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Idealization And Devaluation
Psychoanalytic theory posits that an individual unable to integrate difficult feelings mobilizes specific defenses to overcome these feelings, which the individual perceives to be unbearable. The defense that effects (brings about) this process is called splitting. Splitting is the tendency to view events or people as either all bad or all good. When viewing people as all good, the individual is said to be using the defense mechanism idealization: a mental mechanism in which the person attributes exaggeratedly positive qualities to the self or others. When viewing people as all bad, the individual employs devaluation: attributing exaggeratedly negative qualities to the self or others. In child development, idealization and devaluation are quite normal. During the childhood development stage, individuals become capable of perceiving others as complex structures, containing both good and bad components. If the development stage is interrupted (by early childhood trauma, for examp ...
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Psychoanalytic Theory
Psychoanalytic theory is the theory of the innate structure of the human soul and the dynamics of personality development relating to the practice of psychoanalysis, a method of research and for treating of Mental disorder, mental disorders (psychopathology). Laid out by Sigmund Freud in the late 19th century (s. ''The Interpretation of Dreams''), he developed the theory and practice of psychoanalysis until his death in 1939. Since then, it has been further refined, also divided into various sub-areas, but independent of this, Freuds structural distinction of the soul into three functionally interlocking instances has been largely retained. Psychoanalysis with its theoretical core came to full prominence in the last third of the twentieth century, as part of the flow of critical discourse regarding psychological treatments in the 1970s. Freud himself had ceased his Physiology, physiological research of the Neurology, neural brain organisation in 1906 (cf. Psychoanalysis#History, h ...
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Healthy Narcissism
Healthy narcissism is a positive sense of self that is in alignment with the greater good. The concept of healthy narcissism was first coined by Paul Federn and gained prominence in the 1970s through the research of Heinz Kohut and Otto Kernberg. It developed slowly out of the psychoanalytic tradition, and became popular in the late twentieth century. The concept of healthy narcissism is used in clinical psychology and popular psychology as an aid to self-assertion and success. It has indeed been suggested that it is useful to think of a continuum of narcissism, ranging from deficient to healthy to pathological, with stable narcissism and destructive narcissism as stopping-points in between. Recent scientific work suggests that healthy narcissism reflects an abundance of agentic/self-enhancing features and a relative absence of antagonistic/other-derogating elements.Back, M. D., Küfner, A. C., Dufner, M., Gerlach, T. M., Rauthmann, J. F., & Denissen, J. J. (2013). Narcissist ...
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Defence Mechanisms
In psychoanalytic theory, defence mechanisms are unconscious psychological processes that protect the self from anxiety-producing thoughts and feelings related to internal conflicts and external stressors. According to this theory, healthy people use different defence mechanisms throughout life. A defence mechanism can become pathological when its persistent use leads to maladaptive behaviour such that the physical or mental health of the individual is adversely affected. Among the purposes of defence mechanisms is to protect the mind/self/ego from anxiety or to provide a refuge from a situation with which one cannot currently cope. Examples of defence mechanisms include: '' repression'', the exclusion of unacceptable desires and ideas from consciousness; '' identification'', the incorporation of some aspects of an object into oneself; '' rationalization'', the justification of one's behaviour by using apparently logical reasons that are acceptable to the ego, thereby furt ...
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Traumatic Bonding
Trauma bonds (also referred to as traumatic bonds) are emotional bonds that arise from a cyclical pattern of abuse. A trauma bond occurs in an abusive relationship, wherein the victim forms an emotional bond with the perpetrator. The concept was developed by psychologists Donald Dutton and Susan Painter. The two main factors that contribute to the establishment of a trauma bond are a power imbalance and intermittent reward and punishment. Trauma bonding can occur within romantic relationships, platonic friendships, parent-child relationships, incestuous relationships, cults, hostage situations, sex trafficking (especially that of minors), hazing or tours of duty among military personnel. Trauma bonds are based on terror, dominance, and unpredictability. As the trauma bond between an abuser and a victim strengthens, it can lead to cyclical patterns of conflicting emotions. Frequently, victims in trauma bonds do not have agency, autonomy, or an individual sense of self. Their ...
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Narcissistic Personality Disorder
Narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) is a personality disorder characterized by a life-long pattern of grandiosity, exaggerated feelings of self-importance, an excessive need for admiration, and a diminished ability to empathy, empathize with other people's feelings. It is often comorbid with other mental disorders and associated with significant functional impairment and psychosocial disability. Personality disorders are a class of mental disorders characterized by enduring and inflexible maladaptive patterns of behavior, cognition, and inner experience, exhibited across many contexts and deviating from those accepted by any culture. These patterns develop by early adulthood, and are associated with significant distress or impairment. Criteria for diagnosing personality disorders are listed in the sixth chapter of the ''International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, International Classification of Diseases'' (ICD) and in the American Psyc ...
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Minimisation (psychology)
Minimisation or minimization is an action where an individual intentionally downplays a situation or a thing. Minimisation, or downplaying the significance of an event or emotion, is a common strategy in dealing with feelings of guilt (emotion), guilt. Understatements Understatement is a form of speech which contains an expression of less strength than what would be expected. A related term is euphemism, where a polite phrase is used in place of a harsher or more offensive expression. Self-esteem/depression Redefining events to downplay their significance can be an effective way of preserving one's self-esteem. One of the problems of Depression (mood), depression (found in those with Major depressive disorder, clinical, Bipolar disorder, bipolar, and Dysthymia, chronic depressive mood disorders, as well as cyclothymia) is the tendency to do the reverse: minimising the positive, discounting praise, and dismissing one's own accomplishments. On the other hand, one technique used b ...
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Madonna–whore Complex
In psychoanalysis, a Madonna–whore complex (also called a Madonna–mistress complex) is the inability to maintain sexual arousal within a committed and loving relationship. First identified by Sigmund Freud, who called it psychic impotence, it is a psychological complex that is said to develop in men who see women as either saintly Madonnas or debased whores. Men with this complex desire a sexual partner who has been degraded (whore) while they cannot desire the respected partner (Madonna). Freud wrote, "Where such men love they have no desire, and where they desire they cannot love." Clinical psychologist Uwe Hartmann wrote in 2009 that the complex "is still highly prevalent in today's patients". In psychoanalysis Freud argued that the Madonna–whore complex was caused by a split between the affectionate and the sexual currents in male desire.Sigmund Freud, ''On Sexuality'' (PFL 7) p. 251 Oedipal and castration anxiety fears prohibit the affection felt for past incestuou ...
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Histrionic Personality Disorder
Histrionic personality disorder (HPD) is a personality disorder characterized by a pattern of excessive attention-seeking behaviors, usually beginning in adolescence or early adulthood, including inappropriate seduction and an excessive desire for approval. People diagnosed with the disorder are said to be lively, dramatic, vivacious, enthusiastic, extroverted, and flirtatious. HPD lies in the emotional cluster of personality disorders, also known as the Cluster B. People with HPD have a high desire for attention, make loud and inappropriate appearances, exaggerate their behaviors and emotions, and crave stimulation. They very often exhibit pervasive and persistent sexually provocative behavior, express strong emotions with an impressionistic style, and can be easily influenced by others. Associated features can include egocentrism, self-indulgence, continuous longing for appreciation, and persistent manipulative behavior to achieve their own wants. Signs and symptoms ...
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Cycle Of Abuse
The cycle of abuse is a social cycle theory developed in 1979 by Lenore E. Walker to explain patterns of behavior in an abusive relationship. The phrase is also used more generally to describe any set of conditions which perpetuate abusive and Dysfunctional family, dysfunctional relationships, such as abusive child rearing practices which tend to get passed down. Walker used the term more narrowly, to describe the cycling patterns of calm, violence, and reconciliation within an abusive relationship. Critics suggest the theory was based on inadequate research criteria, and cannot therefore be generalized upon. Overview Lenore E. Walker interviewed 1,500 women who had been subject to domestic violence and found that there was a similar pattern of abuse, called the "cycle of abuse". Initially, Walker proposed that the cycle of abuse described the Controlling behavior in relationships, controlling, patriarchal behavior of men who felt entitled to abuse their wives to maintain control ...
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Cognitive Dissonance
In the field of psychology, cognitive dissonance is described as a mental phenomenon in which people unknowingly hold fundamentally conflicting cognitions. Being confronted by situations that challenge this dissonance may ultimately result in some change in their cognitions or actions to cause greater alignment between them so as to reduce this dissonance. Relevant items of cognition include peoples' actions, feelings, ideas, beliefs, Value (ethics), values, and things in the Natural environment, environment. Cognitive dissonance exists without signs but surfaces through psychological stress when persons participate in an action that goes against one or more of conflicting things. According to this theory, when an action or idea is psychologically inconsistent with the other, people automatically try to resolve the conflict, usually by reframing a side to make the combination congruent. Discomfort is triggered by beliefs clashing with new information or by having to conceptually re ...
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Borderline Personality Disorder
Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a personality disorder characterized by a pervasive, long-term pattern of significant interpersonal relationship instability, an acute fear of Abandonment (emotional), abandonment, and intense emotional response, emotional outbursts. People diagnosed with BPD frequently exhibit self-harming behaviours and engage in risky activities, primarily due to Emotional dysregulation, challenges regulating emotional states to a healthy, stable baseline. Symptoms such as Dissociation (psychology), dissociation (a feeling of Emotional detachment, detachment from reality), a pervasive sense of emptiness, and distorted sense of self are prevalent among those affected. The onset of BPD symptoms can be triggered by events that others might perceive as normal, with the disorder typically manifesting in early adulthood and persisting across diverse contexts. BPD is often Comorbidity, comorbid with substance use disorders, depressive disorders, and eating ...
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Otto Kernberg
Otto Friedmann Kernberg (; born 10 September 1928) is an Austrian-born American psychoanalyst and professor of psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medicine. He is most widely known for his psychoanalytic theories on borderline personality organization and narcissistic pathology. In addition, his work has been central in integrating postwar ego psychology (which was primarily developed in the United States and the United Kingdom) with object relations perspectives (which were developed primarily in the United Kingdom and South America). Biography Born in Vienna to Jewish parents, Leo Kernberg, and Sonia Paula Friedmann Kernberg, Kernberg was an only child. Kernberg and his family fled Nazi Germany in 1939, emigrating to Chile. He studied biology and medicine at the University of Chile, and afterwards psychiatry and psychoanalysis with the Chilean Psychoanalytic Society. He first came to the U.S. in 1959 on a Rockefeller Foundation fellowship to study research in psychotherapy wit ...
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