psychodynamic approach

• who came up with the psychodynamic approach?

  freud
• 🔷 key assumptions of psychodynamic approach

  • behaviour is influenced by unconscious forces
  • childhood experiences shape adult personality
  • abnormal behaviour is caused by conflicts in personality
  • psychic determinism
• 🔍 role of the unconscious

  unconscious mind stores biological drives, repressed memories and unresolved conflicts

  • conscious = thoughts we are aware of
  • preconscious = memories and thoughts we access if needed
  • unconscious = hidden and inaccessible thoughts

  unconscious mind leaks into conscious through freudian slips
• 🧱 tripartite structure of personality

  1. id
  2. ego
  3. superego
• 👶🏼 id

  develops from birth

  • operates on pleasure principle
  • entirely unconscious
  • irrational and impulsive
• ⚖️ ego

  develops around age 2

  • operates on reality principle
  • uses defence mechanisms
  • rational and conscious
• 👼🏼 superego

  develops around age 5

  • operates on morality principle
  • cause guilt if we go against moral rules
  • divided into conscience and ego-ideal
• 🛡️ defence mechanisms

  used by the ego to reduce anxiety when facing conflict between id and superego

  
  

  1. repression - forcing distressing memories into unconscious
  2. denial - refusing to acknowledge reality
  3. displacement - redirecting emotions onto a safer substitute

  unconscious and temporarily effective
• 🔄 psychosexual stages of development

  1. oral stage
  2. anal stage
  3. phallic stage
  4. latency stage
  5. genital stage
• 👄 oral stage

  0 to 1 years

  • pleasure from the mouth
  • fixation -> smoking, nail-biting, overeating
• 🚽 anal stage

  1 to 3 years

  • pleasure from anus
  • fixation -> anal retentive or anal expulsive
• 🙈 phallic stage

  3 to 6 years

  • focus on genitals
  • oedipus or electra complex
  • fixation -> narcissism, vanity and sexual anxiety
• 🤺 latency stage

  6 to 12 years

  • conflicts repressed
  • focus on developing social and communication skills
• 👩🏼‍❤️‍👨🏻 genital stage

  12+ years

  • focus on mature sexual relationships
  • fixation -> well-adjusted adult relationships
• ✅ strength of psychodynamic approach - practical

  real-world application

  • development of psychoanalysis as a therapy
  • brings repressed memories into conscious awareness to be dealt with rationally
  • useful and practical
• ❌ limitation of psychodynamic approach - unscientific

  lacks falsifiability

  • unconscious mind, id or oedipus complex can't be observed directly
  • based on subjective interpretation
  • lacks scientific credibility
• ❌ limitation of psychodynamic approach - determinism

  psychic deterministic

  • behaviour is determined by unconscious conflicts and childhood experiences
  • ignores conscious decision-making and influence of environment and cognition
  • reductionist