Psychodynamic

• Psychodynamic approach researches the role of the unconscious mind
• Unconscious is responsible for protecting the conscious self from anxiety or conflict
• Freud believed that the conscious mind is just the tip of the ice-burg and that most of our mind is made up of the unconscious
• The pre conscious mind is between the conscious and unconscious mind and contains thoughts and ideas that we may become aware of
• Id Description:

  1. Pleasure oriented and completely selfish
  2. Present from birth
  3. Resides in the unconscious
• Id influence on behaviour:

  1. Dominant id may course a person to be destructive and immoral
  2. This may lead to psychopathic behaviour in adults
  3. E.g aggressive, no remorse or empathy
• Ego description:

  1. Developed from 18months to 3 years
  2. Tries to control the id- rational
  3. Largest part of the conscious
  4. Ruled by the reality principal
• Ego influence on behaviour:

  1. Strong ego leads to a well adjusted person who is able to manage the strong demands of both id and superego
  2. Weak ego will lead to id or superego dominate leading to abnormal behaviour
• Superego definition:

  1. develops between 4 to 5 years
  2. Morality principal
  3. Morality developed from persnts and sorounding
  4. Mainly in unconscious
• Superego influence on behaviour:

  1. Powerful superego will lead to restriction the urges of the id
  2. This will deprive the person of even socially acceptable pleasures
  3. This can lead to OCD or phobias
• Psychosexual stages:

  1. Oral (0-1 year)
  2. Anal (1-3 year)
  3. Phallic (3-5 years)
  4. Latency (6- puberty)
  5. Genital (puberty onward)
• Oral- focuses on pleasure around the mouth( e.g mothers breast is an object to be desired)
• Oral consequenc- oral fixation(e.g. smoking, biting nails, sarcastic, critical)
• Anal- focuses on pleasure around the anus (e.g. witholding or releasing faeces)
• Anal consequence- retentive= perfectionist or obsessive, expulsive= thoughtless or messy
• Phallic- focuses on pleasure around the genital area, child experiences Oedipus or Electra Complex
• Phallic consequence- narcissistic, reckless, possibly homosexual
• Latency- repressed sexual urges which are sublimated into activities such as learning or friendship
• Genital- sexual desires become conscious alongside puberty
• Genital consequence- difficulty forming heterosexual relationships
• Different defence mechanisms:

  1. Repression
  2. Denial
  3. Displacement