A Guide to Counseling Theories: Secular and Sacred

This approach sees human nature as being deterministic. In other words, the behavior of people is determined by irrational forces, unconscious motivations, biological and instinctual drives, and certain psychosexual events during the first six years of life determine who and what they are. In psychoanalytic therapy the life instincts of the client (known as Eros) play a central role in analysis and treatment. The instincts of people serve to ensure their survival and that of the human race, and these instincts are oriented toward growth, development, and creativity. The libido includes sexual energy as well as all pleasurable acts. People are said also to have death instincts (known as Thanatos), which is the source of the aggressive drive in people. Sometimes in their behavior people display an unconscious desire to die or to hurt themselves or others. The aggressive drive can conflict with the sexual drive of a person, and this can be a powerful determinant in the way one acts as he does. Id, ego, and superego constitute the basis of personality structure. The id (the biological component) is completely unconscious and the source of psychic energy. Psychic energy is derived from instinctual needs and drives. The ego (the psychological component) serves as the conscious mediator between the person and reality, especially by functioning both in the perception and adaptation of reality. The superego (the social component) is only partly conscious. It represents the internalization of parental conscience and the rules of society. The superego functions to reward and punish through a system of moral attitudes, conscience, and a sense of guilt.