Psychodynamic approach

• the key assumptions

  unconscious mind and childhood experiences drive our behaviour
• role of the unconscious

  conscious (current thoughts) , preconscious (easy to think about), unconscious (trauma, not easy to access)
• 3 parts of the personality

  Id, ego, superego
• id - pleasure seeking, impulsive, selfish, irrational
• ego- rational, logical, realistic, mediates between id & superego
• superego- moral code, conscience, idealistic, punishes bad behaviour
• Defence mechanisms

  Repression, denial and displacement
• Psychosexual stages

  Oral, anal, phallic, latent, genital
• Strengths of this approach

  Useful (1st psychological explanation), psychoanalysis, acknowledged childhood experiences.
• Weaknesses

  Problems w psychoanalysis, uses case studies, difficult to test.