AO1 - Psychodynamic Approach

• Freud believed in the existence of a part of the mind that was inaccessible to conscious thought.
• Freud believed that most of our everyday actions and behaviours are not controlled consciously but are the product of the unconscious mind.
• The mind actively prevents traumatic memories from the unconscious from reaching conscious awareness because these memories might cause anxiety.
• Freud divided the mind into three structures, each of which demands gratification, but is frequently in conflict with the other parts.
• The id operates solely in the unconscious mind and acts according to the pleasure principle.
• The ego mediates between the impulsive demands of the id and the reality of the external world (the reality principle).
• The ego compromises between the impulsive id and the moralistic superego.
• Repression is the unconscious blocking of unacceptable thoughts and impulses by pushing them deep into the unconscious mind.
• Repression is also known as motivated forgetting.
• Defence mechanisms prevent the mind from feeling pain and anxiety.
• Defence mechanisms include repression, displacement and denial.
• Freud's theory of personality has three parts; id, ego and superego.
• Freud was the founding father of the psychodynamic approach.
• Freud's theory of the unconscious mind can be explained using an 'iceberg' analogy.
• Denial is the refusal to accept reality to avoid having to deal with any painful feelings that might be associated with an event.
• Displacement involves the redirecting of thoughts and feelings, which are usually hostile or negative onto someone or something else.
• The psychodynamic approach originated with the work of Sigmund Freud.
• The psychodynamic approach also explores early childhood experiences, and interpersonal relationships to help explain human behaviour and to treat people suffering from mental illnesses.
• Freud was best known for the development of ‘talking therapies’ or counselling.
• Freud said that when things go wrong in our lives, which we cannot deal with, we develop defence mechanisms.
• Freud referred to sexual instincts as the life instincts energy, essential for survival, driven by the libido.
• Freud believed that sex and aggression drive behaviour.
• Freud developed the psychosexual stages to outline infantile sexuality.
• Freud suggested that boys go through the Oedipus complex in the phallic stage of development.
• Freud suggested that girls go through the Electra complex in the phallic stage of development.
• In order to resolve the Oedipus and Electra complex children must identify with the same sex parent.
• The id is the pleasure principle, the ego is the reality principle and the superego is the morality principle.
• The preconscious mind contains thoughts and memories which are not currently in conscious awareness, but can be accessed easily.
• There are 5 stages of psychosexual development.
• The 5 stages of psychosexual development are oral, anal, phallic, latency and genital.
• Oral stage (0-2 years) focuses on the mouth as a point of pleasure, satisfying the libido.
• Anal stage (2-4 years) focuses on the anus as a point of pleasure, satisfying the libido. Some people become fixated and develop personality traits in adulthood that reflect this.
• Phallic stage (4-6 years) focuses on the genital area as a point of pleasure, satisfying the libido. This is where boys and girls experience different complexes.
• Latency stage (7+ years) is seen as a ‘latent period’ as not much happens sexually. The focus is on other aspects of development.
• The genital stage (12+ years) is from puberty onwards where the focus is on the opposite sex.