Psychoanalysis

Psychoanalysis is a theory of the mind and it is also a therapeutic process. It's a process done by one individual who's professionally trained to listen to another individual, trying to understand issues and problems they derive from the past. Psychoanalysts are experts on human development and human behaviour, they're skilled to understand what lies on the patient's subconscious.

Sigmund Freud was one of the first people who listened in this unique way, he was a neurologist by training. He treated hysteria patients using psychoanalysis and he gradually developed this process of listening to individuals and connecting the dots. He grew tired of people looking at him and he suggested his patients to lie down, therefore developing this technique of using the couch. This technique worked so well because it freed the patient and let them open up when they speak about very intimate things.

Freud also studied the stages of infancy, the stages a child goes through in order to become a fully conscious being. A child develops preconceptions that must be dealt with in order to develop successfully through the Oedipus complex, castration and penis envy. The dynamic unconscious is created through infancy to protect our conscious selves from events, ideas and thoughts.
-Psycho-sexual Identity
Oedipus complex- sexual/love feelings towards mother and resentment of father through childhood dependence and self centred world view.
-Castration complex
The boy fears castration while the girl accepts that she has already been castrated. (The phallus as a symbol of power).

-Penis Envy
The girl experiences this when she begins to realise she does not have a penis, not as a sexual organ but a way of relating to the father-figure.

-The Uncanny
The uncanny is something that is simultaneously unnatural yet familiar. Analogies between the unconscious (psychology) and the uncanny (aesthetics).

-Freudian Models.
Id, ego, super ego this means Unconscious, preconscious and conscious.

Id (unconscious) - it represents the biological/ instinctual part of ourselves.

Ego (conscious) - this one represents the individual/ personality of ourselves.

Super-Ego (social-order) - In Psychoanalysis, according to Sigmund Freud, this is the component that is developed because of the Id. It is the formation of internal standards (most importantly included are morals). The superego strives for perfection. This component is initiated by the pressures of parents, peers, and society.

After Sigmund Freud died Jacques Lacan represented his own brand of psychoanalysis in the 1960's-70's 'claiming a return to Freud'

-The Lacanian Unconscious 

It is structured like a language , the language is the discourse of the super ego.

-Conclusion

Psychoanalysis provides us with the definition of the unconscious, its a tool to help us understand how art and design affects us and why. Many films of our generation have referenced psychoanalysis and Christopher Nolan's Inception being of my all time favourite.