What is Psychoanalytic Theory (Psychoanalysis)?

The idea of the Id, ego, and superego are relatable. I think we all can identify with the pleasure principal and avoiding pain, and wanting to do things but refraining due to societal standards and parental expectations at one point or another in life.  The different defense mechanisms used to cope with undesirable experiences are key to providing insight into how individuals respond to different situations.

Psychoanalytic theory is a solid foundation to understanding how human personality develops. Those who study psychology or human personality development without first understanding the role of the unconscious mind seems would begin a fragmented view of how human personality develops. Although Freud's important but somewhat complex theories on psychosexual development ends at puberty, he also theorized about the continuing development of human personality as the ego is affected by other human interaction. The etiology of much of human dysfunction or current mental disorders can be better understood once his core theories are understood (Not that I understand all mental disorders). I am biased because I studied Freud's theories extensively, but I studied his theories extensively because they appear empirical. I believe Freud's contributions are under rated because of several misinterpretations of some of his theories. Your critique was good, but included a confusing position of his theory of the death instinct with the id, which was a much later theory than his seminal theories of the id, ego, and super ego which should be explained together as development and operations of the mind. The primordial instinct, the id, the search for pleasure and avoidance of pain, followed by consciousness and the ego, and finally the emergence of the super ego (conscience) with the overcoming of the Oedipus complex (extreme attachment to one or the other parent) is a crucial component of personality development (and societal development: Totem and Taboo). I appreciate your videos. You are obviously a strong therapist, very informative and most often very comprehensive while concise.

Dr. Grande I appreciate that you reference the controversy surrounding psychoanalytic theory while also indicating the impact the psychoanalytic theory has within the mental health field. I have always heard Freud's work is controversial, though i cannot recall any of my professors going into detail explaining why. It is also interesting to hear that not many counselors integrate psychoanalysis in their treatment plans due to the delivery method which results in a longer treatment cycle. Additionally, I find that when I remember a dream I had it is usually in reference to a fear I am currently having. Very informative, thank you.

Psychoanalysis is interesting in that they have 3 levels of awareness that discuss information that someone can retrieve within their minds now, what they cannot retrieve and what they have to think harder about to bring about those memories. How fascinating that these ideas came about. Freud was an interesting theorist. Some of what he says is a bit hard to grasp. I also wonder how it was determined that the ego manages the superego and ego. His psychosexual stages were very interesting as well and somewhat hard to grasp. More study on his theory may help me understand it more as many people "raise their eyebrows" to it and is somewhat hard to understand but I do feel there is some truth to his views.

Thanks for your video Dr. Grande. They’re all really helpful and informative. Keep up the good work

Dear Dr. Grande, your summaries are amazing. You manage to cover so much in such a short time. Is it possible to make a video about psychodynamics too? And the development of psychoanalytic theory after Freud. You see, I am very interested in these theories, but when I read books written by advocates of them, I find them as confusing as continental philosophy. CBT on the other hand is often explained in a very straight forward way. I think you are able to explain psychodynamics in that way. It would of course be superficial, but maybe it's better to understand it in a superficial way, than not to understand it at all. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge <3

Two primary attributes to Sigmund Freud’s work is his Psychosexual Stages and his Psyche component. The stages are how he thought development occurred in people beginning at birth (oral stage) and ending in adulthood (genital stage). Something important to consider as well is if an individual does not complete, or gets stuck, in any given phase, that may have a correlation to issues brought out in later adulthood. Additionally, the contribution of the Psyche, or the id, ego, and superego, are imperative to mention as well. These three aspects of the mind serve as follows: the Id provides us with our unconscious basic needs such as eating, hydrating, and sleeping; the Superego governs what we determine is moral based on what society deems as “acceptable;” last, the Ego is the mediator of the two and helps us to balance out our wants and needs. Overall, this video was helpful in allowing me a better understanding of the difference between psychoanalytic theory versus psychodynamic theory. This is imperative to differentiate the two as several aspects of psychoanalytic theory are used in psychodynamic theory.

Thank you so much Dr Grande for this video . It is quiet inspiring basing on the methodology of presentation of your lectures. You have explained effectively to the world

It was a great video explaining the different concepts in a simple way to better understand it.

This overview is a helpful review. Though the differentiation between Psychoanalysis and Psychodynamic is relatively simple, it's necessary. It's interesting to ponder that all symptoms result from unresolved issues. I have appreciated at least two of Freud's contributions: focus on childhood development and the ego and defense mechanisms to the field. The focus on childhood development was a large influence and, though difficult to prove, there seems to be general acceptance of defense mechanisms. Certainly, the terminology is widely used, though "eros" isn't usually fully understood. I have adopted the attitude that it's unnecessary to subscribe to the essence of a theory, such as psychosexual stages in order to integrate concepts or techniques with other modalities. There's little doubt that this theory will continue to be a major study in psychology.

An excellent summary of psychoanalytic theory.

Thank you Dr Grande. Your video has helped a lot with my Psych papers.

Psychodynamic always seems to me like a Water down version of psychoanalysis. I like it as something interesting that might give you ideas but not as an approach. You should do more videos on this please...

Thank you for your video. It was very informative and helpful with understanding what psychoanalytic theory was. Now I can write more confidently on the topic for an assignment.

I would love to hear Todd's take on Transactional Analysis founded by Eric Berne.

Hi Dr Grande, is it possible to make a video about the relevancy of the HEXACO model of personality? Thanks

Nice Lecture, thanks Dr. Grande 👍🏾

Fantastic video, thank you so much.

Your summation is very good - some of his work is still useful - but i don't think his ideas of how our minds work is true at all. Give me Piaget and Vigotski for that. thanks much :}

i'm sorry, but i can't stand Freudian theories - there are some things i agree with, but basically he gives the shivers. When i was in college and was studying psych., i had the best Professor (Professor Hardesty). His class covered all the basic theories. However, when he got to Freud, which he had to cover, he walked back and forth in front of the blackboard for two hours red in the face. He despised Freud. He was so funny that day and i just loved him for it. - one of my best profs. (This is one i just have to mention. I had a professor, Professor Organ, (yes,organ), who taught physiology. He drew with both hands, each half was different. we were taking notes like crazy. omg, he was wonderful :}