psychodynamic approach Flashcards
who is the founder of the psychodynamic approach?
sigmund freud
why was the psychodynamic approach developed?
● freud realised that patient’s symptoms such as paralysis and headaches had no physical cause
● proposed symptoms caused by deep rooted psychological conflicts within unconscious mind
what are the 3 assumptions of the psychodynamic approach?
● unconscious mind has an influence on our behaviour
● our personality is made of 3 parts - tripartite personality
● psychosexual stages determine our adult personality
what is the conscious mind?
● small amount of mental activity we know about
● e.g. thoughts
what is the preconscious mind?
● things we could be aware of if we wanted or tried
● e.g. memories, stored knowledge
what is the unconscious mind?
● things we are not aware of and can not become aware of
● e.g. instincts, deeply buried memories
what is the id?
● pleasure principle
● present from birth
● demands instant gratification
what is the ego?
● reality principle
● controls demands of id and superego by using defence mechanisms to ensure neither one dominate the personality
what is the superego?
● morality principle
● responsible for feelings of guilt and our sense of right and wrong
what are defence mechanisms?
used by ego to prevent us experiencing trauma/anxiety
what is denial?
refusing to acknowledge reality
what is displacement?
transferring feelings from their true source onto a substitute target
what is repression?
anxiety provoking thoughts are repressed into the unconscious mind
what are the psychosexual stages of development?
● determine adult personality
● each stage marked by different conflict that child must resolve to move on to next age
● any conflict that is unresolved leads to fixation where child becomes stuck and carries behaviours associated with that stage though to adult life
explain the oral stage
● age: 0-1
● focus of pleasure is mouth - child gains pleasure from breastfeeding
● consequence of unresolved conflict: oral fixation - smoking, biting nails
explain the anal stage
● age: 1-3
● focus of pleasure is anus - child gains pleasure from withholding and eliminating faeces
● consequences of unresolved conflict: anal retentive - perfectionist, obsessive
anal expulsive - messy, thoughtless
explain the phallic stage
● age: 3-5
● focus of pleasure is genital area
● experiences oedipus / electra complex
● consequences of unresolved conflict: phallic personality - narcissistic, reckless
explain the latency stage
● age: 6-12
● earlier conflicts are repressed
explain the genital stage
● age: 12 +
● sexual desires become conscious alongside onset of puberty
● difficulty forming heterosexual relationships
what is the oedipus complex?
● occurs for males during phallic stage
● begin to have unconscious sexual desire for their opposite sex parent (mother)
● makes them resentful of their same sex parent (father) as they see them as a competitor for their parents love
experience castration anxiety
● to resolve conflict: boys begin to identify with father and adopt their personality and behaviours so father no longer sees them as threat
they internalise their moral values, which leads to development of superego
