Psychodynamic approach

• Defence mechanisms - Building self worth and actual self upon lies
• Types of defence mechanisms:

  • Denial- Ignoring what happened
  • Distortion- Changing what happened or claiming its better/worse to feel better
  • Displacement - Transferring feelings from the source of distressing emotion to a substitute
  • Repression- Forcing a distressing memory out the conscious mind
• Conscious mind- Small amount of mental activity we know about
• Preconscious mind- Contains things we could be aware of if we tried hard enough
• Unconscious mind- Contains things we cant be aware of
• The id- Selfish unconscious part of your personality (sex and death
• Super ego- Opposes the desires of the id
• The ego- Balances desires of the id and super ego
• Psychosexual stages

  • Oral (0-1)
  • Anal (1-3)
  • Phallic (3-5)
  • Latency
  • Genital
• Strengths of psychodynamic approach:

  Attention to childhood experiences

  Useful approach in psychodynamic therapy
• Weaknesses of the psychodynamic approach

  • Possible bias in case studies
  • Unrepresentative of people with emotional disorders