APPROACHES- Psychodynamic Flashcards
What are the main assumptions of the psychodynamic approach?
-Unconscious forces in our minds determine our thoughts, feelings and behaviour ( the term dynamic refers to the ongoing involvement of these forces
-Our childhood experiences strongly influence our behaviour as adults
-abnormal behaviour is the result of mental conflict between different personalities within us
-The mind can be divided into 3 levels of consciousness which can be referred to as the iceberg analogy, the unconscious mind which is hidden beneath the surface, has the most influence on our personalities
-This approach uses case studies as its preferred research method to understand individuals as holistically as possible
-if someone is conflicted due to dysfunctional parental behaviour in childhood they may exhibit defence mechanism behaviour
Define unconscious
The part of the mind that we are unaware of that directs behaviour such as secret fears or desires, repressed memories or emotions, the effects of trauma
Define the Tri-partite structure of personality
The personality consists of 3 parts the id, ego and superego
Define defence mechanisms.
Unconscious strategies that the ego uses to manage the conflicts between the id and superego
What are the psychosexual stages?
Each psychosexual stage is associated with a conflict that must be resolved before the individual can successfully advance to the next stage
Define psychic determinism
Unconscious forces and drives are inborn and control or determine behaviour all we say and do has a cause
Why are childhood experiences important?
Events that occur in childhood remain in the unconscious and cause problems as adults
Who created the iceberg analogy?
Frued
What is the preconscious/subconscious mind?
In between the unconscious and conscious mind and holds information that we can access if we try and when we want to
What is at the top of the iceberg?
The small amount of mental activity we know about, thoughts and perception
What is the bottom of the iceberg?
The unconscious- things we are aware of and can not become aware of, disturbing memories that have been repressed
What are the two things that prove the unconscious?
-Freudian slips
-Dream analysis
What are Freudian slips?
An error in speech, memory or physical action that occurs due to the inference of an unconscious wish or internal train of thought such as secret feelings, the concept is a part of classical psychoanalysis
What is dream analysis?
Is the process of assigning meaning to dreams, although associated with some forms of psychotherapy, there is no reliable evidence that understanding or interpreting dreams has a positive impact on somebody’s mental health
What is the conscious mind?
The part of the mind that the individual is aware of, which is used to form conscious thoughts
What do dreams reveal?
secret fears/desires
Why do psychotherapists suggest psychoanalysis is necessary?
secret fears/desires
When is the Id present from?
Birth
What is the Id?
the instinctive part of our personality and operates according to the pleasure principle
What is the Id a mass of?
Unconscious drives and instincts
What does the Id seek?
self-indulgent pleasure and instant gratification
Why is the id important in early life?
Ensure survival
When does the Ego devolp?
Around 2
What does the Ego work on?
The reality principle
What is Ego a mediator for?
The Id and Superego- balaces the demands of each
Why does the Ego develop?
A response to control by others
What does the Ego make people aware of?
Other peoples feelings and that they cannot always have their own way
When does the superego devolp?
Around the age of 5
What does the superego oeperate on?
A morality principle
What does the superego represent?
internalised sense of right and wrong, the conscience/morality/ethics/judgemental aspect of the self
How are moral standards devolped?
From the same sex parentnd the specific type of discipline instilled in one’s childhood
What can the superego show?
Approval
What is displacement?
Transfer of feelings from the source of distressing emotion onto a substitute target
What is displacement’s effect on behaviour?
Someone may exert very strong emotion but focus it on an uninvolved object/person
What is denial?
Completely rejecting the thought or feeling and completely refusing to acknowledge an aspect of reality
What is denial’s effect on behaviour?
Someone may believe that the situation is not negative and therefore should not cause anxiety, resistance to accept reality
What is repression?
Forcing of distressing memories out of the conscious mind
What is the effcet of repression on behaviour?
No recall of the event or situation
What did freud believe children were born with?
A lipid- a sexual pleasure/urge
What are the psychosexual stages?
Stages in childhood where the child seeks pleasure from different objects t each stage
What do you need to do to be psychologically healthy?
Succesfully complete each stage
What happens if you have not completed each stage?
Person become fixated
What stage is from ages 0-1?
Oral
What is the oral stage?
-Pleasure gained from the mouth and sucking
-Conflict can arise around breastfeeding (too much or too little)
What does fixation at the oral stage result in?
Oral Fixation: Smoking, overeating, biting nails, critical and sarcastic comments, addiction, neediness
What age is the Anal stage?
1-3
What happens in the anal stage?
-Pleasure gained from anus
-Conflict can arise when toilet training e.g. holding on too tightly (retentive) or defecating freely (expulsive)
What does fixation at the Anal stage result in?
-Anal retentive fixation: Neatness, perfectionism
-Anal expulsive: Messiness, insensitivity, chaos
What age does the Phallic stage occur?
3-6
What is involved with the phallic stage?
-The genital area is the focus of pleasure
-Conflict can arise and cause the Oedipus or Electra complex
-Gender devolpement
What does fixation at the Phallic stage result in?
Phallic fixation: Vanity, over-ambition, narcissism, impulsivity
What stage occurs at age 6-12?
Latenecy
What happens during latency?
Earlier conflicts become repressed
What stage occurs from puberty onwards?
Genital
What happened during the genital stage?
-The genitals are the focus of pleasure
-Sexual desire becomes conscious as puberty hits
What does fixation at the Genital stage result in?
Genital fixation: Difficulty forming heterosexual relationships, particularly difficulties with penetration
When does the Oedipus and Electra complexs occur?
Phallic stage
What is the Oedipus complex?
boys initially feel an unconscious desire for closeness to their mother and hate/fear their father due to castration anxiety
What is the Electra complex?
Girls experience penis envy and closeness to the father/hatred for the mother
What is the result of the Oedipus or Electra complex?
identify with the same-sex parent
Describe the little hans case study?
-Freud conducted a case study of Little Hans, a 5-year-old boy with a horse phobia
-Freud’s detailed notes and observations of Hans allowed him to interpret Hans’ phobia as being evidence of the Oedipus complex (the horse represented his father according to Freud)
-Hans emerged from the the phobia towards the beginning of the latency stage which Freud interpreted as evidence of him having resolved this conflict
Give a strength (Therapy)
-One strength of the psychodynamic approach is that it has practical application
-Led to the development of psychotherapy
-Foccusses on inner feelings rather than symptoms
-Development of therapy for the treatment of anxiety disorders laying the foundation
for psychotherapy in modern psychiatry
-strength because it provides individuals and therapists alternative options to consider when attempting to treat a patient, which might mean a greater chance of recovery.
Give a limitation (not falsifiable/ not scientific)
-One limitation is that it does not use scientific methods
-psychodynamic concepts such as the Oedipus and Electra complex cannot be scientifically tested with scans or carefully constructed experiments
-Concepts such as the unconscious also cannot be operationalised
-Therefore the theory is not falsifiable also eans that the Psychodynamic theory cannot be objectively and scientifically measured. Therefore objective evidence cannot be obtained to support the theory’s key concepts.
Give a limitation (problems of
generalisability)
-The psychodynamic approach uses case studies which limit the generalisations of the approach
-Freud used the case studies of little hans, a 5-year-old boy with a horse phobia
-Freud created detailed notes and observations of Hans allowing him to interpret Hans’ phobia as being evidence of the Oedipus complex (the horse represented his father according to Freud)
-Hans emerged from the the phobia towards the beginning of the latency stage which Freud interpreted as evidence of him having resolved this conflict
-However this is one case study which shows that the approach lacks evidence
-Everybody has individual differences so these results cannot be generalised to the wider population
Give a limitation (Psychic determinism)
-The Psychodynamic Approach can be criticised as being deterministic (in particular psychic determinism)
-The psychodynamic approach believes that behaviour is determined by unconscious drives and early childhood experiences
-One example of this approach being deterministic is that if an individual gets too much or too little pleasure at a stage of psychosexual development it will impact adult behaviour, pre-programming them to behaviour in a specific way
-This is a limitation as it does not take free will into account
