Hans was particularly frightened when he once saw a horse collapse in the street, which Freud interpreted as his unconscious death wish towards his father. Freud believed this caused Hans to feel guilt and anxiety. What made Freud come to this conclusion?

During Freud’s time analysing the information provided by Hans’s father,  Hans made statements to his father such as “Daddy, don’t trot away from me”, and ”you are so lovely and white”. Hans’s father was white skinned (fear of white horses), had a large black moustache (black around the horses mouth) and wore thick rimmed glasses (resembling the blinkers worn by the horse). Hans would also play ‘horses’ with his father, with Hans riding on his father’s back. Hans also believed his phobia started when he saw the horse collapse in the street. ”When the horse fell down it gave me such a fright really; that was when I got the nonsense” (Hans’s description of his phobia). But Freud would eventually pay little attention to this explanation.

Freud believed that Hans was suffering from the Oedipus Complex, loving to be in bed with his mother and regarding his father as a rival who he wanted out of the way. But rather than the father being the aggressor, it seemed to be the mother who made explicit threats of castration. She also threatened to abandon him on several occassions (separation anxiety). Hans therefore attempted to be more like his father (called ‘indentification with the aggressor’) to a) win back the love of his mother, and b) stop his father seeing him as a rival and castrating him.

Reality anxiety: this occurs when the ego becomes completely overwhelmed by threats of an external nature, for example an earthquake. It is essentially a fear of real world events.  The most common way of reducing this form of anxiety is to try to avoid external stimuli that may trigger it.

Neurotic anxiety: the unconscious fear that we will lose control of the id’s urges (the primitive and spontaneous part of the psychic apparatus), resulting in punishment for inappropriate behaviour. An example would be hitting someone for upsetting you.

Moral anxiety: a fear of doing something that violates our moral code. It occurs when the ego feels threatened by the superego (our moral compass) as a response to us breaking our own principles, morals and values. An example would be having an affair.

During each stage the child has needs and demands that must be met. Frustration or overindulgence can cause the child to be fixated on one particular stage of development, and this becomes almost hard wired into their psyche. In other words they fail to move from one stage to the next. Freud believed that if a child successfully negotiates each stage, they will have a healthy amount of libido (sexual urge or desire) invested in each stage. This in turn will lead to a well developed adult personality that is not fixated with one particular stage.

Oral Stage (0 to 18 months old)

The child finds pleasure in sucking and biting at this stage. Through feeding the child discovers that suckling brings pleasure, both from the act itself and because it removes the feeling of hunger. The child cannot understand the concept of hunger, but it does recognise the fact that an unpleasant feeling has been removed. The child starts by suckling on the breast, and then proceeds to put anything it can into its mouth. Children who are overindulged at this stage may develop a gullible and optimistic adult personality. Children who are frustrated at this stage may develop suspicious, envious and sarcastic adult personalities.

Anal Stage (18 months to 4 years old) 

During this stage a child finds pleasure in contracting and relaxing the muscles that control the anus. Pleasure is experienced when passing feces. The conflict at this stage is between the ID, which takes pleasure in the act of passing feces, and the EGO and SUPEREGO which remind the child that society expects children to use a potty. If a child takes pleasure in not using the potty to spite its parents, and the parents are lenient about this, the child may develop an ‘anal expulsive character’. This character is usually reckless, defiant, messy and disorganised. Conversely the child who decides not to use the potty by holding in its feces may develop an ‘anal retentive character’. This character is usually neat, precise, tidy, organised, obstinate and careful with money.

Phallic Stage (4 years to 7 years old)

The focus of the child’s pleasure moves to the genitals during this stage. Freud described this stage as crucial because it involves the understanding of sexual roles, and dealing with sexual conflict. These conflicts are the ‘Oedipus Conflict’ for boys, and the ‘Electra Complex’ for girls.  

The Oedipus conflict involves the boy feeling love for his mother, but acknowledging that his father is a competitor for his mother’s love. Freud believed that a boy fears castration (castration anxiety) by his father, so instead the boy takes on his father’s personality traits and suppresses his desire for his mother. The boy believes that he can win his mother vicariously by doing so. At the same time he develops his own sexual identity by copying his father’s character.  

The Electra Complex involves a girl wanting to own her father, but acknowledging that her mother is a competitor for her father’s love. A girl will try to win her father’s love vicariously by taking on her mother’s personality traits.

Children who become fixated during this stage may become reckless, self assured and extremely vain. Failure to resolve this conflict can also cause a person to be afraid, or incapable, of commitment and close love.

The Latency Stage (7 to puberty)

During this stage of development the libido is suppressed in favour of learning. The child will channel sexual energy into sport, same sex friendships and the pursuit of knowledge.

The Genital Stage (puberty onwards)

This stage occurs during puberty and the child becomes preoccupied with the genitals, and the libido in general. If the child has become fixated during any of the other stages of development, this will be a difficult time. A child who has progressed through the other stages with little or no difficulty will find it easier to develop relationships with the opposite sex.

Freud discovered that when clients were encouraged to talk about their earliest memories and occurrences of any neuroses and fantasies, their symptoms began to disappear. He discovered that people’s neuroses were often buried in the deepest recesses of their unconscious mind, but could still have an emotional impact on their daily lives. Freud initially experimented with hypnosis, but abandoned this to further develop a ‘talking cure’ which he called ‘Free Association’.

The role of the psychoanalyst is not to offer problem solving suggestions or advice. Instead the therapist uses a relaxing environment, free of any strong sensory stimulation, and encourages clients to talk freely about anything that comes to mind. Sessions last for approximately an hour, and can take place several times a week. The therapist says very little so that the train of thought of the client is never broken. The task of the therapist is to help the patient recognise, and overcome, their own natural resistances, which may exhibit themselves as hostility towards the therapist. Freud called this hostility ‘transference’. By discovering, and being encouraged to confront, their unconscious conflicts Freud believed the client could be ‘cured’ (what we now call a ‘corrective emotional experience’).

The cure is seen as a release of psychic energy, the repression of which caused the neurotic illness to begin with.

Id

This is the instinctive, genetically inherited part of the personality. It remains infantile throughout the individuals life, always seeking instant gratification and to reduce excitation to a minimum. The id is said to be driven by the ‘Pleasure Principle’. It is sometimes referred to as the child.

Ego

The ego is the executive of the personality and is governed by the ‘Reality Principle’. It manages decision making and planning and is the responsible, logical part of the personality. The ego learns as we grow and is able to determine the difference between a desire and reality – something the id cannot so. It is sometimes referred to as the adult.

Superego

Freud believed that we cannot call ourselves moral beings until our superego is developed. The superego is like a governing parent over the ego, giving out orders, judging it and threatening it with punishment (in the form of guilt) when it doesn’t obey these orders. because of these characteristics it is sometimes referred to as the parent.