Psychodynamic approach Flashcards
What is the psychodynamic approach?
Focuses on the different forces, most of which are unconscious, that operate on the mind and direct human behaviour and experience.
What is id?
Entirely unconscious, the id is made up of selfish aggressive instincts that demand immediate gratification.
What is ego?
Balances the conflicting demands of the id and the superego.
What is superego?
The moralistic part of our personality which represents the ideal self.
What is the unconsious?
The part of the mind that we are unaware of but which continues to direct much of our behaviour.
What are defence mechanisms?
Unconscious strategies that the ego uses to manage the conflict between the id and the superego.
- Repression
- Denial
- Displacement
What is repression?
Forcing a distressing memory out of the conscious mind.
What is denial?
Refusing to acknowledge some aspect of reality.
What is displacement?
Transferring feelings from true source of distressing emotion onto a substitute target.
What are psychosexual stages?
According to Freud, five developmental stages that all children pass through. At most stages there is a specific conflict, the outcome of which determines future development.
What are the 5 psychosexual stages?
- Oral (0-1 years)
- Anal (1-3 years)
- Phallic (3-5 years)
- Latency
- Genital
What is the consequence of the unsolved conflict in the oral stage?
Oral fixation - smoking, biting nails, sarcastic, critical.
What is the consequence of the unsolved conflict in the anal stage?
Anal retentive - perfectionist, obsessive
Anal expulsive - thoughtless, messy
What is the consequence of the unsolved conflict in the phallic stage?
Phallic personality - narcissistic, reckless, possibly homosexual
What is the consequence of the unsolved conflict in the genital stage?
Difficulty forming heterosexual relationships.
