Psychodynamic approach

• Definition - a perspective that describes the different forces, most of which are unconscious, that operate on the mind and direct human behaviour and experience.
• Conscious mind - Freud was the first person to challenge the medical model, claiming the conscious mind is merely the tip of the iceberg.
• Unconscious mind - this makes up the majority of the mind. It is a vast storehouse of biological drives that has an influence on our behaviour and personality. It also contains threatening and disturbing memories that have been locked away and forgotten.
• Preconscious mind - bubbling under the surface, includes thoughts and ideas which we may become aware of through dreams and parapraxes (slip of the tongue).
• The tripartite personality - made up of 3 parts.

  Id, Ego and Superego.
• Id - selfish, self-indulgent, seeks pleasure no matter what the cost, gets what it wants no matter what. It's the first part of personality when we are born.
• Ego- considerate, rational, realistic, good sense of right and wrong. It mediates between the two and it is developed at around 2-3 years.
• Superego - Uptight, follows parents rules rigidly, worries constantly and wants to be in control. Develops at 5-6 years of age.
• Defence mechanisms

  denial - completely reject the thought or feeling and refuse to acknowledge some aspect of reality.

  Repression - forcing a distressing memory out of the conscious mind.

  Displacement - you transfer feelings from the sources of distressing emotion onto a substitute target.
• Psychosexual stage of development

  Freud came up with the idea that as we grow up different parts of our bodies become particularly sensitive. He called these erogenous zones.
• Oral stage 0-1 years = the mouth is the focus of pleasurable experiences. There is biological evidence that babies do have more nerve endings in this area. Freud said an individual could be fixated in this stage if they were under/over fed as a baby.
• Anal stage 1-3 years - organ of pleasure = anus. The child gets pleasure from retention or expulsion of faeces. They become aware of demands of reality as parents impose potty training. In this stage the ego develops. Too strict/ too relaxed potty training can result in the fixation of this stage. There are 2 possible outcomes to this fixation, an anally retentive or an anally expulsive personality.
• Phallic stage - organ of pleasure = genitals. The child becomes fully aware of gender differences.
• Oedipus complex - males unconsciously desire their mothers but realise their father is stronger and so cannot compete. They then gain castration anxiety and to resolve it the boys identify with their fathers and internalise their morals and standards this is when the superego develops. Boys believe that if they become more masculine their father will like them more.
• Electra complex - Girls believe that their mothers have castrated them and turn to their fathers in the hopes of regaining their penis. The only way to resolve their penis envy is to have a baby, take a male lover or have a career.
• Latency Stage around 6 years - Puberty. Sexual desires remain dormant. Children want nothing to do with the opposite sex.
• Genital stage - the beginning of mature adult sexuality. Here the Id makes powerful demands in the form of heterosexual desires. The opposite sex is needed to satisfy the libido.
• Fixation - If a child receives too much or too little stimulation the libido might become fixated in that stage - this would affect he develpoment of the adult personality.
• Strength of the psychodynamic approach :

  • Real World Application. It introduced the idea of psychotherapy which was the first attempt to treat mental disorders psychologically. Psychoanalysis claims to help clients bring their repressed emotions to their conscious mind, so they can be dealt with.
  • Explanatory Power. It is able to explain human behaviour. The approach has remained a key force used to explain a wide range of phenomena. One example = personality development. Also, it draws attention to the connection between experiences in childhood such as the relationships with our parents.
• What is a weakness of the psychodynamic approach regarding real-world application?

  Psychoanalysis is regarded as inappropriate for people suffering from more serious mental disorders.
• Why is psychoanalysis considered inappropriate for individuals with schizophrenia?

  Many symptoms of schizophrenia mean those who have it have lost their grip on reality and can't articulate their thoughts as required by psychoanalysis.
• What did Karl Popper argue about the psychodynamic approach?

  He argued that the approach doesn't meet the scientific criterion of falsification.
• What is a limitation of the psychodynamic approach in terms of empirical testing?

  The approach is not open to empirical testing.
• Why is it difficult to make universal claims about human behavior based on Freud's ideas?

  Freud's ideas were based on subjective studies of individual people.