Psychodynamic approach

• Psychodynamic approach

  The role of the unconscious
• Unconscious


  • Vast storehouse of biological drives and instincts that has a significant influence on our behaviour and personality
  • Contains threatening and disturbing memories that have been repressed, or locked away and forgotten
  • Can be accessed during dreams or through 'slips of the tongue'
• Preconscious

  Thoughts and memories which are not currently in conscious awareness but we can access if desired
• Structure of personality

  Tripartite, composed of three parts: Id, Ego, Superego
• Id

  • Primitive part of our personality, operates on the pleasure principle, entirely selfish and demands instant gratification of its needs
• Ego

  • Works on the reality principle, mediator between the Id and Superego, employs defence mechanisms
• Superego

  • Internalised sense of right and wrong, based on the morality principle, punishes the Ego for wrongdoing
• Psychosexual stages


  Child development occurs in five stages, each marked by a different conflict that the child must resolve
• Defence mechanisms


  Unconscious processes that ensure the Ego can prevent us from being overwhelmed by temporary threats or traumas
• Psychoanalysis was the first attempt to treat mental disorders psychologically rather than physically
• Psychoanalysis may not be appropriate for people experiencing more serious mental disorders like schizophrenia
• Freud's case study of Little Hans and the Oedipus complex supported his theory