Real-world application

• One strength of the psychodynamic approach is that it introduced the idea of psychotherapy
• Freud brought to the world a new form of therapy- psychoanalysis. This was the first attempt to treat mental disorders psychologically rather than physically
• The new therapy employed a range of techniques designed to access the unconscious, such as dream analysis
• Psychoanalysis claims to help clients by bringing their repressed emotions into their conscious mind so that they can be dealt with
• Psychoanalysis is the forerunner to many modern- day ‘talking therapies’ such as counselling that have since been established
• This shows the value of the psychodynamic approach in creating a new approach to treatment