Psychodynamic Approach

• What is the psychodynamic approach primarily concerned with?

  The role of the unconscious
• What are the key concepts of the psychodynamic approach?

  • Freud's case study of Little Hans
  • The Oedipus complex
  • Id, Ego, and Superego
  • Defence mechanisms
• What is Freud's case study of Little Hans an example of?

  A case study in the psychodynamic approach
• What does the Oedipus complex refer to in Freud's theory?

  A child's feelings of desire for their opposite-sex parent
• What are the three components of personality according to Freud?

  Id, Ego, and Superego
• What are examples of defence mechanisms in the psychodynamic approach?

  • Repression
  • Denial
  • Displacement
• How can the psychodynamic approach be applied in therapy?

  By exploring unconscious thoughts and feelings
• What is a common criticism of the psychodynamic approach?

  It lacks empirical support and is difficult to test
• How does the psychodynamic approach differ from behaviorism?

  The psychodynamic approach focuses on the unconscious, while behaviorism focuses on observable behavior
• • Conscious = what we are aware of at a particular moment.
  • Preconscious = memories we can bring in to the conscious or that sometimes appear there (from the unconscious) involuntarily in Freudian slips or parapraxes.
• Unconscious = all our mental processes which are not currently available to us but may become so under certain circumstances.
• Freud believed that these problems resulted from conflicts between different parts of the psyche - the id, ego, and superego.
• Ego = the rational part of personality that represents our conscious self (although choices are not always conscious).  It tries to balance the needs of the Id and the Superego which are in conflict.  This requires compromise and delayed gratification.  It can use defence mechanisms to achieve this.  

  • This is known as Reality principle
  • Develops about 2 years in response to finding you cannot always get what you want.
• Id = the part of personality that contains instinctual drives such as sex and aggression. It operates according to the pleasure principle and seeks immediate gratification without regard for reality.
• Freud's theory of mind was based on his clinical observations of patients with neuroses who were suffering from anxiety and distressing symptoms such as phobias, obsessions, compulsions, depression, and hysteria.
• Protecting the conscious mind from anxiety = normal but in the extreme it can lead to psychological abnormality.  

  Sometimes anxiety is too powerful to repress completely and pressure is relieved in dreams.  

  Dream work involves disguising desires through symbols so that even if we remember the dream we don’t have to recognise what they represent.
• Anal Stage = around 18 months old until age 3. During this time, children begin to control bowel movements and experience pleasure from defecating. Those whose parents reward them for using the toilet properly develop a sense of achievement and independence. However, those whose parents punish them for having accidents may feel guilty and ashamed. These individuals may become anally retentive whereby they hoard things and are unable to let go of anything. Alternatively, they may become anally expulsive and act impulsively without considering consequences and lack control over emotions.
• Oral Stage = birth to about 18 months old. The infant experiences intense pleasure when suckling and biting objects. Trust develops during this stage. If this need is satisfied, they develop an oral fixation. This means they will continue to seek pleasure through their mouth throughout life. They may be overly dependent on others, have poor self-esteem, and suffer from low confidence. Problems occurring in the oral stage include; under stimulation leading to bulimia nervosa or commitment issues in relationships
• The psychosexual stages of development are oral stage, anal stage, phallic stage, latency stage, genital stage
• Oral Stage: Birth-18 months. The infant's primary source of pleasure comes from sucking and biting objects. If this need is satisfied, the child will have an orally aggressive character; if it is frustrated, he/she will be passive and dependent.
• Id = the primitive, instinctual part of personality that seeks immediate gratification of basic needs such as hunger, thirst, sex, etc.

  The id operates according to the 'pleasure principle' – seeking instant gratification without regard for consequences.
• Superego = the moral part of personality that develops through identification with parents and other authority figures. It operates according to the morality principle and tries to ensure that the individual behaves appropriately by punishing them if they do wrong.
• Oral Stage = birth to about 18 months old. The infant experiences intense pleasure when suckling at its mother’s breast. If this need is satisfied it will develop into an adult who enjoys eating and drinking. However if the child does not receive enough attention during this time they may grow up to be overly dependent on others.
• Phallic stage = ages 3-6. Children discover their genitals and sexual feelings towards parent(s) of opposite gender. They form an Oedipus complex (boys) or Electra complex (girls). Boys identify with father and want mother all to themselves. Girls identify with mother and want father all to herself. This leads to castration anxiety which causes boys to suppress desire for mother and girls to accept penis envy. The super ego forms during this stage.
• Repression

  • Distressing events can be pushed out of the conscious mind and become part of the unconscious. 
• Denial 

  • This involves the conscious mind refusing to acknowledge reality and convincing itself there is no problem.  
• Displacement 

  • Feelings can be transferred from the object that is really causing the anxiety to something else which is less threatening.
• • Childhood development occurs in stages which are named after the primary source of pleasure at that stage.  
  • Each stage has a conflict that a child has to deal with before progressing to the next stage.  If these cannot be resolved fixation occurs which produces lifelong behaviours and problems.
• Problems occurring in the anal stage include;

  over stimulation = anally retentive > may lead to perfectionist, obsessive, rigid behaviour.  Parents used punishment and humiliation.  They were strict.

  under stimulation = anally expulsive > may lead to sloppy, disorganised and hostile behaviour.  Parents used lots of praise/sadness when things went well or badly.  Child = in charge ie the environment depends on them.  Gives them power.
• The phallic stage is characterised by children becoming aware of their own bodies and developing sexual desires.  Freud believed that children develop an oedipal complex where they fall in love with the same sex parent and feel jealous of the other parent.  In response to this, the superego develops as a result of guilt over incestuous thoughts.  It also helps to control aggressive impulses.
• Freud's theory of personality states that we have three parts - id, ego and superego.  These interact throughout our lives but it is the balance between them that determines how healthy we are.
• What is the focus of pleasure during the oral stage?

  Oral consumption
• What can insufficient understimulation during the oral stage lead to?

  Excessive need for consuming
• What problems can arise if trust isn't developed during the oral stage?

  Trust issues in relationships
• What is the focus of pleasure during the anal stage?

  Anal region
• What problems can occur with improper potty training?

  Perfectionist, obsessively rigid behavior
• What parenting styles can lead to anally expulsive behavior?

  Punishment and humiliation
• What is the outcome of excessive anally expulsive behavior?

  Happy, disorganized personality
• What complex manifests during the anal stage?

  Oedipus/Electra complex
• Who do children compete with during the Oedipus/Electra complex?

  Same-sex parent