Running Head::CLASSIC THEORETICAL PSYCHOTHERAPY PARADIGMS

Classic Theoretical Psychotherapy Paradigms

Classic Theoretical Psychotherapy Paradigms

Introduction

In the area of psychology, Sigmund Freud, Alfred Adler, and Carl Jung, developed three distinct ideas of personality that to this day, continue to be the bases on which all up to date psychological ideas are built. All three of these remarkable men knew and worked with each other. When Adler and Jung praised Freud's book on dream interpretation, they were asked for to join Freud's circle of peers, who met every week at his home in Vienna, Austria (Engler, 2006). At these meetings they discussed new and groundbreaking aspects of psychopathology (Comer, 2008).

Discussion

Freud, Adler, and Jung are unequivocally the most influential figures in up to date psychology (Comer, 2008). Freud's concept of the id, the ego, and the superego, are the underlying factors that began all three schools of thought and that provide the foundations of modern psychology (Engler, 2006).

Freud believed that the id had no contact with reality and worked on the pleasure principle and hedonistic wants, with no morality involved. The ego develops as children experience the demands and constraints of reality. It utilises reasoning to make decisions. The superego is concerned with right and wrong, it is the moral compass, the conscience in each individual (Comer, 2008). Freud believed that people are unaware of the most important personality processes. Like an iceberg, only the small portion of the conscious mind is accessible and above the water. The preconscious, just out of reach, and the subconscious, deeply repressed, is below the water completely. These are the reason for most problems with behavior and the personality, according to Freud (Nystul, 2006).

Freud also theorized that the personality was formed by early childhood experiences, called psychosexual stages (Engler, 2006). If a child's basic needs are not being met during one of these stages, the child may become “fixated” or stuck in that stage. For example, if an adult smokes, he or she could be said to be “orally fixated.” According to Freud, infants at the oral stage use their mouths to explore their environment (Engler, 2006).

Freud's emphasis on sexuality is one of the main reasons why Adler and Jung disagreed with him. They considered that Freud put entirely too much focus on the libido and sexual power in children. Freud and Adler met every Wednesday for eleven years (Comer, 2008). In 1911, Alder, along with eight colleagues, broke away from Freud's circle to form the school of “Individual Psychology” (Engler, 2006).

Adler's theory differed from Freud's in that it focuses on the person as a 'whole.' The Adlerian term, individual psychology, refers to the human being as indivisible, as opposed to Freud's view of an individual being, internally divided (Engler, 2006). For Adler, each aspect of the personality points in the same direction (Nystul, 2006).

Adler saw how humans connect with one another, with family, with friends, with community, and with society as a whole. He believed that this interconnectedness is essential for an individual to develop and ...