Psychodynamic approach.

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  • Created by: Oct
  • Created on: 17-01-17 16:21

Overview and basic assumptions.

Sigmund Freud developed the approach.

  • All origins of behaviour are within the unconscious mind.
  • Our instincts/drives motivate our behaviour
  • Our childhood and what we experience then influences later behaviour in adulthood.
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Role of the unconscious.

The conscious mind is part of the mind that we are aware of and can access at any point however the unconscious mind is part of the mind which we are not aware of. To illustrate this Freud used the iceberg model which showed that the majority of what we do and experience go into the unconscious mind and the conscious mind is only a small part of our mind.

If a person has a traumatic experience Freud believed that these would be stored in the unconscious mind which causes cannot be accessed but still influence behaviour. 

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Tripartite structure of personality.

There are 3 parts to our personality.

ID:  

  • This is the selfish part of the mind and it demands immediate satisfaction. It also pays no attention to reality or who might be bothered by them wanting immediate satisfaction.

Superego

  • This is the moral part of our personality because it dictates what is right and what is wrong according to societal standards.

Ego:

  • The ego has to manage the conflict between the Id and the superego. It can however be overpowered by either the Id or the superego which will result in a person having negative behaviours and mental health issues. 
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Defence mechanisms.

Defence mechanisms are strategies that individuals use unconsciously to reduce their anxiety and this can weaken the Ego, allowing the Id or superego to take over. 

There are 3 defence mechanisms:

Repression: someone will put unpleasant thoughts into the unconscious mind.

Denial: someone will refuse to accept the reality of a situation such as saying they can't believe that someone has died.

Displacement: someone exppresses strong emotions such as anger on to neutral object/person.  

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Instincts and drives.

Everyone is driven by instincts. Freud said everyone goes through a series of stages which last from birth to 18 called psychosexual stages

There are 5 stages oral (0 to 1 year), anal (1 to 3 years), phallic (3 to 5 years), latency (6 years to puberty) and genitial (puberty to maturity). 

If there is too much gratification at one stage a person will become fixated and their later behaviour will be influenced by it.

For example if someone becomes fixated in the oral stage their later behaviour might consist of nail biting or smoking.

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Strengths of psychodynamic approach.

Freud's approach has led to psychotherapy (psychoanalysis) which involves the therapist helping a patient bring repressed memories from the unconscious mind into the conscious mind so that a patient can deal with them 

Another strength is that Freud had supporting evidence from case studies such as Little Hans who's case illustrated he was in the phallic stage which provides evidence for the psychosexual stages. 

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Weaknesses of the psychodynamic approach.

Although Freud used case studies to provide supporting evidence they are unique cases which are not generalisable. thsi measn case studies lack population validity because they cannot be applied to any one else and they also lack reliability because they are not replicable and again this means generalisations cannot be made. 

Also this appraoch is deterministic which is weakness because people criticise it because it claims we are all trapped by our childhood. Therefore we are unable to change our behaviour because it has already been determined however other appproaches such as the humanistic approach claims we have free will and are able to change our behaviour.

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