Psychodynamic Approach

Question 1

What did Sigmund Freud believe about the mind?

Answer 1

The mind had both conscious and unconscious areas. He described it as an iceberg, with the tip being the conscious mind and the part under the water the unconscious mind. It is these unconscious forces that largely determine thoughts, feelings and actions.

Question 2

Main assumptions

Answer 2

1. Our behaviour and feelings are powerfully affected by unconscious motives.
2. Our behaviour and feelings as adults (including physiological problems) are rooted in our childhood experiences.
3. Personality is made up of 3 parts (tripartite): the id, ego and superego.
4. Behaviour is motivated by 2 instinctual drives: Eros (the sex drive & life instinct) and Thanatos (the aggressive drive & death instinct). Both these drives come from the ‘‘id’’.
5. Parts of the unconscious mind (the id and superego) are in constant conflict with the conscious part of the mind (the ego). This conflict creates anxiety, which could be dealt with by the ego’s use of defence mechanisms.
6. Personality is shaped as the drives are modified by different conflicts at different times in childhood (during psychosexual development).

Question 3

What can the mind be split into?

Answer 3

Unconscious mind and conscious mind.

Question 4

What can the unconscious mind be split into?

Answer 4

The id and superego.

Question 5

What 2 instinctual drives come from the id?

Answer 5

Eros and Thanatos.

Question 6

What does the conscious mind consist of?

Answer 6

Ego.

Question 7

Conflict between Id and Superego

Answer 7

The id and the superego are in direct conflict - we are torn between our desires to gratify our impulses (the id) and our wish to live in a peaceful, ordered society (the superego). A well-adjusted person develops a strong ego to manage this conflict.

Question 8

Psychological disturbance

Answer 8

Psychological disturbance results from the inability of the ego to manage conflict within the psyche:
- If id impulses are not controlled, they may lead to psychopathic behaviour.
- If superego impulses are not controlled, they may lead to neurosis.

Question 9

What does the ego use to manage this conflict?

Answer 9

The ego uses ‘defence mechanisms’ to mediate between the id and the superego. They protect the ego from distress and allow a person to cope with life.

Question 10

Freudian Defence Mechanisms

Answer 10

1. Repression - Rowdy
2. Regression - Riley
3. Displacement - Disliked
4. Reaction Formation - Riding
5. Projection - Past
6. Denial - Denise’s
7. Sublimation - Sinister
8. Rationalisation - Road
9. Identification - In
10. Conversion - Canada

Question 11

Repression

Answer 11

The mind’s active attempt to prevent memories of traumatic experiences from reaching conscious awareness.

Question 12

Regression

Answer 12

Involves going backwards through the psychosexual stages. This is defensive because the situation does not have to be registered and dealt with in an adult way, and so unpleasant realities can be avoided.

Question 13

Displacement

Answer 13

Choosing a substitute object for the expression of your feelings because you cannot express them openly towards the real target. You transfer your feelings onto something quite harmless or innocent.

Question 14

Reaction Formation

Answer 14

Replacing an anxiety-provoking idea with its opposite

Question 15

Projection

Answer 15

Denial of one’s unacceptable feelings and desire, and finding them in others.

Question 16

Denial

Answer 16

Involves refusing to accept that something is true because it is painful, distressing or threatening.

Question 17

Sublimation

Answer 17

Challenging psychic energy from an unacceptable drive into a more acceptable one.

Question 18

Rationalisation

Answer 18

Creating an acceptable reason for a behaviour that is actually performed for a less acceptable reason.

Question 19

Identification

Answer 19

The incorporation of an external object (usually another person) into one’s personality, making them a part of oneself. Coming to think/act/feel as if one were that person.

Question 20

Conversion

Answer 20

The manifestation of a psychic conflict in terms of physical symptoms.

Question 21

Psychosexual Stages of Development

Answer 21

• 5 developmental stages.
• Right amount of gratification needed at each stage for healthy development.
• If we receive either too much or too little gratification, or fail to resolve conflict with parents experienced at that stage, we become fixated or stuck.

Question 22

The Oral Stage: (Birth - 1 year)

Answer 22

Pleasure is placed around the mouth and its activities, such as, sucking, feeding and crying. Infants explore the world using their mouths.

Question 23

Overgratified

Answer 23

Oral Receptive Character: stronger tendency to smoke, drink alcohol, overeat or bite their nails (addictions). These individuals may become overly dependent upon others, gullible and perpetual followers.

Question 24

Under gratified

Answer 24

Oral Aggressive Character: also preoccupied with oral activities, such as, chewing gum or ends of pens but pessimistic and aggressive.

Question 25

The Anal Stage: (1-3 years)

Answer 25

The dominant site of pleasure becomes the anus. This is related to toilet training, where the child must learn to control their impulses, and comes to derive pleasure from retaining and expelling faeces.

Question 26

Over gratified

Answer 26

Anal Expulsive Character: generous, tends to be messy and disorganised, defiant, hostile.

Question 27

Under gratified

Answer 27

Anal Retentive Character: stingy, obsession with cleanliness, perfection and control (OCD).

Question 28

The Phallic Stage: (3-6 years)

Answer 28

• The dominant site of pleasure becomes the genitals.
• At this stage, children experience a conflict between themselves and their parents.
• Initially, the child rejects the same-sex parent and the opposite-sex parent becomes the love-object.
• This conflict is resolved differently in boys and girls.
• In boys, it is called the ‘Oedipus complex’. This is where a young boy sees his father as a rival for his mother’s love and wishes him dead, thus creating anxiety and guilt, which is reduced when the boy comes to identify with his father.
• In girls, it is called the ‘Electra complex’. The girl is originally attached to the mother; however, when she discovers that she lacks a penis, she blames her mother and becomes attached to the father. She substitutes her ‘penis envy’ with a wish to become pregnant. She believes that the pregnancy would replace the missing penis which she envies and would allow her to gain equal status with the father. This leads to identification with the mother. Fixations are caused by a lack of identification with the opposite-sex parent. Conflicts may result in homosexuality, authority problems, and rejections of appropriate gender roles.

Question 29

The Latency Stage: (6 years to puberty)

Question 30

The Genital Stage: (Puberty to adulthood)