The DOT Talks webinar held on 17th August 2020 witnessed Dr. Watinaro Longkumer, Assistant Professor and the Head of Department of Department of Psychology and Counselling at St. Joseph University, Dimapur as the resource speaker on the topic of Psychology as a subject of discussion in general and Sigmund Freud’s Psychoanalytic theory.
Dr. Watinaro approached the subject by stating that understanding the human mind is at the core of psychoanalytic theory. Giving a brief history of Sigmund Freud’s life and work, she stated that Freud is the most famous psychologist ever, and his work has profound influence in 20th and 21st century.
One of the most important things that make Freud’s theory interesting is the scope as it discusses about everything, day to day life, child development, mental illness, religion, war, love, etc she said and added that there is a lot of critical influence on how we think about the present that this theory has shaped our understanding about the human mind.
Explaining the model of the human mind as propounded by Freud, Dr. Watinaro compared the human mind to the tip of an iceberg which represents the conscious part of the mind we are aware about. While the subconscious are things which we could be aware of, she stated that the unconscious part are things which we are unaware of and cannot become aware of.
She further explained that Freud’s theory of the human personality is divided into id, ego and superego which are constant conflict with each other especially the id and the superego. This conflict gives rise to anxiety, she added. Dr. Watinaro stated that people use defense mechanisms to protect themselves from information contained in the unconscious by building certain ego defense mechanisms which can be healthy or unhealthy. Some ego defense mechanisms that were presented are displacement, reaction formation, suppression, repression, regression, and rationalization.
The resource speaker also explored the concept known as the Freudian slip or slip of the tongue where a person reveals what is really on our mind by saying something we didn’t mean to. She said that Freud believed that slip of the tongue provided an insight into the unconscious mind and that there were no mistakes because every behavior (including slips of the tongue) was significant.
Dr. Watinaro also presented on Freud’s five psychosexual stages of development which a person undergoes until maturity. In conclusion, she ended with a quote of Freud’s which reads: “Unexpressed emotions will never die. They are buried alive and will come forth later in uglier ways.”