Psychodynamic Approach Flashcards
Psychodynamic Assumption 1
Influence of Childhood experiences
- Childhood ego isn’t developed enough to deal with trauma.
- This leads to repressed trauma and repression.
- Anger can be expressed inward towards ones self
FREUDS 5 STAGES
Oral - 0-2 - Mouth - Feeding - Smoking
Anal - 2-3 - Anus - Toilet Training - Orderliness
Phallic - 3-7 Genitals - Oedipus and Electra - Sexual Dysfunction
Latency - 7-11 - None - Social Skills - None
Genitals - 11+ - Genitals - Sexual Maturity - Mental Health
The unconscious mind
Conscious mind - Logical
Unconscious - Illogical and pleasure seeking. Can’t be accessed and is expressed through dreams.
THERAPY - DREAM ANALYSIS
Manifest and Latent Content
Manifest Content - What the dreamer remembers.
Latent Content - Underlying wish
Purpose of a dream is to express the underlying wish in a non threatening form and allow us to continue sleeping
Further meanings of Displacement, Condensation and Universal symbols also Secondary Elaboration.
D - When the person or object the dream is actually about is transformed into something else.
SE - When the mind strings together several wish fulfilling images in dreams.
Universal Symbols - Symbols relevant in all dreams with a universal latent content explanation.
Strengths (PET)
- PET Scans support the idea of dreams affecting the brain
- PET Scans of people dreaming at night show active areas of the brain
Weakness
- Lacks any ecological validity
Conducted experiments in a non natural environment with wires attached to the brain.
Ethics of dream analysis
- Power imbalance with patient therapist reliance. Could implant false memories for more money
- People need warning if a dream is particularly harming
Mother as the primary caregiver
Support
4 Points
Feeding - Mother needs to be available 2 hours a day and forms an emotional bond through this.
Freud’s view on the importance - Oral stage is of great importance in the psychosexual development stages.
Dep Damage - Bowlby - prolonged separation leads to lasting emotional effects.
Mothers not fathers - Men aren’t psychologically equipped.
Mother doesn’t need to be the primary caregiver.
Feeding - Harlows Monkeys - Food doesn’t equal love.
Freud - Developed when women didn’t have rights he also acknowledged the role of the father.
Deprivation Damage - Father can also be “maternal”
Mothers not fathers - Men are capable of forming close attachments
Strengths First half
NN
Childhood
- Incorporates Nature and Nurture.
- Id is biological needs and the nurture are the stages.
Also Highlights childhood as key to development.
Further Strengths
- Psychoanalysis helps people overcome psychological problems.
- Freud was the first to note a connection between psychological and physical symptoms.
Weaknesses of the approach
- Cannot be proven wrong - You can’t test if Freud is right or wrong
This means it cannot be improved.
Determinist - Early experiences control your later behaviour.
Further unfalsifiable because of the fact that Freud states repression as a big part of the approach.
