psychodynamic approach

• Freud believes that behaviour was due to psychological factors rather than behavioural factors, which were largely influence by the unconscious part of the brain. He used a metaphor of an ice berg, the tip is the conscious mind, underneath, the larger part is the unconscious mind. Most of our everyday actions are from the unconscious, which reveals themselves in slips of the tongue (Freudian slips). Freud believes that it protects us from traumatic memories and uses defence mechanisms to prevent the person becoming aware of them.
• The example of defence mechanisms are firstly, repression. For example a child who was abused may have an issue developing relationships, but they don’t know why. This is thoughts influencing behaviour without awareness. Denial is, or example, a person who has been arrested multiple times for drunk & disorderly may deny that they have a drinking problem. This stops them from reliving any painful memories that may be associated. Displacement is where feelings are taken out on a helpless victim due to the individual not being able to express their feelings at where they really should go.
• Freud also comes up with the structure of personality. The Id, Ego and SuperEgo. The Id demands gratification. The superego internalises rules and is where the guilt comes from. The ego mediates between the two (reality principle). The psychosexual stages were also found by freud. The development that’s important is the need to express sexual energy (libido). The psychosexual stages go oral, anal, phallic, latent, genital. Each stage is expressed in a different way.
• A strength of the psychodynamic approach is the shift in thinking.

  The development of this approach was based on observations of behaviour rather than relying on introspection. This also allowed the demonstration of potential psychological, rather than biological treatment, for disorders such as depression or OCD.

  This approach has led to many successful treatments which helps people, and their life.

   
• Critics show a weakness of this approach, as it is not testable or falsifiable.

  However, lots of the claims have actually been tested. 2500 of these studies were summarised and concluded that experimental studies of psychoanalysis compare well with studies relevant to any other major areas of psychology.

  This support adds credibility to psychoanalytic explanations of human behaviour.
• A big issue with Freuds theory is the gender bias.

  Despite the fact Freuds theory was based on sexual development, freud seemed to remain ignorant of female sexuality and how it may differ from male sexuality. This even led to female psychologists from breaking away from Freuds work, to criticise it for this issue.

  This is very problematic as Freud treated many female patients, as well as the fact that his work is still very much influential today.
• One of the main strengths of this approach is that it is a comprehensive theory.

  As well as applications to therapy, it can be used to explain many other aspects of human behaviour. For example, psychoanalysis has been used in literary criticism. Literature such as Shakespeare’s Hamlet has messages hidden under the surface, this can be seen as a projection of Shakespeare’s own mind.

  As a result, we can interpret things such as texts to enrich our understanding of authors and their psychological state.