psychodynamic model

Question 1

overview

Answer 1

developed by Freud and argues that mental illness is driven by unsolved unconscious conflicts in childhood-
has 3 parts to it: the structure of personality, stages of psychosexual development, defence mechanism.

Question 2

structure of personality

Answer 2

• The id: impulsive part concerned with survival, it works on the pleasure principle in seeking pleasure and avoiding pain and is unconscious.
• The ego: Operates according to the reality principle, tries to balance the demand of the id with what is possible, it’s the rational and logical part of personality. It also attempts to balance the demands of the id and superego by defence mechanisms
• The superego: operates according to the morality principle and is the part of the unconscious mind which acts as society or a parental figure.

Question 3

stages of development

Answer 3

Freud called these the psychosexual stages:
ORAL STAGE (0-1 years) the mouth is the primary focus for pleasure-can lead to smoking, nail biting or over eating
ANAL STAGE (1-3 years) the anus is the primary focus of pleasure through excreting- successful potty training helps complete this stage.
PUBLIC STAGE (3-6 years)- genitals are PFoP, children show an interest in their parents genitals, boys have an Oedipus complex and girls have an Electra complex.
LATENCY STAGE (6yrs- puberty) -Children focus on social activities rather than physical.
GENITAL STAGE (puberty onwards) focused on developing relationships with opposite sex.

Question 4

defence mechanism

Answer 4

These are unconscious mental processes which are triggered as a response to anxiety, they protect the individual from stressful situations, e.g repression is facing disturbing events into the unconscious mind, or displacement is taking out an emotional response from one object to a safer one (kicking a chair).

Question 5

assumptions

Answer 5

CUPE
CHILDHOOD- Freud believes the origin of mental disorders live in unsolved unconscious conflicts in childhood.
UNCONCIOUS- Although the unconscious mind is not accessible, it plays a major role in determining behaviour.
PERSONALITY- conflicts between id, ego and superego create anxiety, the ego has to protect itself through defence mechanisms.
EARLY EXPIRIENCES- In childhood, the ego is not developed enough to deal with traumas and therefore, they are not repressed.

Question 6

disadvantages

Answer 6

Difficult to prove scientifically, how do we know the structure exists, fails to consider current adult difficulties someone may be facing, it suggests we have limited conscious involvement with our own development. Treatment typically involves 2 sessions per week for around a year. Each session may cost £60 per hour, and so one year’s psychoanalysis may well cost in excess of £6,000.

Question 7

strengths

Answer 7

It’s influential as it’s forms of treatment are still used today, and it considers psychological factors. Freud’s assertion that disorders, such as hysteria and phobias, could be caused by psychological traumas or conflicts changed the thinking at the time that abnormality was caused by medical or other causes such as evil spirits. Therefore the psychodynamic approach paved the way for other psychological models to be developed (e.g. behavioural and cognitive).

Question 8

treatments- psychoanalysis - Dream analysis

Answer 8

Freud believed that repressed memories and impulses appeared in dreams in disguised form.

Question 9

treatments- psychoanalysis - free association

Answer 9

Clients are encouraged to let their thoughts run and say whatever comes to their mind without censorship, the analyst then pieces together these thoughts and interprets them which leads to memories being brought to conscious awareness.

Question 10

treatments- psychoanalysis - transference

Answer 10

Client transfers onto analyst, the analyst is associated with the characteristics of other people that the client has repressed feelings towards, then they direct these feelings towards analyst, if repeated the feelings slowly disappear.

Question 11

treatments- psychoanalysis aims

Answer 11

Bring repressed impulses and memories into conscious awareness, facilitate insight into the conflicts and anxieties that are the underlying causes of abnormal behaviour and cure neurotic symptoms, e.g phobias.

Question 12

treatments- psychoanalysis strengths

Answer 12

Bergin found it worked 83% of the time.

Question 13

treatments- psychoanalysis weaknesses

Answer 13

time consuming, expensive, only suitable for certain types of disorders e.g anxiety but not schizophrenia, difficult to evaluate it’s effectiveness, Low ethics as therapist has all the power and might abuse it and behaviourists say it’s better to change the problem rather than delving into the past.