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There are quite a few people who have made a mark on what we have come to understand about psychoanalysis and how people develop throughout the stages of life. One such person is psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan. Lacan contributed his own set of theories that influenced the psychiatric and psychoanalytical community. His concepts were called Lacanian Psychoanalysis, which revolved around four different concepts.

The return to Freud, as Lacan called it, was the concept that he introduced around 1951, when his weekly seminars began. The seminars and the concept were based on Freud’s psychological theories and how language and psychoanalysis apply. Lacan’s theories, which coincided with many of Freud’s, were introduced through a report he published during the early days of his seminars. Lacan theorized that slips of the tongue and certain interpretations of dreams held proof that the conscious and subconscious are not as similar as others theorized. In fact, according to Lacan, the subconscious is a complex thing; its structure was often compared by Lacan to a language. Lacan also theorized that if exposed to extreme trauma, the subconscious cannot go back to another time or state.

The second concept is what Lacan called the mirror stage. The introduction of this theory became Lacan’s first official psychoanalytic contribution. This concept details Lacan’s theory that the ego is formed through objectification. The ego is the result of a person’s conflict between perceived appearance and emotional experiences. It is named the mirror stage because of Lacan’s descriptions that involve using mirrors for infants to gain self-recognition.

The third concept, named Other, involves the big Other and the little other. The big Other, named A, and the little other, named a, both play two different parts. The big Other is what Lacan called the radical other; it cannot be understood thoroughly with identification. The little other is the projection and reflection of the ego.

The fourth concept of Lacan’s theories is centered on three different orders: Imaginary, Symbolic, and Real. The Imaginary order outlines the imagination as well as the ability to be deceptive and create images. The Symbolic order provides structure for the Imaginary order and is based on linguistic aspects. The Real order encompasses anxiety and traumatic qualities; it is the exact opposite of the Imaginary order.

Lacanian psychoanalysis relies heavily on Freud’s theories in psychoanalysis and the structures of how a person develops from infancy. Lacan’s theories state that people are incapable of an increased degree of self-reflection. He believed that social theories and psychoanalysis are not linked in any way.

Learn more about how the lacan psychoanalysis ideas and concepts were created now in our comprehensive guide to top psychoanalyst london .

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