Approaches - The Psychodynamic Approach Flashcards
Psychodynamic
Refers to any theory that emphasises change and development in the individual, particularly those theories where ‘drive’ is the central concept in development.
The best known psychodynamic theory
Freudian psychoanalysis
Psychoanalysis
A term used to describe the personality theory and therapy associated with Sigmund Freud.
Unconscious
That part of the human mind that contains repressed ideas and memories, as well as primitive desires and impulses that have never been allowed to enter the conscious mind.
What did Sigmund Freud believe determined behaviour more than biological factors or environmental reinforcements?
Psychological factors
What is behaviour in large part controlled by?
The unconscious mind.
What is inaccessible to the conscious mind?
The unconscious mind.
What metaphor does Freud use to describe the mind?
The tip of the iceberg (representing the conscious mind) being visible, but the much larger part (representing the unconscious mind) being hidden under water.
Are most of our everyday actions and behaviours controlled consciously?
No. They are the product of the unconscious mind.
How does the unconscious mind reveal itself?
Slips of the tongue (or ‘Freudian slips’), in creativity and in neurotic symptoms.
Where does the unconscious mind extend its influence to.
Every part of our waking and sleeping lives.
Does the mind actively prevent traumatic memories from the unconscious from reaching conscious awareness?
Yes, these memories might cause anxiety so the mind uses defence mechanisms to prevent the person becoming aware of them.
What are the three structures of the mind/personality?
The id, the ego and the superego. Each demands gratification, but is frequently in conflict with the other parts.
What does the id operate according to?
The pleasure principle.
What is the pleasure principle that the id operates by?
Demands immediate gratification regardless of circumstances.
Example of the id in practice
If a person if hungry the id demands that they eat there and then.
Where does the id operate?
Solely in the unconscious.
What does the id contain?
It contains the libido, the biological energy created by the reproductive instincts.
What does the ego do?
Mediates between the impulsive demands of the I’d and the reality of the external world (the reality principle).
What does the ego operate according to?
The reality principle.
Example of the ego in practice.
It may delay gratifying the id until there is a more appropriate opportunity to satisfy its demands.
What must the ego compromise between?
The impulsive demands of the id and the moralistic demands of the superego.
What is the superego divided into?
The conscience and the ego-ideal.
What is the conscience in the superego and what does it do?
The conscience is the internalisation of societal rules. It determines which behaviours are permissible and causes feelings of guilt when rules are broken.
What is the ego-ideal in the superego?
The ego-ideal is what a person strives towards, and is most probably determined by parental standards of good behaviour.
Defence mechanisms
Unconscious strategies that protect our conscious mind from anxiety. Defence mechanisms involve a distortion of reality in some way, so that we are better able to cope with a situation.
When are defence mechanisms triggered?
When an individual is faced with a situation that they are unable to deal with rationally.
What does the use of defence mechanisms stop?
The individual stops themselves becoming aware of any unpleasant thoughts and feelings associated with the traumatic situation.
Examples of defence mechanisms
Repression, denial, displacement
Repression
Refers to the unconscious blocking of unacceptable thoughts and impulses.
What happens to these repressed thoughts and impulses?
Rather than staying quietly in the unconscious, they continue to influence behaviour without the individual being aware of the reason behind their behaviour.
Example of repression
A child who is abused by a parent may have no recollection of these events, but has trouble forming relationships.
Denial
The refusal to accept reality so as to avoid having to deal with any painful feelings that might be associated with that events.
How does a person in denial act?
The person acts as if the traumatic event had not happened, something that those around them find to be quite bizarre.
Example of denial
An alcoholic will often deny they have a drinking problem even after being arrested several times for being drunk and disorderly.
Displacement
Involves the redirecting of thoughts or feelings (usually hostile) in situations where the person feels unable to express them in the presence of the person they should be directed towards. Instead they may ‘take it out’ on a helpless victim or object.
Why may someone experiencing displacement ‘take it out’ on a helpless victim or object?
Because this gives their hostile feelings a route for expression, even though they are misapplied to an innocent person or object.
When and how did Freud believe personality developed?
During childhood through a sequence of five stages.
What are the five stages called through which personality develops?
Psychosexual stages
Why are they called psychosexual stages?
To emphasise that the most important driving force in development is the need to express sexual energy (libido).
Why did Freud believe that the individual experienced tension?
Due to the build up of sexual energy and he believed pleasure came from its discharge. At each stage this energy is expressed in different ways and through different parts of the body.
Psychosexual stages
Oral, anal, phallic, latent and genital
What happens if we do not have the proper nurturing and parenting during a stage?
We will be stuck, or fixated in that stage, even as adults.
What is happening in each psychosexual stage of development?
The child’s pleasure seeking urges, coming from the id , are focused on a different area of the body, called the erogenous zone.
What is the area of the body where the child’s pleasure seeking urges are focused called?
An erogenous zone.
Oral Stage age
0-2 years
Oral Stage description
The mouth is the focal point of sensation and is the way in which the child expresses early sexual energy (eg. through sucking or biting).
What is the result of an adult who is fixated in the oral stage of their psychosexual development, where fixation tendencies seek to ease anxiety?
They may smoke, drink, overeat or bite their nails.
What process can create conflict in the oral stage if not handled properly by parents or caregivers.
Being weaned from the bottle to breast.
Anal stage age
2-3 years
Anal stage description
The beginnings of ego development, as the child becomes aware of the demands of reality and the need to conform to the demands of others.
Where do children experience pleasure in the anal stage?
In their bowel and bladder movements.
What does success at the anal stage depend on?
How parents handled toilet training.
What is the conflict in the anal stage?
Toilet training as the child learns to control the expulsion of bodily waste.
What personalities can happen if toilet training is handled badly in the anal stage?
Anal-retentive and anal-expulsion personalities.
Phallic Stage age
3-6 years
What do the ages of the phallic stage correspond to?
The time when children become aware of their bodies and recognise the difference between boys and girls.
Phallic Stage description
Sexual energy is now focused on the genitals.
What is the conflict in the phallic stage?
The child feels a unconscious desire for the opposite sex parent, and jealousy and hatred towards the same sex parent. They unconsciously want to get rid of their same sex parent. Known as Oedipus complex for boys and Electra complex for girls.
How do children overcome the Oedipus/Electra complex in the phallic stage?
The boy experiences castration anxiety (punishment from the father). To resolve this problem the child identifies with their same sex parent.
Latent Stage age
6-12 years
Latent stage description
The child develops their mastery of the world around them. During this stage, the conflicts and issues of the previous stages are repressed with the consequence that children are unable to remember much of their early years.
What happens to sexual feelings during the latency stage?
Sexual feelings are dormant as children focus on other pursuits, such as school, friendships, hobbies and sports.
In the latency stage what does engaging in activities with peers of the same sex do for the child?
It consolidates a child’s gender-role identity.
Genital Stage age
12+
Genital stage description
The culmination of psychosexual development and the fixing of sexual energy in the genitals. This eventually directs us towards sexual intercourse and the beginnings of adult life.
How does a child turn into a well-balanced, healthy adult?
By successfully completing the psychosexual stages, reaching the genital stage with no fixation.
Strengths of the psychodynamic approach
- Being the first to look at psychological causes
- Linked to biological needs
- Provides methods for therapy
- Looked at how experiences affect development later on
- Some scientific support for psychoanalytic approach
- The comprehensive nature of the theory
Weaknesses of the psychodynamic approach
- Subjectivity
- Lack of falsifiability
- Issues with psychoanalysis therapy
- Too much emphasis on the past
- No establishment of cause and effect
- Psychoanalysis is a gender and culture biased approach
