Emanuela Brun Psychologist Msc

The Superego is one of the three components of personality in Sigmund Freud’s structural model of the psyche, alongside the Id and the Ego. While the Id represents our instinctive drives and desires and the Ego helps us navigate reality, the Superego represents our internalized moral standards, values, ideals, and expectations. In simple terms, it is closely connected to the internal voice that tells us what we should and should not do, but also what kind of person we believe

In everyday language, when we say that someone “has a big ego,” we usually mean that they think very highly of themselves, seek admiration, or have an exaggerated sense of importance. In psychology, and particularly in Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory, the Ego means something very different. The Ego is the part of the personality that helps us navigate reality. It develops as we gradually understand that our desires cannot always be satisfied immediately, that other peop

The Id is one of the three components of personality in Sigmund Freud’s structural model of the psyche, alongside the Ego and the Superego. According to Freud, the Id represents the most primitive and instinctive part of our psychological functioning. It is present from birth and contains our basic drives, impulses, desires, and instinctual needs. The Id operates according to what Freud called the pleasure principle. Its primary goal is simple: seek pleasure, satisfy needs, a

Why do we pursue some needs before others? Why is personal growth difficult when we do not feel safe? And why can our priorities change so dramatically depending on our circumstances? In 1943, American psychologist Abraham Maslow proposed a theory of human motivation that would later become one of the most recognizable models in psychology: Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. The basic idea is relatively simple. Human beings have different categories of needs, and more fundamental n

We often talk about the self as if it were one unified voice. But psychologically, our internal experience is rarely that simple. One part of you may desperately want change, while another resists it. One part wants intimacy, while another creates distance the moment someone gets too close. One part wants to rest, while another tells you that slowing down means you are lazy or falling behind. This is the basic idea behind parts-oriented therapy: rather than understanding thes

Egocentrism is the tendency to perceive and interpret the world primarily from our own point of view, while having difficulty fully recognizing that other people may have different thoughts, emotions, knowledge, needs, or perspectives. It does not necessarily mean that someone is selfish, arrogant, or narcissistic. Instead, egocentrism is fundamentally about perspective. We all experience reality from inside our own minds. We have direct access to our own thoughts, emotions,

Color is not simply something we see, but something the brain interprets. Physically, what reaches our eyes is light. Different wavelengths of visible light stimulate photoreceptors in the retina in different patterns, and this information is transmitted through the visual system. The brain then constructs what we experience as color. But recognizing a color is only part of the process. The brain also connects colors with previous experiences, memories, emotions, environmenta

Androgens are a group of steroid hormones commonly described as “male hormones.” However, this definition is an oversimplification. Androgens are present and biologically important in both men and women. While their concentrations and patterns of production differ between the sexes, they influence much more than sexual development and reproduction. They also interact with the brain, muscles, bones, metabolism, skin, and several aspects of behaviour. The best-known androgen is

Estrogen is often described simply as a “female sex hormone,” but this definition does not really capture how much it actually does. Estrogens are a group of steroid hormones that influence the reproductive system, brain, bones, cardiovascular system, metabolism, skin, and many other tissues. And importantly, estrogen is present and biologically important in both women and men. The three main forms of estrogen are estradiol, estrone, and estriol. Estradiol is generally the mo

When something makes us anxious, uncomfortable, or afraid, the brain naturally wants to move away from it. And from a survival perspective, this makes perfect sense. Our brain is constantly trying to predict what is safe and what might represent a threat. When something has previously been associated with fear, pain, rejection, or uncertainty, threat-related neural systems can become activated before we have consciously decided how we want to respond. So we avoid. We avoid th

Forensic psychology is the field where psychology and the legal system intersect. It applies psychological knowledge, research, and assessment to questions that arise within criminal and civil law. And despite what movies and crime series often suggest, forensic psychology is not simply about “getting inside the mind of a criminal.” It is a much broader field. A forensic psychologist may work with offenders, victims, witnesses, lawyers, courts, correctional institutions, or l

The Troxler effect is a fascinating example of just how selective our brain is with the information it processes. If you stare at one specific point for long enough, without moving your eyes much, you may notice that some elements in your peripheral vision gradually begin to fade or even disappear. Of course, they haven’t actually disappeared. Your brain has simply started paying less attention to them. This phenomenon is known as Troxler fading, and it is associated with neu

“How you do anything is how you do everything” means that the way you approach the small things in life often reflects the behavioral patterns you bring into the bigger ones. If you constantly postpone something small because “it doesn’t really matter,” procrastination will probably not exist only in that one area of your life. If you tend to quit the moment something becomes uncomfortable, you may have learned to respond to discomfort with avoidance. If, on the other hand, y

Some people wake up at 6 a.m. and somehow already have energy, motivation, and the ability to hold a conversation. Others need several hours before their brain feels fully online, but can work, think, and create effortlessly late at night. We tend to treat this difference as a matter of discipline. Morning people are often described as productive and organised, while people who stay up late are assumed to simply have bad habits. But our sleep timing is not entirely a choice.

When we love someone, it’s natural to want to see them happy. We want to support them, reassure them, and be there for them when they’re struggling. But there is an important difference between supporting someone and constantly trying to keep them happy with us. This is where the difference between tough love and people-pleasing love comes in. What is people-pleasing love? People pleasing in relationships happens when our need to avoid disappointing someone begins to influenc

We like to think of ourselves as highly rational beings. We build cities, develop artificial intelligence, study the universe and spend hours analyzing our own behavior. And yet, underneath all of this complexity, the human brain is still deeply shaped by its evolutionary past. The phrase “monkey brain” is not a scientific term for a specific part of the brain. It is often used informally to describe the older, evolutionarily conserved systems that influence our impulses, emo

What if you could understand your body and brain well enough to make small, intentional changes that improve the way you think, feel, perform, and recover? That is essentially the idea behind biohacking. Biohacking is a broad term used to describe the practice of modifying aspects of our lifestyle, environment, or biology with the goal of improving physical or cognitive performance. Despite the futuristic name, many forms of biohacking are surprisingly simple. Sleep optimizat

Have you ever thought about a decision so much that, in the end, you did absolutely nothing? You go through every possible scenario. You compare your options. You ask people what they think. You search for more information. You think you have finally made a decision and then, five minutes later, you start questioning it again. This is what we often call analysis paralysis. Analysis paralysis happens when we spend so much time analysing a situation that thinking actually start

Why do some people approach challenges thinking, “I’ll find a way,” while others assume they will fail before they even begin? One important psychological concept behind this difference is self-efficacy. The term self-efficacy, introduced by psychologist Albert Bandura, refers to a person’s belief in their ability to successfully perform the actions necessary to deal with a particular situation, challenge, or goal. In simple terms, it is the internal belief: “I am capable of

How many opportunities have you postponed because you were waiting to feel ready? Maybe it was applying for a new job, starting therapy, ending a relationship, launching a business, moving to a different country, or simply having a difficult conversation. Many of us believe that confidence comes first and action follows. Psychology suggests that the opposite is often true. Why Do We Wait? Our brains are designed to keep us alive, not to make us feel confident. From an evoluti