Lesson 7 - Psychodynamic Approach Flashcards
Psychodynamic Approach Assumptions
The Role of the Unconscious Mind
The Structure of Personality
Defence Mechanisms
Psychosexual Stages
The Role of the Unconscious Mind
Three levels to the mind (Freud)
Conscious Mind - thoughts/feelings/memories that individual is aware of
Preconscious Mind - thoughts/feelings/memories that can be accessed if wanted
Unconscious Mind - largest part of mind which is inaccessible
Unconscious Mind
Freud
Everyday behaviours are controlled by unconscious mind
Reveals itself in slips of the tongue (Freudian slips) in creativity and neurotic symptoms
Mind actively prevents traumatic thoughts/feelings/memories from reaching conscious mind as they would cause anxiety
During psychoanalysis, therapist tries to access unconscious mind of patients using free association and dream interpretation
The Structure of Personality
Personality has a tripartite structure; Id, Ego, Superego
Experience and conflicts in childhood shape development of the three parts of personality, affecting behaviour
The Structure of Personality
The Id
Formed between birth and 18 months
In the unconscious mind
Focuses on the self and is irrational and emotional
Deals with feelings and needs and seeks pleasure
Operates on the pleasure principle
The Structure of Personality
The Ego
Formed from 18 moonshot to 3 years
Within the conscious mind
Rational and obtains a balance between the Id and Superego
Operates on the reality principle
The Structure of Personality
The Superego
Formed between 3 and 6 years
Within the unconscious mind
Acts as a conscience or moral guide based on parental and societal values
Operates on the morality principle
Psychoanalysis
Set of theories and therapeutic techniques that deal in part with the unconscious mind, and which together form a method of treatment for mental disorders
Pleasure Principle
Instinctive seeking of pleasure and avoiding of pain to satisfy biological and psychological needs
Driving force guiding the Id
Reality Principle
The tendency to defer immediate instinctual gratification so as to achieve longer-range goals or so as to meet external demands
Morality Principle
Guidelines that people live by to make sure they are doing the right thing
Different for everyone as they depend on how a person was raised and what is important to them in life
Defence Mechanisms
Help ego to manage the conflict between the Id and Superego
Provide solutions to deal with conflict
Also provide strategy to reduce ancients, which weakens the ego’s influence
Repression, Denial and Displacement
Defence Mechanisms
Repression
Unconscious blocking of unacceptable thoughts
These repressed thoughts still continue to influence behaviour
E.g. a person who is abused as a child may not remember the abuse but could still have trouble forming adult relationships
Defence Mechanisms
Denial
Refusal to accept reality to avoid having to deal with any painful feelings that may be associated with a traumatic situation
E.g. an alcoholic may deny they have a drinking problem
Defence Mechanisms
Displacement
Occurs when the focus of a strong emotion is expressed on an alternative person or object
E.g. a student given a detention may kick their locker
Psychosexual Stages
Personality developed through sequence of 5 stages; driving force in development to express sexual energy
If child experiences too much/little gratification at any stage, fixation occurs in which child’s later adult personality could show permanent signs reflecting stage at which fixation occurred
5 Psychosexual Stages
Oral Anal Phallic Latent Genital
Psychosexual Stages
Oral
0-2 years
Focus of pleasure is the mouth and the control of sucking, tasting and biting
Resolved => trusting and able to give/receive affection
Unresolved => smoking, biting nails, sarcastic, critical
Psychosexual Stages
Anal
2 - 3 years
Focus of pleasure is the anus
Child gains pleasure from withholding and expelling faeces
Resolved => can deal with authority figures
Unresolved
=> Anal retentive personality (perfectionist and obsessive)
=> Anal expulsive personality (thoughtless and messy)
Psychosexual Stages
Phallic
3 - 6 years
Focus of please is the genital area
Children experience the Oedipus or Electra complex
Resolved => adopts the behaviour/traits of the same sex
Unresolved => narcissistic, reckless and possibly homosexual
Psychosexual Stages
Latent
6 - 12 years
Focus is on the mastery of the world and social relationships
Earlier conflicts are repressed
Psychosexual Stages
Genital
12+ years
Sexual desires become conscious alongside the onset of puberty
Resolved => individual is a well adjusted adult
Unresolved => difficulty forming heterosexual relationships
Oedipus Complex
During phallic stage, boys develop incestuous feelings towards their mother and a hatred for their rival in love - their father
Fearing that their father will castrate them (castration anxiety), bots repress their feelings for their mother and identity with their father
In doing so, they internalise his gender role and moral values (his superego)
Electra Complex
During the phallic stage, girls experience penis envy and so desire their father
They also believe they have been castrated and blame their mother for this
Over time, girls give up their desire for their father and replace this with a desire for a baby
In turn, they identify with their mother and internalise her gender role and moral values (her superego)
Psychodynamic Approach Evaluation Points
Defence Mechanisms Practical Applications Little Hans Falsifiability Generalisability
Psychodynamic Approach Evaluation
Defence Mechanisms
Positive
Psychodynamic concepts such as defence mechanisms do have intuitive appeal
Most people appreciate ideas of denial, repression and displacement
Psychodynamic Approach Evaluation Points
Practical Applications
Positive
Led to development of psychoanalysis
Therapy for the treatment of anxiety disorders
Laid foundations for psychotherapy in modern psychiatry
Psychodynamic Approach Evaluation Points
Little Hans
Positive
Case of Little Hans supports the Oedipus Complex proposed by Freud
However, Oedipus Complex can only be inferred by behaviour or reported thoughts/experiences where subjection interpretation is open to investigator bias
The psychodynamic approach lacks scientific rigour
Psychodynamic Approach Evaluation Points
Falsifiability
Negative
Key concepts of psychodynamic approach such as unconscious mind and defence mechanisms lack falsifiability
They are unconscious processes and therefore difficult to test
Psychodynamic Approach Evaluation Points
Generalisability
Negative
Concepts of psychodynamic approach are based on small samples due to reliance of the case study method
Poses problems of generalisability
