Each of the stages in the table below is characterised by a focus on a different region of the body. Freud believed that an individual’s libido is fixated on a part of the body during particular periods of a child’s life. The focus on particular body regions is related to phases of development; the mouth is important in the early months, the anal region becomes important during toilet training and the genitals are the focus during gender identity development.
If we receive either too much or too little gratification, we become fixated in a particular stage, i.e., we continue to have the same demand for gratification at that stage for the rest of our life. This condition is thought to produce a variety of neurotic behaviours, depending on the type of fixation. Freud believed that to deal with fixation at any particular stage, we must regress to that stage and resolve the issues that led to the …show more content…
All of these things help us to understand a client’s presenting issues, by careful questioning and listening we will find out what has triggered the present state of the client. The past lives with us and helps to form us into the person we are, sometimes we need to “rebalance” our past so that we can put more emphasis on the positive contributors and reduce the negative ones. The quiet calm of the therapist’s room can allow the client to make contact with their subconscious and to bring into awareness thoughts that may have been repressed. Application of his theory can help to throw light on the conflicts that have affected the client’s life – often disclosed by the client himself simply taking the time in a safe environment to reflect on what has happened, and with the support of the counsellor to be encouraged to explore more deeply those areas which perhaps he had always refused to look at