Crazy Joe's Psych Notes

Oral, Anal, Phallic, Latency, Genital A newborn baby, according to Freud, is bubbling with energy (libido; psychic energy). However, this energy is without focus or direction, which would not allow for survival. How, then, does the child develop the ability to control and direct his/her energy? Psychic energy is an important concept in Freudian psychology. The structure of the mind and development all revolve around how the individual attempts to deal with psychic energy. Raw libinal impulses provide the basic fuel that the mind runs on. But the vehicle (mind) needs to well-formed and well-tuned in order to get maximum energy. In order to understand development (and neuroses), then, we should “follow the energy” and see where it goes. As with physical energy, psychic energy cannot be created or destroyed in a big picture sense, however it may be dealt with in non-obvious ways. So, where does the infant’s, then the child’s, the adolescent’s, and adult’s energy get focused? Freud believed that as developm