Strengths

• :) Nature +Nurture

  • The approach considers how innate drives such as personality structures (nature) and the psychosexual stages of development (nurture) shape our adult personality
  • This means that it takes into account both sides of the debate + takes into account things we are born with and our experiences
• :) Usefulness

  • It emphasises the importance of childhood and how it is a critical time in our development
  • Freud was the first person to recognise that physical problems could be the result of psychological problems. Freud's ideas have successfully been used in therapy
  • It can help explain mental health problems
• :) Reflect the complexity of human behaviour

  • known as a holistic approach as it can explain different aspects of behaviour. Freuds approach looks to uncover deep meanings + explanations of behaviour - He acknowledges that it is not a quick therapy because of complexity of humans
  • Psychoanalysis doesn't just simply try to cure symptoms of the disorder but tries to find out the cause of it