Year 2 Approaches

Assumption 1:

Our behaviour, thoughts and feelings are determined by unconscious forces of which we are unaware.

The Conscious – the part of the mind we are aware of

The Preconscious – a mental waiting room, where thoughts remain until they catch attention. It contains thoughts and ideas that we become aware of through dreams and ‘slips of the tongue’ e.g. memories or stored knowledge.

The Unconscious – primary source of human behaviour. Like a storehouse of biological drives and instincts that has a significant influence on our behaviour and personality. Also contains threatening and disturbing memories that have been repressed and forgotten. E.g. fears, unacceptable sexual desires, violent or irrational wishes and selfish needs, shameful/ traumatic experiences.

Assumption 2:

Personality has a tripartite structure, the id, ego and superego. Ego use defence mechanisms to protect it.

The id: is present from birth and is primitive and instinctual and drives us to satisfy basic biological needs throughout life. It operates of the pleasure principle and demands immediate satisfaction. It is a mass of unconscious drives and instincts, entirely selfish.

The ego: develops at around 2yrs, when a child realises it can’t always have what it wants. It works on the reality principle and is the mediator between the other two parts of the personality. Its role is to reduce conflict between the demands of id and superego. It uses defence mechanisms to help and is found in the conscious mind.

The superego: works on the morality principle.  It is our internalised sense of right and wrong, representing the moral standards of the child’s sax-sex parent and punishes the go from wrongdoing via guilt. Formed around the age of 5yrs. It is found in the preconscious mind

These are unconscious and ensure the ego is able to prevent us from being overwhelmed by temporary threats or traumas. They often involve distortion of reality, and as a long-term solution they are unhealthy.

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 bad emotion to a substitute target.

Assumption 3: childhood development takes place through psychosexual stages and adult behaviour is strongly influenced by our early childhood experiences. Child development occurrs in 5 stages, which express the most important driving force in development is the need to express sexual energy (libido). Any unresolved psychosexual conflict in a stage leads to fixation throughout life.

Oral stage – libido focuses on the mouth, passive, receptive and dependant and explore with mouths

Anal stage – libido focus on anus. Ego develops as parents impose restrictions

Phallic stage – focus on genitals, superego develops through resolution of Oedipus and Electra complex and formation of gender identity

Latency stage – boys and girls spend little time together

Genital stage – pleasure of genitals and experience with a partner.

(Oedipus – boys want to have sex with mum and becomes worried dad will find out and chop off penis, so they identify with dad. Electra – girls believe mum has chopped off their penis and want sex with dads but can’t so fascinate over babies to identify with mum.)

Assumptions:

1. Each individual is unique and their own subjective personal experience is important.

2. Humans have a natural tendency towards growth, health and well-being

Free Will –

Idea that humans can make choices and are not determined by biological or external forces. Humans can both control and change their environment. People are responsible for their actions and their own personal growth. Free will should be constrained by morals, laws, family values and other’s needs. We are active agents with the ability to determine our own development. Rogers and Maslow reject scientific models and say that as active agents we are all unique and psychology should concern itself with the study of subjective experience rather than general laws. A person-centred approach.

• Maslow believes humans are motivated by needs beyond those of basic biological survival. There is an innate desire to achieve our full potential (self-actualisation). Maslow’s hierarchy of needs ranges from basic needs to higher level needs. Each need must be fulfilled before a person can move to a higher need. The more basic the need, the more powerfully it is experienced.
• Rogers said individuals strive to achieve their ideal selves because they are motivated towards self-improvement. The humanistic approach concerns itself with explanations of healthy growth in individuals- a positive image of the human condition.

Focus on the self – how we perceive ourselves as a person. Rogers claimed we have two basic needs: positive regard from other people and a feeling of self-worth. Feeling of self-worth develop in childhood and formed via interactions with their parents and significant others. He believed that how we think about ourselves and our feelings of self-worth are important in determining our psychological health.

Congruence- a healthy sense of wellbeing is established id an individual maintains a reasonable consistency between ideal self and actual self. The greater the gap between ideal and actual self, the greater the incongruence, which can lead to low self-worth and maladjustment.

Conditions of worth – love and acceptance given by others may be unconditional or conditional. When people experience conditional positive regard they develop conditions of worth. These are conditions they believe significant others put upon them which they think HAVE to be in place if they are to be accepted by others and see themselves positively.

Influence on Treatment

Rogers developed client-centred therapy, this is where the client is encouraged to develop positive self-regard and overcome the mismatch between ideal and actual self.  

Gestalt therapy – the aim is to help the client become ‘whole’, by getting them to accept every aspect of themselves. Techniques include confrontation, dream analysis and role play.

Q-Sort Assessment – this measures congruence/ incongruence. It is a series of cards, each containing a personal statement, where the person sorts them into two piles, describing ‘real-self’ and ‘ideal-self’.