Discuss how free association, dream interpretation, resistance, and transference may be used as tools in psychoanalysis.
What will be an ideal response?
Students' examples may vary.
The answer should contain the following information:
Free association. In their sessions, therapists and patients typically use a technique developed by Freud called free association. Patients using free association say aloud whatever comes to mind, regardless of its apparent irrelevance or senselessness. The psychoanalyst then attempts to recognize and label the connections between what a patient says and the patient's unconscious.
Dream interpretation. Therapists use dream interpretation to examine dreams to find clues to unconscious conflicts and problems. Moving beyond the surface description of a dream (called the manifest content), therapists seek its underlying meaning (the latent content), which supposedly reveals the true unconscious meaning of the dream.
Resistance. The processes of free association and dream interpretation do not always move forward easily. The same unconscious forces that initially produced repression may keep past difficulties out of the conscious mind, producing resistance. Resistance is an inability or unwillingness to discuss or reveal particular memories, thoughts, or motivations.
Transference. Because of the close, almost intimate interaction between patient and psychoanalyst, the relationship between the two often becomes emotionally charged and takes on a complexity unlike most other relationships. Patients may eventually think of the analyst as a symbol of a significant other in their past, perhaps a parent or a lover, and apply some of their feelings for that person to the analyst-a phenomenon known as transference. Transference is the transfer to a psychoanalyst feelings of love or anger that had been originally directed to a patient's parents or other authority figures.
You might also like to view...
Cross-cultural findings on the applicability of terror management theory suggests that self-enhancement is a universal psychological process, and that individuals will universally work to bolster their self-esteem
a) True b) False
Gloria is 10 years old and loves playing soccer and basketball with both boys and girls her age. According to Freudian psychology, in which stage of psychosexual development is Gloria?
A) anal B) phallic C) genital D) latency
Sam is a father of two children and has a career as a professor at a university
He is nurturing and sensitive to his children's needs, able to express emotions outwardly, independent and assertive, and thinks problems through calmly and logically. Sam is a good example of a person who is __________ a) masculine. b) feminine. c) transsexual. d) androgynous.
Research on peer victimization shows that __________
A) most bullies who engage in face-to-face verbal attacks are girls B) school codes against bullying are rarely effective at reducing peer victimization C) aggression and victimization are not polar opposites D) chronic victims tend to be active when passive behavior is expected