Psychodynamic approach Flashcards
Sigmund Freud
- founder of psychoanalysis
- developed therapies to bring out repressed emotions from the psyche
- developed controversial but renowned theories about the unconscious mind
tripartite personality
ID, ego, superego
- conflict between these can lead to problems and mental disorders
ID
- “i want”
- operates on pleasure principles
- present from birth, satisfies our biological needs and demands throughout life
Ego
-“i will”
- operates on the reality principle
- appears around age two, the planning part of the personality
Superego
- ” i should”
- operates on morality principle
- develops around age five, produces feelings of guilt for wrongdoing, behavioral guide
Problems with an unbalanced tripartite
- ability to function is ego strength
- someone with a weak ego may give in to the ID or superego readily
- the key to a healthy personality is being able to maintain a balance between the ID, ego and superego
What’s contained in the Conscious mind?
Thoughts and perceptions
What’s contained in the preconscious?
Memories and stored knowledge
What’s contained in the unconscious?
shameful experiences, selfish needs, and irrational wishes
Defence mechanisms
- triggered when individual is faced with a situation they cannot deal with rationally
- operates unconsciously, distorts reality to reduce anxiety
- stops individual becoming aware of unpleasant thoughts or feelings
Overuse of the defence mechanism
- denial: refusing to accept a fact
- repression: forcing a hurtful memory out of your consciousness so it can’t hurt you
- displacement: feelings to the target individual can’t be expressed directly so transferred to something/one else
psychosexual development
desire for bodily pleasure is directed to the appropriate sexual outlet for that age
- failure to resolve this can lead to fixations as adults
Oedipus and electra complex
- boys relinquish their internalised desire for their mother and internalised fear of castration from their father
- girls desire their fathers attention and the removal of their mother
- the ego establishes defence mechanism for protection
oral stage
age: 0-2, focus: mouth, pleasure through sucking and biting, may engage in behaviours such as smoking and nail-biting
phallic stage
age: 3-6, focus: genitals, overcoming the Oedipus and electra complex, superego develops
fixation: reckless and narcissistic behaviour
anal stage
age: 2-3, focus: anus, undergoing potty training and controlling bowel movements
anal retentive: obsessive, perfectionist
anal explosive: messy and thoughtless
latent stage
age: 6-puberty, focus: hidden, sexual energy becomes latent, individual can focus on world around them and form friendships
fixation: difficulty expressing emotion or forming healthy relationship
genital stage
age: puberty +, focus: forming hetero relationships, energy resides in genitals towards the forming of adult relationships and sexual maturity
fix: struggle to form hetero relationships
strengths of psychodynamic
Made contributions to psych
* first approach to focus on causes and treatments of mental disorders
* shows its made sig additions to understanding early life
Effectiveness therapy
* biskup found 77% of patients improved after psychoanalytic therapy
* shows it can help improve people and return them to normal functioning
limitations of psychodynamic
Culturally biased
- no relevance in non western cultures e.g Chinese feel bringing feelings up is worse (opposite of psychoanalysis)
Gender biased
- horney criticised Freud view of women and penis envy
- tmb theories were androcentric, inappropriate in explaining female behaviour
what is personality development driven by?
the libido
