psychodynamic approach

• Psychodynamic approach

  -Behaviour is influenced by early childhood experiances

  -behaviour is motivated by two instincts- sex and life
• The unconcious

  The part of the mind that we are unaware of but which continues to direct much of our behaviour.
• The conscious

  the part of our mind we are aware of on a daily basis- can be influenced by the unconscious
• Id


  Entirely unconscious, the id is made up of selfish aggressive instincts that demand immediate gratification.
• Ego


  The 'reality check' that balances the conflicting demands of the id and superego.
• Superego

  The moralistic part of our personality which represents the ideal self: how we ought to be.
• Defence mechanisms

  Unconscious strategies that the ego uses to manage the conflict between the id and the superego.
• Repression

  forcing a distressing memory out of the conscious mind
• Denial

  refusing to acknowledge some parts of reality
• Displacement

  transferring feelings from true source of distressing emotion onto a substitute target
• Psychosexual stages

  According to Freud, five developmental stages that all children pass through. At most stages there is a specific conflict, the outcome of which determines future development.
• Oral 1-0 yr

  focus of pleasure is the mothers's breast - object of desire

  unresolved conflict leads to fixation
• Anal 1-3 yr

  focus of pleasure is the anus. Child holds pleasure by withholding and expelling faeces. Unresolved conflict leads to anal retentive or anal expulsive
• Phallic 3-5 yrs

  focus of pleasure - genital area

  child experiences the Oedipus or electra complex

  Unresolved complex leads to phallic personality- narcissistic, reckless, possible homosexual
• Latent

  earlier conflicts are repressed
• genital

  sexual desires become conscious along onset of puberty
• Little Hans

  - 5 year old with a phobia of horses

  - freud thought the horse represented his father as he was scared his father would castrate him for desiring his mother - this is the Oedipus complex theory
• Psychodynamic therapy

  - Free association - client talking freely to the therapist - saying the first things that come to mind - allows for true thoughts and feelings to emerge

  - dream analysis
• Evaluation of the Psychodynamic Approach

  +influential - this theory started the debate in psychology and the behaviourists developed their ideas to challenge his view

  + led to effective treatment -lead to the treatment of many mental health issues

  - Untestable concepts for example we can't measure people superegos so can't know for certain if it is more powerful with people who have OCD- unscientific

  -based on case studies - unreliable ungeneralisable to other people in other situations
• real-world application

  P: strength - introduced psychotherapy

  E: psychoanalysis helps clients by bringing their repressed emotions to their conscious mind so they can be dealt with

  E: psychoanalysis forerunner to many modern-day therapies such as counseling

  L: therefore real-world application
• counterpoint

  P: limitation - psychoanalysis considered harmful for some

  E: symptom of schizophrenia include delusions and hallucinations

  E: people with schizophrenia cannot differentiate reality from their hallucinations so are unable to articulate their thoughts

  L: therefore Freudian therapy does not apply to all disorders
• explanatory power

  P: strength - explanatory power

  E: psychodynamic approach has been used to explain a wide range of phenomena such as personality disorders, etc

  E: it has also been used to draw attention to connections between experiences in childhood and future relationships

  L: therefore approach has had a positive effect on psychology
• untestable concepts

  P: limitation - has many untestable concepts

  E: much of the psychodynamic approach is not open to empirical testing

  E: many of Freud's concepts such as the Oedipus complex occur at an unconscious level so cannot be tested scientifically

  L: therefore Freud's theory is pseudoscientific