Psychodynamic approach Flashcards
What are the key assumptions of the psychodynamic approach?
Unconscious forces operate on the mind and influence our behaviour, most unconscious forces and drives are innate and control or determine our behaviour so all we say and do has a cause and some unconscious forces develop during childhood and effect our behaviour
How many parts are there to our conscious?
3
What are the parts to our conscious?
Conscious, preconscious and unconscious
What determines our behaviour?
Unconscious forces which is psychic determinism
What are the 3 parts to our personality?
ID, ego and superego
What part of our consciousness is the ID?
The unconscious
What part of our consciousness is the ego?
Preconscious
What part of the consciousness is the superego?
The conscious
What principle is the ID?
The pleasure principle
When does the ID develop?
It is present from birth
What does the ID do?
It demands immediate gratification regardless of the situation and this results in pleasure and frustration leads to tension
What principle is the ego?
The reality principle
When does the ego develop?
At about 2 years old
What does the ego do?
It delays gratifying the ID until a more appropriate opportunity and must compromise between impulsive demands of the ID and moralistic demands of superego
What principle is the superego?
The morality principle
When does the superego develop?
At about 4-5 years old
What does the superego do?
It is the internalised idea of right and wrong based off moral standards of the child’s sam-sex parent which produces feeling of guilt for wrongdoing, also includes an ego-ideal of how we should behave
What are defences mechanisms?
They help the ego manage the demand of the ID and superego
What do defences mechanisms do?
They unconsciously distort reality but if over-used, they become psychologically unhealthy and desirable
How many types of defence mechanisms are there?
3
What are the 3 types of defence mechanisms?
Repression, denial and 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 the feelings from the true source of distressing emotion onto a substitute target
What are the psychosexual stages?
Oral, anal, phallic and genital
Which psychosexual stage is the ID?
Oral
Which psychosexual stage is the ego?
Anal
Which psychosexual stage is the superego?
Phallic
When is the oral stage?
0-1
What is the oral stage?
The focus of pleasure is the mouth and breastfeeding
What is the consequence of an unresolved oral conflict?
Oral fixation - smoking, biting nails, being sarcastic and being critical
When is the anal stage?
1-3
What is the anal stage?
The focus of pleasure is the anus where pleasure is gained from withholding and expelling faeces
What are the consequences of an unresolved anal conflict?
Being anally retentive - obsessive perfectionist or being anally expulsive - thoughtless and messy
When is the phallic stage?
3-6
What is the phallic stage?
Focus of pleasure is the genital area
What are the consequences of an unresolved phallic conflict?
Phallic personality - narcissistic, reckless and sexual anxiety
When does the latency stage occur?
6 to puberty
What is the latency stage?
Earlier conflicts are repressed
When is the genital stage?
Puberty onwards
What is the genital stage?
Sexual desires become conscious
What is the consequence of an unresolved genital conflict?
Difficulty forming heterosexual relationships
What i the oedipus complex?
When a child is in love with their parent of the opposite sex and hates or wants to kill the parent of same sex
What are the causes of an oral fixation?
Early weaning and deprivation of love or food
What are the causes of an anal fixation?
Harsh or lax toilet training
What are the causes of a phallic fixation?
A very dominant mother and no father figure
