Psychodynamic Approach

• Overall assumptions:

  • behaviour is motivated by the unconscious mind
  • behaviour stems from early childhood experiences
• The unconscious mind:

  • Freud believed the unconscious makes up most of the human mind, but it is something we cannot access or control
• Functions of the unconscious mind:

  protects the conscious self from anxiety, conflict, fear and trauma;

  • for example, if people walked around constantly thinking of their negative and traumatic experiences, they would not be able to function
  • therefore, the unconscious mind keeps these hidden through several different defence mechanisms (repression, denial, displacement)
• Functions of the unconscious mind:

  the driving force behind our behaviour and personality;

  • this is because traumatic (repressed) memories drive our behaviour
  • for example, if a conflict is experienced during the development through the psychosexual staged (oral, anal, phallic, latent, genital),a fixation (that resides in their unconscious mind) can affect an adult's personality
• The tripartite structure of personality:

  our personality (or 'psyche') is made up of three parts;

  • the id
  • the ego
  • the superego
• The id:

  • (0-18 months) known as the pleasure principle. Focuses on self (selfish), irrational and emotional, deals with feelings and needs, seeks pleasure and is part of the unconscious part of the mind
• The ego:

  • (18 months - 3 years) known as the reality principle. This is the rational part of personality, balancing the id and superego and is the conscious part of the mind
• The superego:

  • (3 - 6 years) known as the morality principle. This acts as the conscience or moral guide, based on parental and societal values, and is part of the unconscious part of the mind
• Id and superego:

  • the id and superego parts of personality are in direct conflict with each other. It is the ego's job/role/function is to manage this conflict
  • this conflict takes place on an unconscious level, so we are not aware of it
  • our experience/conflicts in childhood shape the development of the 3 parts, affecting how a person behaves
• Defence mechanisms:

  • defence mechanisms are what the ego uses unconsciously to try and protect us from distress and anxiety
• Functions of defence mechanisms:

  • help the ego to manage the conflict between the id and the superego
  • provide compromise solutions (usually unconscious) to deal with unresolvable conflict
  • provide a strategy to reduce anxiety (which weakens the ego's influence)
• Denial

  refusing to acknowledge reality
• Displacement

  taking out your emotions on a substitute object or the focus of a strong emotion is expressed onto a neutral/alternative person or object
• Repression

  unpleasant memories are pushed down to the unconscious mind to be kept away from conscious awareness
• The psychosexual stages:

  • according to Freud there are 5 stages of child development, these are called the psychosexual stages
  • we develop gradually through psychosexual stages: oral, anal, phallic, latency period and genital stage
  • there is an unconscious conflict at each stage which must be resolved before the next stage is reached
  • if we are frustrated/deprived or over-indulged within any of these stages, we may become fixated in that stage which can affect our adult behaviour
• Oral (0-1 years):

  • the focus of pleasure is the mouth and the mother's breast is the focus of desire
  • oral fixation leads to chain smoking and biting nails in adulthood
• Anal (1-3 years):

  • focus of pleasure is the anus. Child gets pleasure by either withholding or expelling faeces

  fixation is in two possible ways;

  • anal retentive - perfectionist, OCD, super cleanliness
  • anal expulsive - messy
• Phallic (3-5 years):

  • focus of pleasure is on genital area
  • boys go through the Oedipus complex and girls go through the Electra complex
  • leads to promiscuous behaviour / a fear of intimacy
• Latency (6-11 years):

  • repress earlier conflicts. Previous conflicts are resolved/repressed and early years are largely forgotten
  • no effect on adult behaviour
• Genital (12 years):

  • sexual desires become conscious with the onset of puberty
  • causes difficulty with relationships in adult behaviour
• Evaluation of the psychodynamic approach:

  S - practical applications from the development of psychoanalysis

  W - the major criticism of the psychodynamic approach is that it is unfalsifiable

  W - the approach has been criticised for placing too much emphasis on the past and ignoring the present

  W - psychic determinism