psychodynamic approach

• behaviour driven by psychic forces that are present in our conscious and unconscious mind
• individual personality governed by personality structures

  id (birth) - demands immediate satisfaction - pleasure principle

  ego (1-2 yrs) - interaction with the constraints of reality - reality principle

  super ego (3-6 yrs) - embodies conscious, sense of right and wrong - morality principle
• ego uses ego defences to protect itself - keeps traumatic experiences in unconscious and out of conscious mind

  1. repression - blocking thoughts unconsciously
  2. denial - refusal to accept reality
  3. displacement - redirection of thoughts and feelings
• psychosexual stages - development of personality which emphasise the need to express sexual energy (libido)
• 1. oral (0-2 yrs) - mouth is focal point of sensation and is the way child expresses early sexual energy
• 2. anal (2-3 yrs) - child becomes aware of the demands of reality and the need to conform to demands of others
• 3. phallic (3-6yrs) - oedipus complex where child wants to possess one parent and get rid of the other
• 4. latent (6-12 yrs) - conflicts and issues of previous stages are repressed as child is unable to remember much of their early years
• 5. genital (12+) - culmination of psychosexual development and the fixing of energy in genitals. eventually directed towards sex and start of adult life
• X hard determinism - socially sensitive
• X androcentric
• X scientific merit is questionable
• X beta bias
• ✔️ development in therapies (cbt)
• X overeliant on case studies - anna o