PSY 1102 Final: Earn a point for psychological disorders

• School: University of Ottawa
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSY 1102
• Professor: Najwa Haddad

Document Summary

Observing patients led freud to the discovery of the unconscious. E. g. : lost feeling in one"s hand might be caused by a fear of touching one"s genitals. He told the patient to relax and say whatever came to mind, no matter how embarrassing or trivial. He believed that free association would allow him to retrace a chain a thought that would lead into the patient"s unconscious, where painful unconscious memories (often from childhood) could be retrieved and released. Psychoanalysis is the theory that childhood sexuality and unconscious motivations influence personality. Freud believed that the mind was mostly hidden. Consciousness was like the part of the iceberg that floats above the surface. Unconsciousness was like the part of the iceberg that is beneath the surface. It involves our thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memories. Some of these thoughts are stored in a preconscious area, where we can retrieve them into conscious awareness. Freud believed that we repress unacceptable passions and thoughts.