lesson
Updated 1 month ago · 5 views
Have you ever blurted out a weird word by mistake, or woken up from a bizarre dream wondering where on earth that came from?
In the 1890s, Austrian physician Sigmund Freud proposed that our minds deliberately hide thoughts and urges in the unconscious, a mental space containing memories and impulses outside conscious awareness.
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To keep emotional distress low, the mind protects itself through repression, the automatic process of burying disturbing thoughts deep into the unconscious.
If these conflicts are buried so deeply below everyday awareness, how can a therapist ever help someone uncover them?
Free Association
Freud instructed his patients to recline comfortably on a couch facing away from him so they wouldn't read his facial expressions or feel judged.
He asked them to practice free association, a technique where a client says whatever enters their mind without filtering, judging, or editing the thoughts.
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When a client hesitates, stammers, or suddenly changes the subject, the therapist spots resistance, an unconscious defensive roadblock protecting a hidden conflict.
By pinpointing where resistance occurs, the psychoanalyst helps the client confront the sensitive memories they were avoiding.
Free association works while you are wide awake, but what happens when you fall asleep and your conscious guard drops?