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Module Specifications.

Current Academic Year 2024 - 2025

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Date posted: September 2024

Module Title Psychoanalysis
Module Code PSYC407 (ITS) / PSY1051 (Banner)
Faculty Science & Health School Psychology
Module Co-ordinatorLuiz Gasparelli Junior
Module TeachersLorraine Boran, Nigel Mulligan, Pamela Gallagher
NFQ level 8 Credit Rating 5
Pre-requisite Not Available
Co-requisite Not Available
Compatibles Not Available
Incompatibles Not Available
None
Description

This module aims to enable the student to critically evaluate the place of the unconscious in the development of psychological theory and to develop a critical appraisal of the fundamental characteristics associated with psychoanalytic approaches. Students will be introduced to the work of significant theorists in the field of psychoanalysis.

Learning Outcomes

1. Critically examine the place of psychoanalytic theory and practice within the field of psychology
2. Critically evaluate the impact the discovery of the unconscious had on the development of a psychical topography
3. Critically analyse psychoanalytic frameworks of development and psychopathology
4. Examine the effect of language on the development of the unconscious
5. Compare and contrast theoretical positions (e.g. Freud, Klein, Jung, Erikson, Bowlby and Lacan)
6. Consider and critically explore the development of a psychoanalytic theory of group psychology and social aspects of psychoanalysis.



Workload Full-time hours per semester
Type Hours Description
Lecture22Delivery of lecture content
Directed learning40Directed readings and online material as a follow-up or in preparation for lecture content
Assignment Completion40Preparation, drafting and submission of continuous assessment
Independent Study23No Description
Total Workload: 125

All module information is indicative and subject to change. For further information,students are advised to refer to the University's Marks and Standards and Programme Specific Regulations at: http://www.dcu.ie/registry/examinations/index.shtml

Indicative Content and Learning Activities

Introduction to Psychoanalysis

The Unconscious and Language

The Unconscious, Language Desire, the Oedipus Complex and Freud’s essays on sexuality

Groups, Organisations and Psychoanalysis- Bion

Defence Mechanisms

Psychodynamic psychotherapy

Discourse, Fundamental Concepts, Practice

Transference and the subject-other relationship - Lacan

Dreams and Jokes

Object Relations - Klein

Love Happiness and Relationships

Collective unconscious and archetypes - Jung

Attachment theory - Bowlby

Stages of Psychosocial Development - Erikson

Race, Gender, Sexuality, Social Class within Psychoanalysis

Assessment Breakdown
Continuous Assessment100% Examination Weight0%
Course Work Breakdown
TypeDescription% of totalAssessment Date
Essay3000 word essay demonstrating an understanding of psychoanalytic concepts;70%n/a
Group presentationSmall group presentation on specific themes in psychoanalysis.30%n/a
Reassessment Requirement Type
Resit arrangements are explained by the following categories:
Resit category 1: A resit is available for both* components of the module.
Resit category 2: No resit is available for a 100% continuous assessment module.
Resit category 3: No resit is available for the continuous assessment component where there is a continuous assessment and examination element.
* ‘Both’ is used in the context of the module having a Continuous Assessment/Examination split; where the module is 100% continuous assessment, there will also be a resit of the assessment
This module is category 1
Indicative Reading List

  • Freud: 2001, The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmunnd Freud Volume 2 Studies on Hysteria, Vintage, London,
  • Freud: 2001, The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud Volume 7 A Case of Hysteria, Three Essays on Sexuality and Other Works., Vintage, London,
  • Freud: 2001, The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud Volume 22 New Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis and Other Works, Vintage, London,
  • Ashbach, C., & Shermer, V.: 1994, Object relations the self and the group, Routledge, London,
  • DeBoard R: 1978, The Psychoanalysis of Organizations, Routledge Press, London,
  • Vanheule, S: 2011, The subject of psychosis - a Lacanian perspective., Palgrave Macmillan, London,
  • Verhaeghe, P: 2004, On Being Normal and Other Disorders, Other Press, New York,
  • Bowlby, J.: 1969, Attachment and loss. Vol 1. Attachment., Basic Books, New York,
  • Bowlby, J: 1973, Attachment and loss. Vol. II. Separation: anxiety and anger., Basic Books, New York.,
  • Erikson, E.H.: 1959, Psychological Issues, International University Press,
  • Fink, B.: 1999, A clinical introduction to Lacanian psychoanalysis: theory and technique., Harvard University Press, Cambridge,
  • Freud, S.: 1925, An Autobiographical study. The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud., Vintage, London,
  • Freud, S.: 1919, The Uncanny. The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud., Hogarth Press, London,
  • Freud, S: 1914, Remembering, repeating and working through. The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud., Hogarth Press, London,
  • Freud, S: 1917, Mourning and Melancholia. The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud., Hogarth Press, London,
  • Jung, C: 1991, The archetypes and the collective unconscious., Routledge,
  • Lacan, J: 1977, The Mirror Stage as Formative of the I Function, as Revealed in Psychoanalytic Experience., Norton, New York,
  • Waddel, M: 2002, Inside Lives: Psychoanalysis and the Growth of the Personality. The Tavistock Clinic Series., Routledge,
Other Resources

60023, website, 0, www.lacanonline.com, 60024, website, 0, www.lacanianireland.com,

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