psychodynamic

• assumptions

  freud suggests the part of the mind we are aware of is the conscious. however, most of the mind is made up of the unconscious; a storehouse for biological instincts which influence our behaviour and personality. it also holds repressed memories that can be traumatic and they can be accessed through dreams/paradoxes

  pre-conscious holds thoughts and memories not in our conscious but can be accessed if desired
• personality

  freud suggested personality was tripartite

  id - primitive part of personality and is based on pleasure principle. it is present from birth and demands instant gratification

  ego - based on reality principle. is responsible for defence mechanisms and is the mediator of conflicts between the id and superego. develops from age of 2

  superego - based on morality principle and is our internal sense of right or wrong. develops after phallic stage. punishes ego for wrongdoing (guilt)
• stages of development - freud suggests child development occurs in 5 stages and each one has a conflict which must be resolved. if not resolved, child can't move to next stage and it results in a fixation
• psychosexual stages

  oral stage - focus on the mouth - can lead to fixation of smoking

  anal stage - child gains pleasure from withholding/expelling faeces - can lead to anal retentive or anal expulsive personality

  phallic stage - focus on genital area - leads to narcissistic personality

  latency - all sexual desires are suppressed

  genital stage - all sexual desires become conscious

  if all stage is successfully completed then adult is sexually matured and mentally healthy
• defence mechanisms

  controlled by the ego and allow us to not be overwhelmed by temporary threats or trauma

  repression - forcing distressing memory out of conscious mind

  denial - refusing to acknowledge aspect of reality

  displacement - transferring feelings from true source onto a substitute
• A03 +practical application - psychodynamic approach introduced psychotherapy aims to treat mental disorders psychologically rather than physically. it employs a range of techniques to access the unconscious such as dream analysis or projective test. this allows repressed thoughts to gradually be brought up to the conscious. this means that therapist and patient can work through traumatic/distressing memories together and ways to cope. furthermore, this is the forerunner to modern day talking therapies such as counselling. thus high real world application and economic implications
• A03- approach is untestable due to a lack of scientific methods. philosopher Karl popper argued that approach doesn't meet scientific criteria of falsifiability and is not open to empirical methods of testing meaning that it has risk of being disproved. similarly, as much of the approach relies on unconscious processes ( id, oedipus complex) it means these have to be studied indirectly and subjectively therefore meaning approach lacks scientific credibility and rigour
• A03 -psychic determinism - freud states that our behaviour is controlled by unconscious conflicts in which we have no control. he also states that issues with child development can lead to fixations in our adult life e.g oral fixation leads to smoking. this therefore means the approach can be criticised as it deems adults as 'doomed' to develop poor behaviour later on in life, effectively meaning we have no free will over our behaviour. this therefore limits the approach as it fails to accept any aspect of control over our own actions and rather unconscious mechanisms determine our behaviour