Ego psychology
The ego psychology is a psychological and psychoanalytic theory. It supplements classical psychoanalysis with aspects of ego development, defense mechanisms and the functions of the ego. Anna Freud ( The ego and defense mechanisms , 1936) and in particular Heinz Hartmann ( ego psychology and adjustment problem , 1939) are often cited as the founders of ego psychology . But Sigmund Freud already anticipated some aspects of ego psychology.
Development of ego psychology
Sigmund Freud developed the drive theory , which ultimately saw the drives as the determining forces in the psyche . His conflict theory originally describes the emergence of psychological disorders due to the opposing effects of instincts and demands of reality ( reality principle ), which the ego has to balance. Here the ego only occupies the space of a mediator between instinctual demands and reality. A psychopathology arises when a compromise between the demands of the drive and its defense fails. The compromise is a symptom .
In his main work On Nervous Character , published shortly after Freud's separation in 1912, Alfred Adler had taken the path towards an ego psychology. Adler's ego is not wedged helplessly between instincts and conscience, but an apparently independent actor endowed with a will. For Adler, the ego is the whole of psychology - without any further inner instances. This ego is about recognition , social status and also about aggressive self-assertion .
In 1913, Sándor Ferenczi wrote the essay Development stages of the sense of reality , which is considered the first work on ego psychology within psychoanalysis.
Freud's departure from the “first topical model” , which divides the psyche into conscious , preconscious and unconscious , is significant for the development of psychoanalytic ego psychology . In 1923 he designs in The Ego and the Id , a second topical system id which the mental structure dynamics of it , I and superego About describes.
Freud now assigns two active functional complexes to the ego: dealing with the environment and dealing with the intrapsychic instances of the superego and the id. The ego has the possibility of suppressing instinctual impulses and satisfying them in the phantasy or repelling them.
Anna Freud describes this development in The I and the Defense Mechanisms (1936) as a departure from the common conception of psychoanalysis as a pure depth psychology (psychology of the unconscious) and a return to the original therapeutic goal of " restoring the intactness of the I ":
“ A change in the direction of work in Freud's writings (...) then freed the preoccupation with the ego from the odium of the unanalytical and explicitly placed the interest in the ego instances at the center of attention. Since then, the work program of analytical research can no longer be covered by the name of depth psychology. "
Anna Freud considered it important to direct attention equally to all instances of the psyche. She further worked out the meaning of the self. In addition to the id-analysis preferred by her father, Anna Freud emphasized the analysis of the resistance and defense mechanisms that are anchored in the ego.
In The I and the Defense Mechanisms (1936), Anna Freud regroups these mechanisms in a further development of her father's guidelines and reformulates them in terms of a psychology of the ego. The core of psychoanalytic ego psychology here is the creative defense of the developing ego against threatening impressions. The so-called defense mechanisms represent an important function of the child's ego and are initially not to be regarded as neurotic or pathogenic : they rather refer to the " size of the ego's performance ", which fails in the neurosis:
“ The ego is victorious when its defensive efforts are successful, that is, when it succeeds in using them to limit the development of fear and displeasure, and to ensure the individual can still enjoy his instincts even under difficult circumstances through necessary instinctual transformations, and thus as far as possible to create harmony between id, super-ego and the outside world powers. "
The ego psychology was further expanded in the years after the death of Sigmund Freud.
The ego psychology
" ... the main interest [of ego psychology] is what a person actually does, as well as what he wants and fears ". "
Heinz Hartmann introduced important aspects of ego psychology. This supplemented Freud's structural model of the psyche and introduced the term “ self ” into psychoanalysis, which he regards as part of the ego. In this way, as a complement to the ego, aspects of self-experience could also be described. Furthermore, he described the healthy ego functions through innate potentials of the ego, which can develop in a "conflict-free ego sphere". With this, Hartmann created an important innovation. Before the introduction of the conflict-free ego sphere, the development of personality and the emergence of a neurosis could only be explained on the basis of conflicts that arise during the Oedipus conflict , as well as fixations of libido , which are based on the drive theory and manifest themselves in the various psychosexual development phases .
Hartmann did not question Sigmund Freud's instinctual psychology. Hartmann only emphasized the importance of the ego in the psyche. Drive psychology was only limited by some considerations in object relationship theory , which also exerted an influence on ego psychology.
By introducing a more specific theory of the development of the ego, which takes place free of any conflict, the attention of psychoanalysis has been shifted away from the pure instinctual psychology towards a psychology of developmental disorders. Hartmann's theories created the prerequisites for the development of object relationship theory and self-psychology .
The thesis that innate ego functions exist that are already present in infancy created the prerequisite for the observation of toddlers by René A. Spitz or Margaret Mahler .
The treatment technique of psychoanalysis was mainly influenced in such a way that the patient's development of autonomy is in the foreground of the treatment.
Further developments could be made that were geared towards the treatment of severely disturbed patients, i.e. patients in whom the development of the ego was hindered. Above all, Gertrude Blanck and Rubin Blanck should be mentioned here, who developed a "developmental psychology-oriented psychotherapy " which, in conjunction with considerations of object relationship theory, aims to promote the reorganization of the ego.
The ego psychology was supplemented by Margaret Mahler's development concept, which is an alternative to the Freudian development model.
Functions of the ego
In the framework of ego psychology, according to Hartmann, the ego can also be viewed as a system of functions. The ego exists because it is only a constructed entity that serves to simplify the explanation of the psyche, only when it works. The most important function is to organize yourself, i. H. the functions become more differentiated and more precise through experience in the course of development.
The ego functions have been arranged by different authors:
| After Heinz Hartmann | After Leopold Bellak and Barnett Meyers |
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The ego and the defense mechanisms
See the main article Defense mechanisms
The defense mechanisms have a special position in ego psychology. They have the task of ensuring the functioning of the psyche. This is particularly related to the ability to maintain the functioning of the ego and its functions. For this it is necessary to protect the ego from overly violent affects.
However, the defense mechanisms can also deny insight into conflictual contexts, as insight into this conflict would be too painful. This can prevent the development of personality.
Margaret Mahler's theory of evolution
See the main article by Margaret Mahler
Margaret Mahler created a developmental model through the observation of normal children and the later theorization, which represents an integration of ego psychology and object relationship theory.
She saw it as crucial that children break away from their mothers, which is only possible with a sufficiently developed basic trust . Before that, the child goes through the normal autistic and normal symbiotic phases. The detachment process is also divided into different phases: the differentiation phase, practice, rapprochement and finally the consolidation of the object constancy. This model of interaction with the mother is closely related to the development of the ego.
Disorders of ego development
Now that the development of the ego can be precisely described, it is possible to more precisely describe disturbances in the functions of the ego. In psychoanalytic theory, all disturbances in the development of the ego can be traced back to disturbances in early childhood before object constancy is achieved, i.e. to a period before about the 18th month of life.
A rough distinction can be made here:
A premature ego development arises, based on Margaret Mahler's concept of development, when the phase of symbiosis was insufficient. Here, a premature development of the ego sets in, which is supposed to replace the missing symbiotic person with the ego. This is one explanatory model for narcissism .
One can speak of an ego distortion if the symbiotic experience was insufficient. The child had no opportunity to participate in the phase-appropriate omnipotence of the symbiotic partner. Negative experiences prevailed which prevent a libidinal cathexis of the object. Aggressive object occupations cannot be given up.
Ego deviations can occur if the development of the detachment does not go in phase.
Ego regressions are the “sinking” of the ego level to an earlier point in time in individual development. This can also occur in neurotic and normal people in severe crisis situations. In doing so, I functions that have already been achieved can be temporarily lost. In people with a general ego weakness, i.e. an undifferentiated ego, with the corresponding functions, the willingness to regression is much greater. The reality check and the sense of reality can also be effective here. In cognitive terms, a change in thinking could speak of reality-oriented, logically controlled processes. Very blatant forms would be the loss of the ability to speak or move.
Defects in the ego are undesirable developments that intensify in the course of development. The primary autonomous ego functions (see above) are impaired here. A further damage develops in the dialogue with the mother, since the child is quickly overwhelmed due to the lack of autonomous ego functions and cannot react adequately to the contact offers from the mother. Here, for example, learning to walk late can hinder “conquering the world”. A pathological vicious circle develops, which affects the further development of the ego and the self, including self-confidence .
A loss of the ego's ability to control is closely related to ego regression . For example, the ability to control aggressive emotions can be lost.
Today the theories of ego psychology are an integral part of psychoanalysis. They are the origin of many modern theories, which in turn have supplemented and improved ego psychology. Ego psychology can be understood as a psychoanalytic variant of cognitive psychology that deals with mostly conscious functions.
Many ego-psychological theses have also been refuted. Mainly infant and toddler psychoanalytic research has replaced many theories of ego psychology, such as those of Margaret Mahler. Modern research has shown that babies have the ability to interact with their environment very early on. He also does not perceive his environment blurred, as the concept of Margaret Mahler's Symbiotic Phase assumes. The infant is able to distinguish between his actions and the actions of others from an early age. Nor is it by any means undifferentiated and passive in the symbiotic relationship. He also makes contact with the caregiver and can regulate them. Fantasies of merging are also very unlikely, since infants do so in such an early phase of life, the symbiotic phase, according to Mahler, ranges from the 2nd to the 5th / 6th. Month of life, can not have.
Differentiation from ego development according to Loevinger
Jane Loevinger, a psychometrician and developmental psychologist, established another perspective to understand the ego with its functions and developmental aspects. In their constructivist development model of ego development , the ego is understood as a holistic construct that represents the basic structural unit of the organization of one's own personality. The ego forms the frame of reference for integrative processes, the main task of which is to give meaning to intra- and interpersonal experiences. The model makes an important distinction insofar as it is not based on a psychoanalytical understanding of theory, but was developed in the tradition of step models in the field of personality and developmental psychology .
literature
- Anna Freud : The I and the Defense Mechanisms , 1936
- Sigmund Freud : Das Ich und das Es (1923), in: Studienausgabe , Vol. III: Psychology of the Unconscious , Frankfurt am Main: Fischer 1975, ISBN 3-10-822723-8
- Heinz Hartmann (doctor) , ego psychology and adjustment problem [1939], 3rd unchanged. Ed., Stuttgart: Klett, 1975
- Heinz Hartmann (1950): Psychoanalysis and Developmental Psychology. Psyche 18: 354-366
- Margaret Mahler (1999): “The psychic birth of man. Symbiosis and individuation. “Frankfurt a. M., Fischer, ISBN 3-596-26731-5
Secondary literature
- Drews, S. / Brecht, K., Psychoanalytic Ego Psychology. Fundamentals and Development , Frankfurt am Main, 1981, Suhrkamp Taschenbuch Wissenschaft 381
- Ann F. Neel: Handbook of Psychological Theories , 1974
- Wolfgang Mertens (3rd edition 2000): Introduction to psychoanalytic therapy , Stuttgart: Kohlhammer,
- Gertrude Blanck, Rubin Blanck (1998): “Applied I-Psychology”. Stuttgart, Velcro-Cotta. ISBN 3-608-91646-6
- Jane Loevinger, The Idea of the Ego , Washington University (The Counseling Psychologist), 1979.
swell
- ↑ Anna Freud, The I and the Defense Mechanisms , Frankfurt am Main (Fischer), 1984, p. 8
- ↑ Anna Freud (1984) p. 139
- ↑ Ann F. Neel (2nd ed. 1974): Handbook of psychological theories. Munich, Kindler
- ↑ a b c W. Mertens (2000): Introduction to psychoanalytic therapy. Volume 1. Stuttgart, Kohlhammer.
- ↑ a b c M. Stemmer-Lück (2004): Spaces of relationships in social work. Psychoanalytic theories and their application in practice. Stuttgart, Kohlhammer "
- ↑ Phyllis Tyson, Robert L. Tyson: Textbook of psychoanalytic developmental psychology . 3. Edition. W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 2009, ISBN 978-3-17-020914-5 , pp. 95 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
- ↑ Wolfram Ehlers and Alex Hoder (2007): Psychological foundations, development and neurobiology. Basic knowledge of psychoanalysis. Stuttgart, Velcro-Cotta
- ↑ Martin Dornes : The competent infant. The preverbal development of man . Fischer, Frankfurt a. M. 1993.
- ↑ Jane Loevinger, The Idea of the Ego , Washington University (The Counseling Psychologist), 1979