Approaches : Psychodynamic Approach Flashcards
What is psycodynamic approach?
states that our mental activity is mostly unconscious and that this unconscious activity shapes our behaviour
What is the structure of the personality?
- ID
- Ego
- Supergo
What is ID?
The ID is pure erotic energy and is governed by the pleasure principle. It consists of primal urges which
Freud called drives and seeks nothing but pleasure and instant gratification. It operates on instinct and
is the part of the personality which is present at birth.
What is Ego?
The ego is governed by the reality principle and is tasked with taming the id and balancing the demands
of the superego, much like a referee overseeing a football match. The ego is not present at birth and
arises in response to control by others, specifically parents during the anal stage of development (see
below), at around two years old.
What is a superego?
The superego is governed by the morality principal: our sense of right and wrong. It is characterised by
the ‘inner voice’ that tells us when we have crossed into the boundaries of unacceptable behaviour.
The superego is the internalised parent and develops in response to parental discipline around five
years old.
What is defence mechanisms?
Defence mechanisms are used by the ego in order to cope with the conflicting demands of the other two
parts of the personality: the ID and superego. The ego works by distorting reality so that the individual can
continue with their everyday life without unpleasant feelings or memories dominating their conscious
awareness.
What are 3 types of defence mechansim?
Repression
denial
displacement
What is repression?
Repression occurs when a traumatic
or distressing memory is forced out of
conscious awareness and into the
unconscious mind.
What is Denial?
Denial involves a refusal to accept the
truth or reality of a situation, acting as
though nothing distressing has
happened
What is displacement?
Displacement is when the feelings
towards a target individual cannot be
expressed directly and are therefore
transferred onto someone/something
else.
What is an example of repression ?
An adult who experienced neglect at the
hands of their parents as a child may
have no conscious awareness that this
trauma occurred, although they may
show distrust of others in later life
What is an example of denial ?
Someone with a gambling addiction may
deny that they have a problem with
their finances despite being in a large
amount of debt.
What is an example of displacement?
Someone who was bullied at school may
go home and take it out by being mean
towards their younger sibling.
What did freud say about psychosexual satges?
children pass through several psychosexual stages of development: oral, anal, phallic,
latent and genital. During each stage, the child has its desires for bodily pleasure denied and redirected by
its parents until they focus exclusively on the appropriate sexual outlet for the given stage. According to
Freud, if a child fails to resolve the conflict at each of the psychosexual stages, they may develop a fixation
where they display certain behaviours/characteristics in their adult life.
What is an Oedipus complex?
the Oedipus complex in which boys relinquish their unconscious desire for
their mother and internalise the fear of castration by their father. This process is traumatic, and cannot be
confronted directly, and so the ego establishes defence mechanisms, such as repression and denial, to
mediate the psychological terrors it generates.
