Psychoanalytic Understanding of the Maternal Role of Woman

The purpose of this master's dissertation is to provide a psychoanalytical understanding of the maternal role of woman, taking into account the data of new research, as well as in the context of cultural and social changes. For this purpose, the early psychoanalytical concepts of Freud, Klein, Deutsch, as well as more modern ideas of authors such as Kestenberg, Bibring and others were investigated, and the latest research in the field of biology, endocrinology and human sexuality were studied. The following tasks were set when writing the work: 1. to trace changes in the theoretical concepts of mother and motherhood; 2. to determine the origins and development of internal motivation for motherhood; 3. to identify the peculiarities of the transformational stages of development during pregnancy and further; 4. to identify the main psychological difficulties and problems faced by women at different stages of realization and non-realization of motherhood; 5. to identify ways to interact with these difficulties, which can be applied in clinical practice. The result is an understanding that both passivity and masochism are no longer attributed to a truly feminine nature. It is likely that the women's rights movement, which has been gaining momentum recently is an attempt to declare their desire to participate in work on an equal footing, as well as to enjoy motherhood without self-sacrifice, but taking into account their own interests. We came to understand that due to the widespread use of contraceptives, both family and motherhood today are a matter of choice. And the widespread belief that a woman has a maternal instinct has not been confirmed. Also in the research process, due attention was paid to such difficulties of motherhood as the ambivalent feelings of a woman towards her child at various stages of the development crisis. Using clinical cases as an example, it was found that interactions that encourage women to share their dreams and fantasies can help the therapist predict her future interactions with the child. On the example of other clinical cases, it was possible to trace the relationship of such a phenomenon as the unrealization of motherhood with the peculiarities of the sense of time and timelessness, as well as its relationship with the woman's attitude to mother and siblings.