The Psychodynamic Approach

• Sigmund Freud: 1856-1939: AO1:

  • Key pioneer of the psychodynamic approach, including his psychoanalytic theory of personality.
  • He theorised that our mental activity is mostly unconscious and it is this unconscious activity that causes our behaviour.
  • He explained that traumatic childhood experiences pushed into the unconscious mind can later lead to mental disorders.
  • He developed ‘talking cures; (psychoanalysis), or more generally termed psychotherapy to help release problematic repressed memories and relieve symptoms.
  • As problematic as the details of his life and theory were, his idea that physical illnesses can be caused by emotions was a remarkable advance for humankind.
• Key Assumptions of the Psychodynamic Approach: AO1:

  • Unconscious activity is the key determinant of how we behave.
  • We possess innate ‘drives’ that ‘energise’ our minds to motivate behaviour as we develop through our lives.
  • Our three-part personality, the psyche, the comprised of the ID, ego, and superego.
  • Childhood experiences have significant importance in determining our personality when we reach adulthood.
• The role of the Unconscious: ID: AO1:

  • Driving us to satisfy selfish urges.
  • The primitive part of our personality.
  • Operates the pleasure principle.
  • It’s the unconscious drives and instincts.
  • The ID demands instant gratification of its needs.
  • Exists from birth.
  • He described babies as bundles of ID.
• The role of the Unconscious: Super-Ego: AO1:

  • Our internalised sense of right and wrong.
  • Concerned with keeping to moral norms.
  • Represents moral standards of the child’s same-sex parent. • Formed at the end of the phallic stage.
  • Attempts to control a powerful ID and punish the EGO with feelings of guilt.
  • Develops around the age of 5.
• The role of the EGO: AO1:

  • Works on the reality principle.
  • Been modified by the direct influence of the external world.
  • Acts rationally.
  • Balancing the ID and the Super-Ego using defence mechanisms to manage this.
  • Rescue conflict between the ID and Super-Ego.
  • Develops around the age of 2 years.
• Psychosexual Stages: AO1:

  • Freud claimed that child development occurs in 5 stages.
  • Each stage is marked by a different conflict that the child must resolve.
  • Once resolved, the child can successfully progress to the next stage.
  • Any unresolved conflict leads to ‘fixation’, where the child becomes stuck and carries certain behaviours and conflicts associated with that stage through to adult life.
• Oral Stage (1):

  • Sucking behaviour (0-1 years).
  • During this stage, the infant’s primary source of interaction occurs through the mouth.
  • The infant derives pleasure from oral stimulation.
  • The child is dependent on their caregiver; therefore, they develop a sense of trust.
  • The primary conflict at this stage is the weaning process.
  • Difficulty during this can lead to a consequence of smoking
• Anal Stage (2):

  • Holding or discarding faeces (1-3 years)
  • During this stage, Freud believed that the primary focus was on controlling bladder movements.
  • Freud believed that positive experiences during the toilet training stage serve as the basis for people to become competent adults.
  • If parents are too lenient, it can result in negative outcomes, leading to an anal expulsive personality.
  • If parents were too strict in this stage, an anal-retentive personality may develop.
  • Consequences may be perfectionism and obsessiveness.
• Phallic Stage (3):

  • 3 - 5 years
  • Freud suggested that during the phallic stage, the primary focus is the genitals.
  • Boys begin to view the fathers as a rival for the mother’s affection.
  • Believed girls experience penis envy to possess the opposite sex parent.
  • Freud said that all girls remain fixated on this stage.
  • Consequence may be narcissism
• Latency Stage (4):

  • 5 years old - puberty
  • Repressed sexual urges, sexual energy can be sublimated towards school work or hobbies
  • The superego continues to develop and the ID is suppressed.
  • Exploration of sexual energy.
  • Important in the development of social and communication skills.
  • Fixation can result in immaturity and inability to form quality relationships.
• Genital Stage (5):

  • Awakened sexual urges (puberty onwards)
  • Strong sexual interest in the opposite sex.
  • If other stages have been completed successfully, the individual should now be well balanced warm, and caring.
  • Teens can balance their most basic urges against the need to conform to the demands of social norms.
  • Consequence may be difficulty forming heterosexual relationships
• Ego Defence Mechanisms:

  • Unconscious strategies that the ego uses to manage the conflict between the ID and the Super Ego.
  • Repression:
  • Burying an unpleasant thought or desire in the unconscious.
  • For example, traumatic childhood experiences so that they are forgotten.
  • Displacement:
  • Emotions are directed away from their source or target, towards other things.
  • For example, wringing a dishcloth in anger, which would have otherwise been directed at the cat scratching the furniture.
  • Denial:
  • A threatening thought is ignored or treated as if it were not true.
  • For example, a wife might find evidence that her husband is cheating on her, but explain it using other reasons.
• Defence Mechanisms AO3: Limitation:

  • Lack of testability.
  • Defence mechanisms are unconscious processes, they cannot be studied directly.
  • They are not falsifiable.
  • They cannot be tested to be proven true or false.
  • They can only be inferred from behaviour or reported experiences.
• Defence Mechanisms AO3: Strength:

  • Lot of research support.
  • Gagnepain (2014)
  • The study involved excluding memories of visual objects from consciousness reduced their later indirect influence on perception.
  • Makes the content of the suppressed memories harder for participants to see.
• Oedipus Complex:

  • The Oedipus complex is a theory of Freud and occurs during the Phallic stage of psychosexual development.
  • It involves a boy, in the Phallic stage of development, becoming consciously sexually attached to his mother, and hostile towards his father, whom he views as a rival.
• Little Hans:

  • A five-year-old boy with a phobia of horses.
  • Hans showed interest in genitals from the age of 5.
  • His mother threatened to cut his penis off unless he stopped playing with it.
  • Hans’s fear of horses worsened, and he was reluctant to go out in case he met a horse.
  • Freud linked this fear to the horse’s large penis.
  • Freud’s interpretation linked Hans’s fear to the Oedipus complex, the horses unconsciously represented his fear of his father
• Psychodynamic Approach AO3: Strength:

  • Freud’s theory has had a high influence on psychology and Western contemporary thought.
  • One of the very influential concepts highlighted by his work is the lasting importance of childhood and its impact on later life.
  • It could be argued that Freud was the first person to highlight the importance of childhood in mental health, and this is an idea extensively used today.
  • In addition, some evidence supports the existence of ego defence mechanisms such as repression.
  • For example, adults can forget traumatic sexual abuse as outlined by Williams (1994).
• Psychodynamic Approach AO3: Strength:

  • The psychodynamic approach has given rise to one of the first ‘talking cures’ and psychoanalysis,
  • Freudian therapists have claimed success with many patients using techniques such as hypnosis and dream analysis.
  • However, Psychoanalysis is not appropriate for individuals suffering from more serious psychotic disorders, such as schizophrenia.
  • Many of the symptoms associated with schizophrenia, such as paranoia and delusions, may mean that sufferers have lost their grip on reality and cannot elicit their thoughts in the same way as a fully lucid person.
• Psychodynamic Approach AO3: Weakness:

  • Many of Freud’s concepts are untestable, and therefore, are considered far less scientific than other approaches.
  • Little Hans’ and Anna O’s Case study.
  • Many of Freud’s ideas are considered non-falsifiable – theories may appear to reflect the evidence, but you cannot observe the relevant constructs directly (namely, the unconscious mind) to test them scientifically, as they may be proved wrong.