Building mental wellness on a foundation of strength
In this series, I dig a little deeper into the meaning of psychology-related terms. This week's term is the anal triad. I originally intended to do this post on stubbornness. I couldn't find much interesting on that, but it led me to obstinacy, which in turn led to the anal triad. We have Sigmund Freud's… Continue reading What Is… The Anal Triad
In this series, I dig a little deeper into the meaning of psychology-related terms. This week's term is containment. Containment was first proposed by British psychoanalyst Wilfred Bion to describe a pattern of communicating mental experiences. Another researcher later suggested that Bion's theory was influenced by his own traumatic experience fighting in World War I.… Continue reading What Is… Containment
My last hospitalization for depression happened after a suicide attempt. My primary nurse kept asked me what I was angry about. She was insistent that I must have been angry about something to have tried to kill myself. She seemed annoyed when I assured her that no, I wasn't angry, and anger had nothing to… Continue reading Is Depression Anger Turned Inward?
In this series, I dig a little deeper into the meaning of psychology-related terms. This week's term is not so much a single term as a group of terms that fall within the umbrella of Freudian psychoanalytic theory. Love him or hate him, Sigmund Freud was quite remarkable in terms of his impact on the… Continue reading What Is… Freudian Psychoanalytic Theory
In this series, I dig a little deeper into the meaning of psychology-related terms. This week's term is dreaming. We all have dreams, whether we remember them or not, but what exactly are they? The reality is that no one really knows for sure. There are a few things we do know, though. REM sleep… Continue reading What Is… Dreaming
In this series, I dig a little deeper into the meaning of psychology-related terms. This week's terms are repression and suppression. Freud's psychoanlytic theory Suppression and repression are examples of Freudian defense mechanisms. They serve the purpose of removing unwanted information from conscious awareness. Suppression is done consciously, while repression is automatic and unconscious. Freud… Continue reading What Is… Repression and Suppression
In this series, I dig a little deeper into the meaning of psychology-related terms. This week's term is defense mechanisms. The concept of defense mechanisms was originally proposed by Sigmund Freud. They're strategies that are used unconsciously in order to protect the ego when faced with uncomfortable feelings. Freud identified a number of defense mechanisms,… Continue reading What is… a Defense Mechanism
In this series, I dig a little deeper into the meaning of psychology-related terms. This week's terms are ego-dystonic and ego-sytonic. The terms ego-syntonic/dystonic come from the field of psychoanalysis, and were coined by Sigmund Freud in 1914. Ego-syntonic ideas match up with the ego's needs, view of the self, and personality. Ego-dystonic beliefs do… Continue reading What Is… Ego-Dystonic & Ego-Syntonic
In this series, I dig a little deeper into the meaning of psychological terms. This week's term is psychodynamic psychotherapy. Psychodynamic psychotherapy is a type of talk therapy that does a deep dive into the past to help uncover what's going on in the unconscious mind in order to figure out problems in the person's… Continue reading What Is… Psychodynamic Psychotherapy
In this series, I dig a little deeper into the meaning of psychological terms. This week's terms are transference and countertransference. The concept of transference was first proposed by Sigmund Freud. In therapy, it occurs when a client unconsciously redirects feelings associated with one person, often an important figure in the earlier part of their… Continue reading What Is… Transference & Countertransference
