Sigmund Freud and Freud Hank

Fardad Muhammad Baig 2014-02-0338 Personality Theories Uzma Mazhar 1) What personality (or character) type does Hank display according to Freudian theory? Provide evidence for your answer. At what stage is Hank fixated, according to the Freudian perspective? Find evidence of fixation in the case study. What might have caused this fixation? According to Freud Hank’s displays the Oral Aggressive personality type. This personality type is characterized by envy, manipulation of others, and suspiciousness. ‘Oral aggressive’ people are often perceived as envious, pessimistic, cynical, sarcastic, scornful and contemptuous.
Hank perceives others as shallow and is sarcastic about others. Hank is fixated at the oral stage. Orally-fixated people often seek gratification through smoking, thumb-sucking, nail-biting and chewing objects like pens and pencils. Hanks resort to smoking and eating when he is stressed. This fixation occurs as a result of his mother’s overprotectiveness. His mother used to fulfill his needs instantly. This resulted in his habit of instant gratification which could not be fulfilled later in life. His mother use to shut him up with cookies.
This is me was a clean sign that he had dependency issue towards his mother. The mother did not discipline her son which can lead him to have unbalance state of mind. After reading the case study, I believe the mother is part to blame for Hank’s fixation because he was spoiled into a self-centered person, without him even noticing. 2) Would Freudian theory describe Hank’s eating and argumentative behaviors as being internally or externally motivated? Explain the motivation. Freudian Theory will describe Hank’s eating and argumentative behaviors as being internally motivated.

His habit of eating is a sign of fixation at the Oral Stage as a result of which he resorts to excessive eating and smoking when he is in stress. His argumentative nature expresses his discontent towards others because these people did not give him as much attention as his mother did. He, therefore, is angry at others. As a child he was exposed to immediate gratification by excessive feeding. These evidences show that these behaviors were internally motivated. 3) Find an example of a Freudian a Freudian defense mechanism that Hank uses in this description. Explain it.
Hank habits alienate people, including Sally. However, when Sally left him Hank thought that she broke up with him because of his weight problem and then he goes on to blame her for her shallowness. He is ‘rationalizing’ here. He is focusing on other reason whereas the real problem lies within him which he is not willing to accept. 4) Find an example of regression in the case study. Explain it. When Hank thought about the previous week he felt stressed. To lower his stress he starts eating the ice cream. After this he starts smoking which also helps him to reduce the tension. This is an evidence of regression.
In a state of stress Hank regresses back to the Oral stage and seeks gratification through excessive eating and smoking. 5) Would a Freudian therapist view Hank’s weight problem as a behavioral problem, in and of itself, or as a symptom of another problem? Explain. A Freudian Therapist would view Hank’s weight problem as a symptom of his fixation at the oral stage. Instead of confronting a stressful situation Hank regresses back to the oral stage and seeks instant oral gratification through smoking and eating. This is the cause of his weight problem. It is also possible that his weight problem can be addressed as a behavior problem.
Children learn to behave in a certain manner by observing other people. Since Hank’s didn’t have any friends, he was not able to learn from others. 6) What therapeutic techniques would a Freudian therapist, like the one in this case study, likely use? What state of consciousness would be the focus of the therapy? What brings healing in Freudian therapy? A Freudian Therapist will use the therapeutic technique of Free Association for Hank’s therapy. Psychoanalysis assumes that people are often conflicted between their need to learn about themselves, and their (conscious or unconscious) fears of and defenses against change and self-exposure.
Hank’s will be allowed to talk about anything he wishes but this will lead him to talk about the things which matter to him the most. This will instigate a journey of co-discovery which can enhance Hank’s integration of thought, feeling, and selfhood. The unconsciousness will be the focus of the therapy. The therapist will try to make Hank realize his weaknesses so that he can work on them. In Freudian therapy, or psychoanalysis, healing occurs when repressed thoughts and feelings are brought in to consciousness. This allows the patient to develop a stronger ego and resolve internal conflict.