Assess the role of the unconscious and conscious mind on human behavior in relation
to two psychodynamic theories
Psychodynamics, as its name implies, is concerned with the dynamics of the mind.
For the most part, psychodynamic approach attempts to understand how human
personality is shaped by past experience and workings of the mind. Mind is
understood in terms of conscious and unconscious levels. Sigmund Freud and Carl
Jung are psychodynamic psychologists who developed theories on the basis of
such a portrait of mind.
Freud’s psychoanalytic theory emphasizes the importance of innate drives, which
shape personality mostly in childhood, through gratification focused on different
areas of the body. According to the focus of gratification corresponding to certain
age, the development is divided into stages. To deal with innate drives and
impulses, personality operates on three main systems (id, ego, and superego),
which are one by one set to work. Id is the most primitive part, operating on the
pleasure principle. It seeks immediate gratification of the innate drives. Later on,
child learns that gratification must be delayed if the situation is not appropriate.
Then, the rational part of the personality – ego, is at work. Last but not least,
superego is a part representing values and morals of the society and thus helps a
person judge what is right and what is wrong.
The most important assumption in Freud’s theory is, however, the idea of
unconscious processes, which are beyond our control. These processes have a
major influence in governing human actions, thoughts, and feelings. Freud used a
metaphor of iceberg to suggest the importance of unconscious, which is
represented by the bigger part of an iceberg under the water and conscious part
being the smaller part floating above the surface. Unconscious contents are
mostly fears, desires, beliefs, and nevertheless emotionally painful memories
(mostly from childhood) that were repressed.
Freud’s theory emerged from research and can be applied for therapy as well. It
is assumed that when people suffer from mental disorders such as irrational
fears, obsessions, and anxieties, it is possible to alleviate these problems by
bringing the repressed contents into conscious where they can be dealt with on
more realistic and rational way. The painful memories, and unfulfilled desires and
wishes, which are according to Freud the causes of the disorders, are recognized
by transfer into conscious through methods of free association, dream analysis,
and interviews. By identifying the cause of the problem, a person is supposed to
reach catharsis – an emotional release and thereby the neurosis seems to
disappear.
Another psychodynamic psychologist who adopted the concept of conscious and
unconscious mind was Carl Jung. Unlike Freud, he considered development to
be a smooth life-long process. The development of personality depends for the
most part on individuation, which is a process of expanding conscious awareness
by the ego making contact with the unconscious portions of the self. Its goal and
motivation was to approach the unconscious, specifically, the collective
unconscious. According to Jung, the collective unconscious is a record of human
experience in the mind similarly to evolutionary history in the body. It is
represented by the archetypes, the unconscious images, myths, and symbols that
provide individuals with wisdom about perceiving and comprehending the world,
which are universal across cultures.
The image of the totality of self cannot be represented by the same metaphor as
in Freud. The conscious and unconscious are distinct parts rather than the layers
of an iceberg. Conscious part consists of ego and persona. Ego is the conscious
sense of identity, while persona is the “mask” people “wear” to present
themselves. In contrast, unconscious part consists of the collective unconscious
and shadow. Collective unconscious is human experience in the form of
archetypes and shadow is related to personal experience. Oppositely to Freud,
unconscious is viewed as a meaningful source of renewal rather than solely
repressed primitive personal experience and emotions that need to be
controlled.
The basic assumption for successful therapy proposed by Jung is the contact with
the unconscious component of the opposite sex. Male and female aspects need to
be in balance in human personality to achieve individuation. Therefore, in
treating men and women, the wisdom of the opposite sex could be made
available and used to enrich individual’s life.
Both Freud and Jung assign major role to connecting the conscious and
unconscious mind in development and therapy. However, there is a difference
between them in some basic assumptions. On one hand, Freud considers the
conscious and the unconscious to be the layers. On the other hand, Jung
suggests that the conscious and unconscious are two distinct parts. Secondly, the
development for Freud means undergoing several stages until adulthood while for
Jung it is a continuous life-long process.
In spite of different view of mutual standing of the conscious and the
unconscious, there are some similarities in the structure of the personality. The
conscious ego is common for both theories. It is the rational part of personality
(Freud), or similarly, the sense of identity (Jung). The Freud’s id is the unconscious
part, seen as the most primitive and animalistic, whilst in Jung, an analogy to id
can be the shadow. Moreover, an analogy can be found between the superego
and the collective unconscious for they are both representing human symbols,
values, and norms.
In therapy, both theories conclude that the unconscious contents should be
brought to awareness. The difference is in the perception of the unconscious.
While Freud views unconscious in negative light, Jung holds a positive view. For
Freud, the unconscious are emotionally painful memories, unfulfilled wishes and
desires, which should be made conscious to alleviate the source of neurosis. In
Jung’s theory, the unconscious contents that should be made available are
archetypes, which help to balance individual’s personality. Despite these
divergences, the role of unconscious processes is dominating in human behavior
for both Freud and Jung, even though for Freud the unconscious contents are
seen as sources of mental illnesses (negative view) while for Jung the
unconscious contents are sources of growth (positive view).