psychodynamic approach

• psychodynamic approach

  a perspective that describes how behaviour is affected by unconscious forces that operate on the mind.
• role of the unconscious

  Freud suggested that most of the mind is made up of the unconscious:a vast store of biological drives and instincts that has a large influence on behaviour and personality.The unconscious contains threatening and disturbing memories that have been repressed.The preconscious contains thoughts and memories which are not currently in conscious awareness but we can access if desired.
• structure of personality

  • the id
  • the ego
  • the superego
• the id

  is the primitive part of personality and operates on the pleasure principle.Throughout life the id is selfish and demands instant gratification of its needs.
• the ego

  works on the reality principle and mediates between the other two parts.Develops around 2 years.Reduces conflict between the demands of the id and the superego through defense mechanisms.
• the superego

  formed at the end of the phallic stage around 5.It is the sense of right and wrong and is based on the morality principle.It punishes the ego for wrongdoings through guilt.
• psychosexual stages

  Freud claimed that child development occurred in five stages ,each of which is marked with a different conflict that the child must resolve in order to progress successfully to the next stage.Any psychosexual conflict that is unresolved leads to fixation where the child carries out certain behaviours associated with that stages through to adult life.
• defence mechanisms

  Repression-forcing a distressing memory out of the conscious mind

  Denial-refusing to acknowledge some aspect of reality

  Displacement-transferring feelings from true sources of distressing emotion onto a substitute target.
• oral stage 0-1

  • the baby receives pleasure from their mouth during breastfeeding. During weaning, the infant learns it does not control the environment and develops delayed gratification. Fixation results in an immature personality
• anal stage 1-3

  • the child gets pleasure from holding onto and expelling faeces. If the parents are too strict when punishing potty training mistakes, this can result in fixation becoming an overly organised and fussy adult
• phallic stage 3-5

  • the libido is now focused on the genitals
  • boys experience the oedipus complex, a sexual desire for their mother, castration anxiety is the fear that the father will find out and remove the boy's genitals. The boy eventually realises he cannot compete with his father and instead identifies with him, imitating his behaviour, and so develops a male gender identity.
  • Jung's female equivalent, the electra complex, describes a girl's attachment to her father and dislike for her mother
• psychosexual stages

  • oral
  • anal
  • phallic
  • latency
  • genital
• defence mechanisms

  • unconscious strategies used by the ego to protect the individual from anxiety and maintain psychological ability