Regression (psychoanalysis)

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In psychoanalytic theory, regression describes a psychological defense mechanism that serves to cope with anxiety . There is a temporary withdrawal to an earlier stage of personal development . Regression is a process in which the I fearing the instinctual wishes of it or the demands of the superego already abandons acquired positions of the maturity and the associated skills and retreats to earlier positions that " binding sites " are called. The antagonist of regression is progression . It is a term used to describe a process in which the ego moves from immature positions to more mature ones, acquiring skills that will help navigate life.

Like all defense mechanisms, regression is mostly unconscious and serves to stabilize the psychological balance. In this sense it is not dysfunctional , but part of the ability to control oneself .

Development of the term

The concept of regression was introduced into psychoanalytic practice by Sigmund Freud and was closely linked to the psychopathological manifestations and psychosexual development (such as libido , drive theory ) described by him . For Freud, the concept of regression stands for the “tendency of the libido to return to the earlier pregenital cathexes in the event of genital unsatisfaction or real difficulties”.

Freud's student Kurt Lewin notes: "His theory of the levels of libido organization that divides the development of the individual is largely based on observations of regression in the field of psychopathology".

Anna Freud describes regression in her fundamental work The Ego and the Defense Mechanisms together with ten other defense mechanisms, all of which serve in a more or less meaningful or pathological way to process inner conflicts .

For the first time, the psychoanalyst Michael Balint also evaluates regression as a coping mechanism that is useful for self-regulation . Along with this, the relationship between patient and therapist with its "healing" aspects is also clearly emphasized. Thereafter, regression is considered a therapeutic moment in which essential components of the interactive relationship between patient and therapist are taken into account. Balint's regression term differs not only in terms of content from the term originally used by Freud, but can also be applied in a therapy-relevant manner.

Also Reinhart Lempp tries to establish a clearly positive approach to the phenomenon of regression: it describes regression as almost everyday, often only short-lasting behavior that temporarily protects people from the unreasonable demands of the present and his self-doubt and gives him opportunities of the through breathing.

Malignant and benign regression and progression

Michael Balint distinguishes between two forms of regression in his book Therapeutic Aspects of Regression 1968:

  • Malignant regression - a development step is not made or is prevented by the regression.
  • Benign regression - makes it possible to remember emotional states that were once present in therapy. In an extremely stressful time, you will temporarily return to a cared-for state.

Balint also differentiates benign progression from malignant progression, in which a developmental step is taken too early.

criticism

As a result of the results of recent research on babies, the concept of regression, as it is understood by psychoanalysis, is being viewed increasingly critically and viewed as not tenable. The criticism of the concept of regression goes hand in hand with the criticism of the psychoanalytic model of development.

The Gestalt therapy practiced early criticism of the regression term. Fritz Perls assumes that a patient does not fall back to an earlier stage of his development, but only reveals another side of his personality. The current Gestalt therapy defines regression as “(temporary or long-lasting) restriction in the current possibility of a person to realize all competences once acquired according to his wishes. Such restrictions can affect both earlier and later acquired skills. "

literature

  • Michael Balint : Anxiety and Regression; Contribution to psychological typology (= rororo-Studium 21 Psychoanalyse ) Rowohlt, Reinbek bei Hamburg 1972, ISBN 3-499-21021-5 (Original: Thrills and Regression (= The International Psycho-Analytical Library. No. 54, ZDB -ID 1149075 -5 ). The Hogarth Press, London 1959).
  • Michael Balint: Therapeutic Aspects of Regression. The basic disorder theory. Klett, Stuttgart 1970, ISBN 3-12-900600-1 (Original: The Basic Fault. Therapeutic Aspects of Regression. Tavistock Publications, London 1968).
  • Anna Freud : The I and the defense mechanisms (= Fischer 42001 Spirit and Psyche ). Unabridged edition, 42nd - 43rd thousand. Fischer-Taschenbuch-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1997, ISBN 3-596-42001-6 .
  • Sigmund Freud : Outline of Psychoanalysis. Introductory presentations. (= Fischer pocket books 10434 Psychology ). 10th, unchanged edition. Fischer-Taschenbuch-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2004, ISBN 3-596-10434-3 .
  • Rolf Haubl , Walter Molt, Gabriele Weidenfeller, Peter Wimmer: Structure and dynamics of the person. Introduction to personality psychology (= WV study 135 Psychology ). Westdeutscher Verlag, Opladen 1986, ISBN 3-531-22135-3 .
  • Reinhart Lempp : The child in the person. Side realities and regression - or: Why we will never grow up. Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 2003, ISBN 3-608-94062-6 .
  • Kurt Lewin : Regression, Retrogression and Development (1941). In: Carl-Friedrich Graumann (Ed.): Kurt Lewin work edition. Volume 6: Franz E. Weinert , Horst Gundlach: Psychology of development and upbringing. Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 1982, ISBN 3-12-935160-4 , pp. 293-336.
  • Wolfgang Loch (ed.): The pathology of psychoanalysis. An introduction. Hirzel, Stuttgart 1967.
  • Floyd L. Ruch, Philip G. Zimbardo : Textbook of Psychology. An introduction for students of psychology, medicine, and education. Springer, Berlin et al. 1974, ISBN 3-540-06549-0 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ruch, Zimbardo: Textbook of Psychology. 1974, p. 368.
  2. ^ A b Kurt Lewin: Regression, Retrogression and Development (1941). In: Carl-Friedrich Graumann (Ed.): Kurt Lewin work edition. Volume 6: Franz E. Weinert, Horst Gundlach: Psychology of development and upbringing. 1982, pp. 293-336.
  3. ^ Sigmund Freud: Outline of Psychoanalysis. 2004.
  4. ↑ Anna Freud: The I and the defense mechanisms. 1997.
  5. ↑ Michael Balint: Therapeutic Aspects of Regression. 1970.
  6. ↑ Reinhart Lempp: The child in people. 2003.
  7. ↑ a b Wolfram Mauser, Joachim Pfeiffer: Erinnern . Königshausen & Neumann, 2004, ISBN 978-3-8260-2805-2 , p. 214 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
  8. ↑ Donald W. Winnicott: From Play to Creativity . Klett-Cotta, 1993, ISBN 978-3-608-95376-3 , pp. 67 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
  9. ↑ a b c Dieter Elendt: Psychodynamics of homeopathic drug pictures . Books on Demand, 2013, ISBN 978-3-8482-7160-3 , pp. 557 (Google Book | BookID = ZR6kAQAAQBAJ | Page = 557}}).
  10. ^ Dunja Voos: Regression in the service of the ego and malignant regression. www.medizin-im-text.de from July 12, 2015.
  11. ^ Daniel Stern : The Infant's Life Experience. Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 1992, ISBN 3-608-95687-5 .
  12. ↑ Hilarion G. Petzold (Ed.): Psychotherapy and baby research. Volume 2: The power of loving looks. Infant observations revolutionize psychotherapy (= Innovative Psychotherapy and Human Sciences. Vol. 56). Junfermann, Paderborn 1995, ISBN 3-87387-122-X .
  13. ↑ Frederick S. Perls : The I, the Hunger and the Aggression. The beginnings of Gestalt therapy. Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 1978, ISBN 3-12-906450-8 , p. 250 f.
  14. ↑ Frank-M. Staemmler: To understand regressive processes in Gestalt therapy. In: Gestalt criticism. Issue 1, 2000.