Psycho-dynamic Approach

• Who created the psycho-dynamic approach?

  Sigmund Freud
• what was the psycho-dynamic approach?

  according to Sigmund Freud, all our personality and behaviour is guided by the unconscious
• how did Sigmund Freud describe the structure of the personality?

  into three components:

  -> conscious

  ->unconscious

  ->pre-conscious
• briefly describe the conscious part of our personality and mind

  we are aware of our thoughts and access it. Easily accessible
• briefly describe what is meant by pre conscious personality

  we aware of our feelings and emotions, and stored knowledge; we can access it whenever we want to. It takes our conscious permissions to access this part of our memories
• briefly describe what is meant by unconscious

  we cannot access them, consists of fears, irrational, shameful experiences and repressed memories. Very small mental activity we do not know about. They are the driving forces our our actions and behaviours
• What is the Tripartite personality structure

  consists of the Id, Ego and Superego; they develop at different points in our lives and they are distinct, they are not separate entities. They work together but not necessarily in harmony
• what does the tripartite personality structure consist of?

  ->the pleasure (Id) principle

  -> reality (ego) principle

  ->morality (superego) principle
• explain the Id

  -> Birth- 18 months

  ->Pleasure principle

  ->it is the primitive part of the brain, operates on the pleasure principle

  -> it is a seething mass of unconscious drives and instincts- thrives on selfish demands and instant gratification-irrational

  -> Feud described babies as 'bundles of Id'
• explain the Ego

  -> 18 months- 3years

  ->reality principle

  ->mediator between the other Id and Superego, develops at age

  ->role is to reduce conflict and manages the conflict and demands of of the other two- tries to balance their demands

  ->rational
• Explain the Superego


  -> 3-6 years

  ->formed at the end of the phallic stage, around age 5

  ->internalised sense of right and wrong; hence, it is called the morality principle

  -> it represents the moral standards of the child 's same-sex parent

  -> punishes the ego for wrong doing- guilt
• Define the psychosexual stages

  a theory by Sigmund Freud which suggests personality develops via overcoming a series of stages in childhood
• what are the psycho-sexual stages?

  -> oral

  -> anal

  -> phallic

  -> latent

  -> genital
• describe the oral stage

  -> from age 0-2

  -> focus-mouth

  -> the infant experiences pleasure through their mouth; particularly sucking and biting (explains why they stick anything and everything into their mouth)

  ->because of the fact that at this stage the infant experiences pleasure from the above habits, the Id develops here
• what happens when a child has unresolved conflict/fixation during their oral psycho-sexual stage?

  oral fixation- person might engage in behaviours like smoking, nail-biting e.t.c.
• describe what happens during the anal stage

  -> between ages 2-3

  -> focus-anus

  -> the child becomes aware of the reality principle (ego) imposed by the parents and must undergo potty training to control their bowel movements

  ->during this stage, the Ego develop
• in how many ways can the anal fixation manifest? and describe how

  ->two ways

  ->Anal retentive: person becomes an obsessive perfectionist

  -> Anal expulsive: here a person might become messy and thoughtless
• what happens during the phallic stage?

  -> ages 3-6

  -> focus-genitals

  -> the major feature of this stage is the Oedipus complex.

  ->this stage is where the Superego develops
• what happens when a has an unresolved conflict/fixation during this stage?

  ->a phallic fixation or phallic personal might manifests in reckless and narcissistic behaviours as well as problem with authority figures
• what happens during the latent stage?

  ->ages 6-puberty

  -> focus-hidden

  -> the sexual energy which has driven the previous stages now becomes latent, so the individual can focus on the world around them and form friendships
• describe what happens during the genital stage

  ->puberty+

  -> focus- forming heterosexual relationships

  -> the final stages culminates with the psychosexual energy taking residence in the genitals, to be directed towards the formation of adult relationships
• describe and explain what happens during the Oedipus Complex

  -> the boy child unconsciously develops sexual feelings for his mother

  -> then he starts to become worried and anxious about his father finding out and cutting his 'widdler' off (penis)

  -> identify with his dad- wants to be like him and face reality- Superego

  -> after, he loses desire for his mum and gains desire for other women

  -> it becomes resolved, if not, they grow up to have issues with authority figures- not yet to be identified
• What is the psycho-dynamic assumption?

  All thoughts and behaviors is influenced by unconscious thoughts and desires, we cannot directly observe these unconscious forces, but their effects can be seen in our conscious behaviours
• What is a defence mechanism?

  It is used by the ego(reality principle) in order to cope with the conflicting demands of the other two parts of the personality: Id and Superego.
• How does the ego work when making a defence mechanism?

  It works by distorting reality so that the individual can continue with their everyday life without unpleasant feelings or memories dominating their conscious awareness
• describe and explain the Electra complex

  -> girls develop unconscious sexual desire towards their dad

  -> love hate relationship with their mother

  -> penis envy
• supporting evidence for Oedipus complex theory

  -> little hans

  -> five year old boy with phobia of horses

  -> from age 3(oedipus complex develops), he has shown interest in 'widdlers', both his own penis, other males and animals

  -> Freud linked his fear to the horse's large penis

  -> Freud interpretation= Oedipus complex (horses with black harnesses and big penis) unconsciously representing his fear of his father

  -> Freud suggested that little hans resolved his conflict by fantasizing himself with a big penis and being married to his mum
• how did freud gather his data on little hans, what is meant by a case study?

  ->a case study is an in depth, detailed piece of research of an individual

  ->freud analysed his dreams, he did interviews, spoke to the boy and parents
• why might we think the little hans case study is controversial

  -> it could have an alternative meaning

  -> his dreams and fantasies could have a different meaning and could be caused by something different
• what are the types of defence mechanisms?

  ->repression

  ->denial

  ->displacement
• explain repression and give an example

  ->it occurs when a traumatic or distressing memory is forced out of conscious awareness and into the unconscious mind

  -> example- pushing away unconventional desires deep into the unconscious
• explain and give an example of denial

  ->involves the refusal to accept the truth or reality of a situation, acting as though nothing distressing has happened

  -> someone with a gambling addiction may deny that they have a problem with their finances despite being in a large amount of debt
• explain and give an example of displacement

  -> is when feelings towards a target individual cannot be expressed directly and are therefore transferred onto someone/something else

  -> someone who was bullied at school may go home and take it out by being mean towards their younger sibling
• Outline and discuss the problem with the psychodynamic approach

  ->Freud's ideas demos a significant gender bias, due to obsession with Oedipus complex and it is intensely androcentric; making it irrelevant to an understanding of women

  ->Oedipus complex- boys having unconscious sexual desire towards their mum...it is androcentric because he didn't come up with the female's version until later, application was to boys only

  ->he did apply Electra complex to girls, but the research was based on one boy, therefore he was assuming boys and girls develop similarly
• give a supporting evidence for how useful psychodynamic treatments can be(3marks)

  ->Biskup et al(2005)- reported a naturalistic study of 36 patients that demonstrated that at the end of psychoanalytic therapy, 77% of the patients showed clinically significant improvements.

  ->furthermore, Bachrach et al (2000) conducted a metanalysis of every major study of effectiveness of psychoanalytic treatment and found that psychoanalysis is an effective treatment for many patients
• was this supportive evidence a strength or a limitation, explain why(3marks)

  it is a strength because it shows that psycho-dynamic treatment is useful in society because both Biskup and Bachrach found a significant improvement in patient's mental health. Therefore showing that the psychodynamic approach still has relevance in today's society for psychological treatment
• Explain why the psychoanalytic theory has been criticised

  ->it has been criticised for being culturally biased

  ->all of Freud's patients came from the Viennese middle-class, and his universal generalisations were based on this highly unrepresentative sample.

  ->he called his therapy 'the talking cure'. and there is considerable evidence to suggest that it is only suitable for cultures where discussions of personal problems is encouraged.
• why is Freud's theory being highly culturally biased an issue

  it is an issue because Freud is assuming that all cultures will treat mental health in the same way. this means that his theory lacks and reliability to offer non-European countries who do not treat mental health in the same way