The psychodynamic approach

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  • AO1:
  • Key assumptions of the psychodynamic approach:
  • Freud suggested that most of our mind is made up of the unconscious: a vast storehouse of biological drives and instincts that has a significant influence on out behaour and personality. Freud's psychoanalytic theory is an example of the psychodynamic approach. He suggested that the mind is made up of the conscious - what we are aware of, pre-conscious - memories and thoughts we aren't currently aware of but can be accessed during dreams or 'slips of the tongue' (Freudian slips) and the unconscious - we are unaware of the contents of the unconscious. 
  • The structure of the personality:
  • Freud saw the personality as having 3 parts:
  • The ID - the primitive part of our personality. It operates on the pleasure principle. Only the Id is present at birth, and throughout life the id is selfish and demands instant gratification. 
  • The Ego - works on the reality principle and is the mediator between the id and the superego. The ego develops at around the age of 2 and its role is to reduce the conflict between the 2 other parts of the personality. It does this by employing a number of defense mechanisms. 
  • The Superego - Formed at the end of the phallic stage - around 5. It is our internalised sense of right and wrong, based on the morality principle. It punishes the ego for wrong-doing. 
  • Psychosexual stages:
  • Freud claimed that child development occurred in 5 stages. Each stage is marked by a different conflict that the child must resolve before moving on to the next. Any conflict that is unresolved leads to fixation where the child becomes 'stuck' and carries behaviours associated with

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