APPROACHES: The Psychodynamic approach Flashcards
what is the psychodynamic approach?
A perspective that describes the different unconscious forces, that operate on the mind and direct human behaviour and experience.
What is the unconscious?
the part of the mind which we are unaware of but which directs most of out behaviour.It also contains threatening or disturbing memories that have been repressed.
what is the preconscious mind?
thoughts and ideas which we may become aware of during dreams or through ‘slips of the tongue’
What is Id?
Id is the primitive (old) part of our personality. It operates on the pleasure principle- gets what it wants.
- present from birth
- selfish and demands instant gratification of its needs.
What is Ego?
The ‘reality check’ that balances the conflicting demands of the Id and super ego.
- rational and practical
- satisfies id in a socially acceptable way
- conscious and unconscious
- develops between ages 1- 3
It manages by employing a number of defence mechanisms.
What is super ego?
- the moralistic part of our personality which represents the ideal self how we ought to be.
- develops between ages 3-5
- based on the morality principle
What are psychosexual stages?
5 developmental stages that all children pass through. At each stage there is a different conflict, the outcome of which determines future development.
what happens to any unresolved conflicts?
the child will carry behaviours associated with that stage throughout adulthood.
what is the ORAL stage?
Focus of the pleasure is the mouth, mothers breast can be the object of desire.
0-1 years
what are the consequences of unresolved conflict of the ORAL stage?
Oral fixation - smoking, biting nails, sarcastic, critical.
what is the ANAL stage?
Focus of pleasure is the anus. Child gains pleasure from withholding and expelling faeces.
1-3 years
what are the consequences of unresolved conflict of the ANAL stage?
Anal retentive - perfectionist, obsessive.
Anal expulsive - thoughtless, messy.
what is the PHALLIC stage?
Focus of the pleasure is the genital area.
3-6 year
what are the consequences of the unresolved conflict of the PHALLIC stage?
Phallic personality- narcissistic, reckless
what is the LATENCY stage?
earlier conflicts are repressed
what is the GENITAL stage?
sexual desire become conscious alongside the onset of puberty.
what are the consequence of unresolved conflict of the GENITAL stage?
difficulty forming heterosexual relationships.
what are defence mechanisms?
unconscious strategies that the Ego uses to manage the conflict between the Id and Superego
what are the types of defence mechanism?
Displacement
Denial
Repression
what is displacement?
when you transfer feelings from the sources of distressing emotion on a substitute target
what is denial?
you completely reject the thought or feeling and completely refuse to acknowledge some aspect of reality.
what is repression?
forcing a distressing memory out of the conscious mind.
what are the STRENGTHS of the psychodynamic approach?
- introduced the idea of psychotherapy
- psychoanalysis claims to help clients by bringing their repressed emotions into their conscious mind so they can be dealt with. (talking therapies and counselling)
- can be used to explain a wide range of phenomena including personality development, the origins of psychological disorders, moral development and gender identity.
what are the LIMITATIONS of the psychodynamic approach?
- psychoanalysis is seen as inappropriate for people experiencing serious mental health disorders.
- people with mental health disorders may not be able to properly articulate their thoughts for psychoanalysis.
- untestable - Freud’s theory cannot be proved scientifically.
what is the oedipus complex?
freud claimed that little boys develop insestuous feelings towards their mothers and a murderous hatred for their father.
fearing their father would castrate, they identify with their father, taking on with his gender tole and moral values.
what is the electra complex?
freud claimed that girls experience penis envy: they desire their father as their penis is the primary love object
give up their desire for their father over time and replace this for a desire for a baby.
