Neo-Freudian Themes: Self-Awareness, Behavior, and Therapy

Introduction

Few 20th-century thinkers were as controversial, or as influential, as Sigmund Freud. Freud's writings, his contributions to the field of psychology, and his therapeutic techniques have been influential not just in psychology but across all the social sciences. At the same time, many of Freud's theories and practices proved problematic or in need of revision. A cadre of important social science researchers — among them Adler, Fromm, Jung, and even Skinner — borrowed the best of Freud's theories while advancing the field and study of psychology. Known as the Neo-Freudians because of their revisionist approach to updating Freud's substantive contributions, this informal group of theorists helped to refine Freudian psychoanalytic theory and methods.

Some of the main themes in Neo-Freudian discourse include self-awareness, the drivers of behavior, and the application of therapeutic techniques. Self-awareness had been one of the goals of Freudian psychoanalysis, and the Neo-Freudians helped show why it was important from a therapeutic standpoint. The Neo-Freudians also illuminated the drivers of human behavior in less deterministic ways than Freud. Finally, Neo-Freudian therapeutic techniques tended to be more optimistic than Freud's methods. This paper synthesizes scholarly literature on three Neo-Freudian themes: self-awareness, the drivers of behavior, and therapeutic techniques. The Neo-Freudians capitalized on Freud's astute analysis of unconscious motivations and personality development while offering a more solution-focused orientation to helping clients in the process of psychotherapy.

Self-Awareness in Neo-Freudian Theory

The first theme that emerges in the literature on Neo-Freudian theories is related to self-awareness. In "Executive Development and Psychoanalytic Therapy," Axelrod (2012) focuses on self-awareness from a psychoanalytic point of view. Axelrod (2012) first describes how Freud conceptualized self-awareness. Freud differentiated between self-reflection and self-observation, showing that self-observation is defined by the relaxation of the superego, while self-reflection does not suspend the self-monitoring or judgmental processes of the superego. Moreover, Axelrod (2012) introduces important material by a contemporary of Freud — Sterba — who also demonstrated the process of self-confrontation. Self-confrontation is superego-driven, and together with self-observation it constitutes a critical component of the psychoanalytic therapeutic process.

Through psychoanalysis, the client uses techniques like free association, a type of self-observation. With the therapist's assistance, the client uses free association to gain insight into his or her own psyche, thereby initiating a self-driven change that has the potential to transform lives. As Axelrod (2012) shows, the Neo-Freudians also introduced related concepts such as self-monitoring, which can be used both outside of and within the therapeutic relationship. The Neo-Freudians helped lay the foundation for further research into how therapists can use self-awareness in career coaching and leadership development. Furthermore, Axelrod (2012) focuses on emotional awareness, which can be connected to emotional intelligence, and suggests ways therapists can incorporate self-awareness methods and techniques into clinical practice.

The Drivers of Human Behavior

Hall and Lindzey (1957) show how the concept of self-realization was only implicit in Freud's work, which was more focused on the processes and structures of the subconscious mind. Neo-Freudians such as Alfred Adler, Erich Fromm, Karen Horney, and Harry Stack Sullivan became interested in humanistic issues like self-realization. Through an assessment of these four Neo-Freudian theorists, Hall and Lindzey (1957) reveal a second theme that emerges in the literature on Neo-Freudian theory: the drivers of human behavior. Freud believed that almost all human behavior is driven by the psychosexual developmental process. In "Social Psychological Theories: Adler, Fromm, Horney, and Sullivan," Hall and Lindzey (1957) show how the Neo-Freudians presented the drivers of human behavior quite differently — not in terms of sexuality, but more in terms of other factors like relationships and culture.

Building on Freud's theories, Adler, Fromm, Horney, and Sullivan all drew from Freud's research on the subconscious and unconscious mind, as well as human development. Yet instead of focusing on psychosexual stages or sexual repression as driving human behavior, these four Neo-Freudian theorists stressed other psychological issues and environmental stimuli, including interpersonal relationships, attachment styles, and coping mechanisms. Furthermore, Hall and Lindzey (1957) show how another major Neo-Freudian, Carl Jung, added a deeper investigation of dreams to the discussion. Jung focused on the concept of the collective unconscious, expanding on Freud's theory of the unconscious mind. To Jung, human behavior is driven not just by childhood memories but also by the collective memories of one's culture and social milieu. Hall and Lindzey (1957) also stress Jung's contributions to personality theory.

Although not typically considered a Neo-Freudian, B.F. Skinner nevertheless built on Freud's theory of the unconscious mind when considering the more mechanistic drivers of behavior. In "Looking for Skinner and Finding Freud," Overskeid (2007) shows how Skinner's theory of behaviorism is related to Freudian psychoanalysis. Although historians of psychology claim that Skinner is "one of the least psychoanalytic thinkers in twentieth-century psychology," Overskeid (2007) argues that Skinner in fact deeply admired Freud. Both Freud and Skinner believed in determinism — that human behavior was in some ways pre-determined by unconscious processes and tendencies. Both were interested in human behavior and what motivates people to act as they do, and Overskeid (2007) claims that both believed human behavior could be studied empirically.

Both Skinner and Freud also believed that human behavior can be changed by making the unconscious conscious. The theme of self-awareness in Neo-Freudianism is thus directly connected with the theme of the drivers of human behavior. When the client in psychotherapy becomes aware of what motivates them, or what causes their habitual responses to external stimuli, it becomes possible to create new habits. Psychoanalysis is the process of making the unconscious conscious. Although Skinner did not himself use the tools of psychoanalysis with clients as Freud did, he helped lay the foundation for what would become cognitive-behavioral therapy.

Conclusion

Three of the most important themes in Neo-Freudian theory are self-awareness, the drivers of human behavior, and the therapeutic process. Self-awareness is more than just self-monitoring. Whereas Freud remained content with self-awareness as a goal of therapy, the Neo-Freudians helped show how individuals can use self-awareness to understand the drivers of human behavior through a more rigorous and solution-focused therapeutic process. The drivers of human behavior are not just repressed sexual urges but also habituated thoughts and patterns. Freud was instrumental in showing how unconscious processes impact personality, self-concept, and behavior. The Neo-Freudians demonstrated that it was not only sexuality and repressed urges that determined human behavior or personality, but also environmental factors, culture, and interpersonal communication.

Synthesizing research on Neo-Freudianism helps psychologists better understand how to assist clients in a clinical setting. Similarly, researchers in psychology can use Neo-Freudian theory to guide future investigations into everything from mental illness to organizational behavior and leadership. The field of psychology has limitless potential, as it is at its foundation the study of human behavior. Freud was the father of psychoanalysis; the Neo-Freudians were the progenitors of a multidisciplinary social science.

References

Axelrod, S. D. (2012). Self-awareness: At the interface of executive development and psychoanalytic therapy. Psychoanalytic Inquiry, 32(4), 340–357.

Eagle, M. N. (2007). Psychoanalysis and its critics. Psychoanalytic Psychology, 24(1), 10–24.

Hall, C. S., & Lindzey, G. (1957). Social psychological theories: Adler, Fromm, Horney, and Sullivan. In Theories of personality (pp. 114–156). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. doi:10.1037/10910-004

Overskeid, G. (2007). Looking for Skinner and finding Freud. American Psychologist, 62(6), 590–595.

Scaturo, D. J. (2005). Clinical dilemmas in psychotherapy: A transtheoretical approach to psychotherapy integration. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Weaver, Y. (2009). Mid-life — A time of crisis or new possibilities? Existential Analysis, 20(1), 69–78.