Psychodynamic Approach

• Assumptions

  • suggests mind is made up of unconscious, consisting of behavioural drives/instincts driving behaviour
  • repressed thoughts/disturbing memories can be accessed using dreams
• Structure of personality

  • Id - primitive part of personality, operates on pleasure principle, gets what it wants
  • Ego - works on reality principle, mediator between Id and superego by deploying defence mechanisms
  • Superego - formed at end of phalic stage, based on morality principle
• Defence mechanisms

  • unconscious strategies ego used to manage conflict between id and superego
  • helps prevent us from getting overwhelmed by temporary threats/trauma
  • regarded as psychologically unhealthy/undesirable if deployed for long periods of time
• Psychosexual stages 


  (blurt from notes)

  
• Strengths 1

  • introduced idea of psychotherapy, bringing new form of therapy, psychoanalysis
  • first attempt at treating mental disorders psychologically
  • use range of techniques e,g dream analysis/counselling
  • adds value to psychodynamic approach
  • real world application
• Counterpoint 1

  1. however - only works for people with mild neurosis, doesn't work for people with more complex mental disorders, suggesting Freuds therapy/theory may not work apply for all mental disorders
• Strength 2

  1. ability to explain human behaviour - used to explain wide range of personality developments/origins of psychological disorders, draws attention importance of childhood events to later life, suggesting psychodynamic approach has had great impact on psychology
• Limitation

  • Popper argued psychodynamic approach doesn't meet scientific criteria of falsification as its not open to empirical testing
  • many of Freuds concepts occur at unconscious level making it hard to test
  • uses case studies which are hard to generalise to wider public
  • suggests Freuds theory was pseudoscientific rather than an established fact