund) Freud was born to a large Jewish Family on May 6th1856 in Pribor in The Czech Republic – formally Freiberg, Moravia, the family settled in Vienna where he studied medicine and practised as a neurologist. During work with Josef Breuer in 1892 and later with Jean Charcot in Paris he was taken by the ability to recall painful experiences under hypnosis. He founded that the mind was a complex energy system and that there is more to psychology than what is immediately available to the conscious mind, surmising that by gaining insight into unconscious thoughts and motivations, a client could be cured of his neurosis; at the time his ideas were seen as shocking, - and albeit controversial, are now accepted as commonplace, with modifications and variants, in therapy today. Freud was certainly not the originator of the concept of the unconscious; this was largely developed by the man Freud regarded as “the Great Fechner”, Gustav Fechner (1801-1887)- bestowing his work with prodigious enthusiasm, Freud declared that he had “followed that thinker on many important points” (Freud, 1925) Link S. (unknown). The Freud Encyclopaedia, Theory, therapy and culture. Available:...
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...words:- 2636 “Evaluate the extent to which Freud’s theory of psychosexual development can help us to understand a clients presenting issue?” I will begin this essay by first describing Freud’s psychosexual theory of the five stages of psychosexual development. I will then look at some of the main criticisms of this controversial theory and how this theory and his ideas have resulted in a serious interest and progression in psychology and the psychological treatment of mental disorders that has stretched through even to the present day. I will follow this by looking at how I believe these theories have helped and effected how we understand a clients presenting issues. The five stages of psychosexual development as Freud describes them are as follows:- The oral stage (0-1 year old), the anal stage (1-3 years old), the phallic stage (3-5 or 6 years old), the latency stage (5 or 6 - puberty) and the genital stage (puberty- adult). Before explaining the five stages in detail, I feel it is important to refer to Freud’s theory of personality development and how these five stages effect that progress. It is also worth mentioning that having read many articles on the subject, there is a common belief that people may misinterpret Freud’s use of the word “sexual” and that he was actually using the term in a more general way to relate to all pleasurable actions and thoughts. In relation to Freud’s theory on personality development, he believed the personality consisted of three interworking...
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...Martin J Skelton Word Count 2453 “Evaluate the extent to which Freud's theory of psychosexual development can help us to understand a client's presenting issue.” The main aim of this essay is to demonstrate an understanding of Freud’s theory of psychosexual development and how this theory may help us to explain and identify adult neurotic behaviour. I shall be evaluating the pros and cons of psychosexual theory and the extent to which it helps us to understand a client’s presenting issue. I shall also define and consider the relationship between the Id, Ego and Superego and the way in which these constructs of our psyche are in many ways representative of earlier experiences and of those early situations and conflicts we had faced. Freud’s approach to understanding human behaviour – psychoanalysis – has had a profound effect on psychology. His approach is one of many that share some common assumptions, while differing fundamentally in others. Contemporaries of Freud, such as Jung and Adler were inspired by Freudian theory, but emphasised different issues in human development and experience. Collectively these theories are described as “psychodynamic” because they emphasise the factors that motivate behaviour (i.e. the dynamics of behaviour). They challenged the biomedical view that mental disorders had physical origins. The psychodynamic approach views abnormal behaviour as caused by unconscious, underlying psychological forces. Key features of the psychodynamic approach ...
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...“Evaluate the extent to which Freud’s theory of Psychosexual Development can help us to understand a client’s presenting issue?” In this essay I am asked to evaluate one aspect of Freudian theory. I will begin by first describing Freud’s psychosexual theory and demonstrate an understanding of its relationship to adult neurotic behaviour. Having done this I will examine some of the criticisms that have been levelled at Freudian theory in order to evaluate it. In 1905 Freud published ‘Three Essays on the theory of Sexuality and other Works’, one of those essays was titled ‘Infantile Sexuality’. In this essay Freud sets out his theory of psychosexual development. He asserts that there is in all humans an innate drive or instinct for pleasure, a sort of psychic energy, which he calls the libido and this energy needs to be discharged. He then goes on to describe how this drive finds outlet at the earliest stages of life, as babies, toddlers and infants and describes the oral, anal and phallic stages and the psychological effects of fixation at these stages. It is important to note that Freud separated sexual aims and objectives. His work on sexuality and perversions led to the wider theory of sexuality whereby he differentiated the sexual aim (the desire for pleasure) and the object (the person or thing used to fulfil the desire). He asserted that sexuality is more than just genital copulation between adults and this work is the background to his theory on infantile sexuality....
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...“Evaluate the extent to which Freud’s theory of psychosexual development can help us to understand a client’s presenting issue” In this essay I am asked to evaluate one aspect of Freudian theory. I will begin by first describing Freud’s psychosexual theory and demonstrate an understanding of its relationship to adult neurotic behavior. Having done this I will examine some of the criticisms that have been levelled at Freudian theory in order to evaluate it. In 1905 Freud published ‘Three Essays on the theory of Sexuality and other Works’, one of these essays was titled ‘Infantile Sexuality’. In this essay Freud sets out his theory of psychosexual development. He asserts that there is in all humans an innate drive (or instinct>another theory to be debated) for pleasure, a sort of psychic energy, which he calls the libido and this energy needs to be discharged. He then goes on to describe how this drive finds outlet at the earliest stages in life, as babies, toddlers and infants and describes the oral, anal and phallic stages and the psychological effects of fixation at these stages. It is important to note that Freud separated sexual aims and objectives. What Freud meant by sexual in his own writing in German, was ‘life force’ or ‘emotional energy’ (Bettelheim 1983). While this concept has a sexual aspect to it, it is unfortunate that the English translation focuses mainly on this aspect. His work on sexuality and perversions led to the wider theory of sexuality whereby he differentiated...
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...19 Freudian & Humanistic Theories MODULE 455 448 449 432 Photo Credit: © Colin Anderson/ Getty Images A. Freud’s Psychodynamic Theory B. Divisions of the Mind C. Developmental Stages D. Freud’s Followers & Critics E. Humanistic Theories Concept Review F. Cultural Diversity: Unexpected High Achievement G. Research Focus: Shyness 434 436 438 440 442 447 H. Application: Assessment—Projective Tests Summary Test Critical Thinking Can Personality Explain Obesity? Links to Learning 450 452 454 Introduction Personality Ted Haggard founded New Life Church in the basement of his house 25 years ago and became a prominent author and national evangelical Christian leader with a congregation of 14,000 worshippers in the largest church in Colorado. He is married with five children and has boyish dimples and a warm smile. In 2006, at the peak of his career, a male prostitute accused Haggard of having a three-year sexual affair with him and of using drugs. is accusation was alarming not only because Haggard was a married pastor, but also because he publicly supported a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. When the accusations were first broadcast on the news, Haggard confessed to church officials, saying, “Ninety-eight percent of what you know of me was the real me. Two percent of me would rise up, and I couldn’t overcome At the height of his career, it” (Haggard, 2006a). Then, in Ted Haggard, well-known pastor, a television news interview the confessed...
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...family shifted and settled in Vienna. Although Freud’s ambition from childhood was a career in law, he decided to enter the field of medicine. In 1873, at the age of seventeen, Freud enrolled in the university as a medical student. During his days in the university, he did his research on the Central Nervous System under the guidance of German physician `Ernst Wilhelm Von Brucke’. Freud received his medical degree in 1881and later in 1883 he began to work in Vienna General Hospital. Freud spent three years working in various departments of the hospital and in 1885 he left his post at the hospital to join the University of Vienna as a lecturer in Neuropathology. Following his appointment as a lecturer, he got the opportunity to work under French neurologist Jean Charcot at Salpetriere, the famous Paris hospital for nervous diseases. So far Freud’s work had been entirely concentrated on physical sciences but Charcot’s work, at that time, concentrated more on hysteria and hypnotism. Freud’s studies under Charcot, which centered largely on hysteria, influenced him greatly in channelising his interests to psychopathology. In 1886, Freud established his private practice in Vienna specializing in nervous diseases and soon afterwards got to his fiancée Martha Bernays, who came from a well-known Jewish family in Hamburg. In 1888, Freud started using hypnotism in his practice. But, later he dropped it and started using a method, which was being used by Dr. Josef Breuer. The method...
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...BAY AREA SOCIAL SERVICES CONSORTIUM Understanding Poverty From Multiple Social Science Perspectives A Learning Resource for Staff Development In Social Service Agencies Michael J. Austin, PhD, Editor BASSC Staff Director Mack Professor of Nonprofit Management School of Social Welfare University of California, Berkeley 510-642-7066 mjaustin@berkeley.edu August 2006 1 Table of Contents Introduction – Michael J. Austin, Guest Editor Part I Multiple Social Science Perspectives of Poverty Theories of Poverty: Findings from Textbooks on Human Behavior and the Social Environment Amanda J. Lehning, Catherine M. Vu, & Indira Pintak Economic Theories of Poverty Sun Young Jung & Richard Smith Sociological Theories of Poverty in Urban America Jennifer Price Wolf Psychological Theories of Poverty Kelly Turner & Amanda Lehning An Anthropological View of Poverty Kristine Frerer & Catherine Vu Political Science Perspectives on Poverty Amanda Lehning Theories of Global Poverty in the Developed and Developing World Jennifer Morazes & Indira Pintak Part II Theory Integration and Practitioner Perspectives Social Capital and Neighborhood Poverty: Toward an Ecologically-Grounded Model of Neighborhood Effects Kathy Lemon Osterling Social Work Students’ Perceptions of Poverty Sherrill Clark The Explosive Nature of the Culture of Poverty: A Teaching Case Based on An Agency-based Training Program Catherine Vu & Michael J. Austin 2 ...
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