Psychodynamic Approach Flashcards
What are the three assumptions of the psychodynamic approach?
The importance of the unconscious mind, instincts and drives motivate our behaviour and early childhood experiences are pivotal in making us who we are
What is most of our mind made up of?
The unconscious mind
What is the role of the unconscious mind?
To contain threatening and disturbing memories that have been locked away. We do this to protect ourselves
What are the three parts of our personality?
ID, ego and superego
What is the ID?
This forms from birth to 18 months and it is referred to as the pleasure principal. It is the selfish and self indulgent part of your personality
What is the ego?
This forms from the age of 18 months to 3 years and is referred to as the reality principal. It acts as the mediator and reduces the conflict between the id and superego
What is the superego?
This forms between the ages of 3 and 6 years. This is the morality principal and it feels guilt. It is the internalised sense of right and wrong
What are defence mechanisms?
Methods we use unconsciously to reduce anxiety
What is a problem with defence mechanism?
They form a distortion of reality and as a long term solution they are psychologically unhealthy and undesirable
What are the three defence mechanisms?
Repression, denial and displacement
What is repression and how does it effect behaviour?
An unpleasant memory is pushed into the unconscious mind where it is not accessible to the conscious mind. Therefore there is no recall of the situation
What is denial and how does it effect behaviour?
The refusal to accept the reality of an unpleasant situation. Therefore they believe the situation was not negative
What is displacement and how does it effect behaviour?
The focus of a strong emotion is expressed onto a neutral person or object. Therefore someone may exhibit very strong emotion onto an uninvolved person or object
What are the psychosexual stages of development?
A series of stages every individual goes through from birth to an adult. In each stage the child must resolve a conflict in order to progress to the next stage
What does any unresolved psychosexual conflict lead to?
Fixation
What is the first stage and what age does it occur?
Oral and between the age of 0-1 years
What happens at the oral stage?
The focus of pleasure is in the mouth. The child gets pleasure from breastfeeding
How can a child become fixated at the oral stage?
If a child is weaned off its mothers milk too late or too early
What are the consequences of becoming fixated at the oral stage?
Smoking, biting nails and being sarcastic
What is the second stage and what age does it occur?
Anal and between the ages of 1-3 years
What happens at the anal stage?
Pleasure is gained from defecating. This is when the child is potty training
How can a child become fixated at the anal stage?
If a child loves using the potty they can become anally expulsive. If they are anxious of using the potty they can become anally retentive
What is the consequence of anal expulsive?
Messy and have a temper
What are the consequences of anal retentive?
Perfectionist, obsessive and organised
What is the third stage and what age does it occur?
Phallic and between the ages of 3-5 years
What happens at the phallic stage?
The pleasure moves to the genitals. Boys experience the Oedipus complex when they have intense sexual feelings to their mum. Girls experience the Electra complex when they realise they don’t have a penis and they desire their father
How can boys become fixated at the phallic stage?
If there is no father figure to identify with
How can girls become fixated at the phallic stage?
If there is no mother figure to identify with
What happens if they become fixated at the phallic stage?
Homosexuality, reckless and jealously
What is the fourth stage and what age does it occur?
Latency and between the ages of 6-11 years
What happens at the latency stage?
Sexual energy is displaced throughout the body but the child concentrates on being a child
What is the fifth stage and what age does it occur?
It focuses on the genitals and it is at this stage that the child becomes an adult
What are two strengths of the psychodynamic approach?
It highlights how important childhood experience is to later development and Freuds ideas are used to treat mental health issues
What are two limitations of the psychodynamic approach?
Freuds ideas are difficult to test reliability and the case studies cannot be generalised to the general population
