Psychodynamic

• Key assumptions of the psychodynamic approach

  1. Unconscious processes, of which we 

       are unaware, determine our behaviour

  1. Personality has three parts: the id, ego 

       and superego

  1. Early childhood experiences determine 

           adult personality
• Key assumptions of the psychodynamic approach

  The importance of the unconscious mind

  • According to psychodynamic theory, we have an ‘unconscious’ mind which influences our behaviour.
  • Our conscious mind is unaware of what thoughts and emotions occur in the unconscious. 
  • However, these unconscious thoughts and feelings can have an effect on our conscious mind. 
  • This is one of the key themes in psychodynamic theory and is known as psychic determinism
  • Psychic determinism: Unconscious forces and drives are inborn and control or determine behaviour - all we say and do has a cause.
• The psychodynamic mind

  Freud suggested that the part of the 

  mind we know about is simply 

  ‘the tip of the iceberg’. 

  Most of our mind is unconscious – 

  these are biological drives that 

  determine our behaviour & personality.  

  These unconscious forces drive all 

  behaviour – including criminality.
• The conscious. The small

  amount of mental activity we

  know about. (e.g. thoughts, perceptions)
• The preconscious. Things

  we could be aware of if we

  wanted or tried. E.g.  memories, stored knowledge
• The unconscious. Things we are unaware of and can

  not become aware of. (e.g. instincts, deeply buried memories)
• The Tripartite model

  Freud developed a structure of the mind/psyche containing our personality divided into 3 parts:

  The Id

  The Ego

  The Superego
• The Tripartite model

  • ID: Present at birth and operates on the pleasure principle – it gets what it wants now (instant gratification).
  • EGO: Develops at around the age of two and it works on the reality principle. It reduces conflict between the ID & SUPEREGO using defence mechanisms (repression, denial, regression. displacement…)

  SUPEREGO: Develops around the age of 5 years old and it works on the morality principle. It represents the moral standards of the same-sex parent and is responsible for guilt.
• Accessing the unconscious mind

  Although we are unaware of what goes on in our unconscious, there are ways of accessing it i.e. dream analysis

  • Repressed ideas in the unconscious are more likely to appear in dreams than when we are awake – Freud referred to these ideas as the latent content of dreams
  • The manifest content is the  dream as it appears to the dreamer – dream symbols that are used to disguise unacceptable ideas
  • A therapist interprets the dreams in order to provide insight about what the dream really represents
• Accessing the unconscious mind

  Free association

  The individual is encouraged to relax and say anything that comes into their mind, no matter how absurd

  The idea is that the ego will be unable to carry out its normal role of keeping check of the threatening unconscious impulses, and the conflict can be brought into consciousness

  Once verbalised, the therapist can interpret and explain
• Inkblot tests

  One way to access the 

  unconscious mind is through the use 

  of inkblot tests 

  By giving patients an 

  ambiguous picture to analyse the 

  therapist can make conclusions about 

  the person’s personality
• Defence mechanisms

  Everyone uses defence mechanisms from time to time

  Excessive use of defence mechanisms will, over time, result in the ego becoming increasingly detached from reality and, in time, can cause psychological disorder

  Psychoanalysis involves effort to understand defences and unconscious motives driving self-destructive behaviours
• The role of defence mechanisms

  Freud stated that these defence mechanisms have a purpose/role 

  Above all else, defence mechanisms help to manage the conflicts between the “now now now” of the id with the “goody-two-shoes” guilt of the superego.

  But they can also work by reducing anxiety - if a traumatic memory is causing anxiety the ego may repress or deny it to protect us from psychological harm and reduce the anxiety we feel.

  Providing “Solutions” to unresolvable conflict
• Childhood experiences - Psychosexual stages

  The importance of early childhood experiences

  Psychodynamic theory states that events in our childhood have a great influence on our adult lives, shaping our personality

  Events that occur in childhood can remain in the unconscious, and cause problems as adults

  Freud proposed that all children go through the same five stages of development.
• Childhood experiences - Psychosexual stages

  Children pass through a series of age-dependent stages during development

  • Each stage has a designated “pleasure zone” and “primary activity”
  • Each stage requires resolution of a particular conflict/task
  • Failure to successfully navigate a stage’s particular conflict/ task is known as fixation
• Strengths of the approach

  • The approach emphasises the importance of unconscious factors in determining behaviour - first to do so!
  • It draws attention to the importance of childhood experiences on later behaviour - which we now know to be VERY true
  • Freud’s theory provided unique insight into human behaviour – the idea of unconscious motivation has gained widespread support
  • The approach does have useful applications especially in therapy
• Weaknesses of the approach

  • Freud’s theory is largely derived from the study of adults with emotional disorders – an extremely unrepresentative sample.
  • It is based on case studies and techniques that are subjective and open to bias
  • It is unscientific as the ideas cannot be refuted - unfalsifiable and - lacks scientific rigour 

  The approach is deterministic and pessimistic