Psychoanalytic Theories of Freud

Sigmund Freud is often called the father of psychoanalysis. As a result, many of the major theories that shaped the practice in this field for years were derived from his work. To this day, there are still therapists practicing who firmly believe in the theories outlined by Freud, so understanding the basic theories underlying his work is important for any in the field.

Id, Ego and Superego

• One of Freud's important theories is that the mind of a person is divided into three primary aspects. The id, ego and superego are each present at different levels of a person's mind. The id is the biological impulse that all humans are born with, and is driven by instinct and the sex drive. The ego is the portion of the personality that drives the behaviors that will achieve the desires of the id while trying to avoid negative consequences. The ego has both conscious and subconscious elements. The superego is the part of the mind that places personal or societal limitations on behavior, or a kind of conscience.

Sex

• In Freud's theories, almost all of a person's actions are rooted deeply in the sex drive. He saw human sexuality as the cause of most behaviors. In the time of Freud, sex was a seriously taboo subject, and he saw the repression of human sexuality as a cause of many of the psychological problems people experienced. His focus on sexuality was also the origin of his theories on the Oedipal crisis that he believed children went through, which was the unconscious sexual desire for the child's parent of the opposite gender.

Dreams

• Freud placed great importance on dreams. Part of his process of psychoanalysis involved discussing the dreams that a person had. He felt that dreams were a type of wish fulfillment on the one hand, and that anxiety dreams were sometimes expressions of sexual desires. This related to his theories regarding sexual drives as a leading force in a person's behavior, and the analysis of dreams was supposed to give the psychoanalyst some insight into what drives and underlying causes were at the root of mental issues.

Treatment

• The aim of all of Freud's theories was to create a method of therapy. This goal of psychoanalysis was supposed to be achieved through conversations with the patient that would allow the psychoanalyst to uncover the root causes of behaviors, illnesses and other mental problems. The theory was that any behavior in the present could be traced back to stimuli or experiences from the past, and that by isolating the root cause of the problem a person would be able to deal with his current issues.