Psychodynamic Approach

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  • Created by: 0045253
  • Created on: 30-05-22 14:19
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  • Psychodynamic Approach
    • Assumptions
      • Humans have basic instincts (unconscious urges)
      • Unconscious conflicts are usually rooted in our childhood, any free will we may think we have is an illusion.
    • The Role of the Unconscious
      • Protects the conscious self from anxiety or conflict, one way this can be achieved is by employing defence mechanisms.
      • Motivating force behind our behaviour and plays a significant role in the development of personality.
      • Conscious mind = part of the mind we know about and aware of.
      • Unconscious = storehouse of biological dries and instincts that has a significant influence on our behaviour and personality. Also contains disturbing memories that have been repressed and forgotten.
      • Pre-conscious = thoughts and ideas which we become aware of in dreams or through slips of the tongue (parapraxes)
    • Structure of Personality
      • ID: Present at birth, consists of basic drives + desires. Pleasure orientated (Pleasure Principle)   + completely selfish. Resides in the unconscious mind.
        • A dominant ID could cause a person to be destructive and immoral such as developing behaviour disorders like being overly aggressive.
      • Ego: Develops between 18m - 3yrs. Tries to control the impulses from the ID. Largest part of the conscious, rational mind that mediates between demands of the ID + Superego later in life. Ruled by Reality Principle.
        • If the Ego is weakened either the ID or Superego will dominate leading to abnormal behaviour .
      • Superego: Last part to develop (4-5yrs), driven by Morality Principle - what is right and wrong. We develop ideas from our parents and others around us. Resides in the unconscious.
        • When the Superego is too powerful it restricts the urges of the ID to such an extent that the person will deprived of even socially acceptable pleasures, likely to lead to anxiety disorders such as OCD or phobias.
    • Psychosexual Stages
      • Any psychosexual conflict that is unresolved leads to fixation where the child becomes stuck and carries certain behaviours through to adult life.
      • Oral Stage (0-1yrs)
        • Focus of pleasure is around the mouth, mother's breast is an object of desire.
          • Oral fixation = smoking, biting nails, sarcastic or critical.
      • Anal (1-3yrs)
        • Focus of pleasure is the anus, child gain pleasure from withholding and expelling faeces.
          • Anal retentive = perfectionist, obsessive
          • Anal expulsive = thoughtless, messy
      • Phallic (3-5yrs)
        • Focus of pleasure is the genital area, child experiences the Oedipus or Electra complex
          • Phallic personality = narcissistic, reckless, possibly homosexual.
      • Latency (6yrs- puberty)
        • Repressed sexual urges which are sublimated into activities such as learning & friendships
      • Genital (puberty onwards)
        • Sexual desires becomes conscious alongside puberty
          • Difficulty forming heterosexual relationships
    • Defence Mechanisms
      • Unconscious and ensure that the ego is able prevent us from being overwhelmed by temporary threats/ traumas.
        • They often involve some sort of distortion of reality and as a long-term solution, regarded as psychologically unhealthy + undesirable.
        • They cannot be studied directly, means they're untestable and can only be inferred from behaviour/ reported thoughts or experiences.
      • Repression = Forcing a distressing memory out of the conscious mind.
        • Denial = Refusing to acknowledge some aspect of reality.
          • Displacement = Transferring feelings from true source of distressing emotion onto a substitute target.
    • Contributions
      • Development of psychoanalysis + use of talking therapies.
      • One of  first psychologists to emphasise the importance of childhood + how it affects later development.
        • Gave us theories about how physical problems could be explained in terms of conflicts within the mind.
      • Unscientific methodology due to unfalsifiable concepts.
        • Extensive use of the case study method, an in-depth method of investigation of a single person.
    • STRENGTH
      • P - Has explanatory power
        • E - Although Freud's theory is controversial, it has had a huge influence on Western contemporary thought
          • E - The approach has been used to explain a wide range of phenomena including personality development, abnormal behaviour, moral development and gender.
            • L - Alongside behaviourism, it was the dominant approach in Psychology for the first half of the 20th century, therefore the Psychodynamic approach is significant.
      • P - Has practical applications in the real world.
        • E -  Freud introduced a new therapy called psychoanalysis which is designed to access the unconscious mind using a range of techniques such as dream analyses.
          • E -  Psychoanalysis is the forerunner to many modern-day psychotherapies that have since been established.
            • L -  This means that the psychodynamic approach is pioneering and its applications have gone on to have many practical benefits across the field of psychiatry.
    • WEAKNESS
      • P -The psychodynamic approach is pessimistic in its outlook, this is in contrast to the humanistic approach which is optimistic. 
        • E -The psychodynamic approach has a negative outlook on behaviour suggesting that people are selfish and motivated by aggression. 
          • E - The humanistic approach challenges this assertion claiming that we are inherently good and motivated to achieve our full potential. 
            • L -  This means the psychodynamic approach is not realistic and is too focused on the negative aspects of behaviour which may be better explained using other approaches such as humanism.
      • P - The psychodynamic approach is based on psychic determinism
        • E - All behaviour is controlled by unconscious conflict that is rooted in childhood. 
          • E - Even something random for example a ‘slip of the tongue’ is driven by unconscious forces and has deep symbolic meaning. 
            • L - This is an extreme determinist stance and suggests that free will may have no influence on behaviour, this is a limitation of the psychodynamic approach. 

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