Psychodynamic approach

• Assumptions


  • The mind consists of multiple parts- some of which are conscious, some unconscious

  
  

  • These different parts of the mind conflict with each other and shape behaviour

  
  

  • Early childhood experience shape us as adults. Failure to resolve psychological conflicts in childhood can lead to psychological problems as an adult
• Freud's 3 levels of consciousness

  Conscious- what we are directly aware of

  
  

  Pre-conscious- things we aren't currently not aware of but can be accessed if needed (e.g. memories and beliefs)

  
  

  Unconscious- everything else including biological drives, instincts, and desires
• Psychoanalysis

  Psychoanalysis helps identify unconscious thoughts that often bubble to the surface in things like dreams and Freudian Slips of the tongue, which then can be addressed to treat psychological disorders
• Freud's tripartite structure of personality

  The id- operates on the pleasure principle, demanding gratification of its needs (present at birth)

  
  

  The ego- operates on the reality principle and can delay the id's demand for pleasure (develops around 1-3 yrs old)

  
  

  The superego- operates on the morality principle, punishing the ego through guilt (develops 3-5 yrs old)

  
  

  Behaviour is determined by the interaction of these three parts
• Defence mechanisms (how the mind resolves conflicts between the id, ego and superego)


  Repression- Hiding an unpleasant or undesirable thought from the conscious mind

  
  

  Denial- Rejecting and refusing to accept reality

  
  

  Displacement- Redirecting emotions from the actual target to a substitute
• 5 psychosexual stages of development

  Oral (0-1 yrs)- mouth, feeding is the object of pleasure

  
  

  Anal (1-3 yrs)- anus, pleasure from withholding and expelling faeces

  
  

  Phallic (3-5 yrs)- genitals, masturbation: desire focuse on penis or clitoris

  
  

  Latency (5-12 yrs)- repressed, sexual desires are repressed

  
  

  Genital (puberty)-genitals, sexual desires are conscious and directed towards sex

  
  

  These stages are crucial for healthy psychological development
• AO3-Explanatory Power and influence

  Freud's theories were among the first to explain how experiences in early childhood influence adult personality. This idea is now common to many other psychological theories, such as Bowlby's continuity hypothesis
• AO3-Practical applications

  there is some evidence that psychoanalytic theories e.g dream analysis can help treat some mental disorders
• AO3-Unscientific


  science is about what can be measured, observed and repeated. But unconscious concepts are not observable to the individual themselves let alone measurable in a lab. Further, Freud's theories were primarily based on his own subjective interpretations of individual case studies rather than measurable and quantified data.
• AO3-Reductive

  the psychodynamic approach explains all mental disorders as the result of conflict between different aspects of the mind. But this ignores other factors e.g. biological. E.g. there are physical differences in both the neurochemistry and biological structures of people with OCD and without. Addressing these physical causes is likely to be more effective than psychoanalysis for many psychological disorders