Psychodynamics Approach

Question 1

What is the Psychodynamic approach?

Answer 1

Psychodynamic approach: a perspective that describes the different forces (dynamics), most of which are unconscious, that operate on the mind and direct human behaviour and experience.

Question 2

What is the unconscious?

Answer 2

It is the part of the mind that we are unaware of but which continues to direct much of our behaviour. (Fears, Violent motives, Unacceptable sexual desires, Immoral urges, Selfish needs, Shameful experiences)

Question 3

What is the Id?

Answer 3

The id is entirely unconscious, the id is made up of selfish aggressive instincts that demand immediate gratification. forms from birth to about 18 months old (biological aspect).

Question 4

What is the Ego?

Answer 4

It is the ‘reality check’ that balances the conflicting demands of the id and the superego. Develops between the ages of 18 months to 3 years, can be referred to as the reality principle.

Question 5

What is the Superego?

Answer 5

It is the moralistic part of our personality which represents the ideal self: how we ought to be. develops between the ages of 3 and 6, can be referred to as the morality principle.

Question 6

Who founded the psychodynamic approach?

Answer 6

Sigmund Freud was the founder of the psychodynamic approach.

Question 7

What are the three sections of the psychodynamic approach?

Answer 7

Unconscious mind
Instincts/drives
Early childhood experiences

Question 8

What is the conscious?

Answer 8

What we are aware of (Thoughts and Perceptions)

Question 9

What is the preconscious?

Answer 9

What we become aware of through dreams or slips
of the tongue, it is just below the surface, made up of thoughts that may surface at any point.
(Memories and stored
knowledge)

Question 10

Briefly describe one role of the unconscious according to the
psychodynamic approach

Answer 10

According to the psychodynamic approach, the unconscious is the driving/motivating force behind our behaviour/personality.

One role of the unconscious is that it protects the conscious self from anxiety, fear, trauma and conflict.

Question 11

What are Defence mechanisms?

Answer 11

They are unconscious strategies that the ego uses to manage the conflict between the id and the superego. They reduce anxiety and defend the ego (reality principle) from being overwhelmed by temporary threats of traumas.

Question 12

What is the definition for Psychosexual stages

Answer 12

forces in our unconscious mind dictate the stages we experience at varying points in our development.

These stages of development are a series of stages every individual progresses through from birth to becoming an adult. The underlying unconscious drive is sexual.

Each stage (apart from latency) is marked by a different conflict that the child must resolve in order to progress successfully to the next stage.

Question 13

What is dream analysis?

Answer 13

Dreams symbolism must be interpreted in the context of what the person recalls.

Freud distinguished between the
manifest content of a dream (what the dreamer remembers based on events of the day) and the hidden content, the symbolic meaning of the dream (i.e. the underlying wish, which was always sexual).

The great majority of symbols in dreams are sex symbols, according to Freud.

Question 14

What is Repression?

Answer 14

Repression is a form of defence mechanisms,
It is when an unpleasant memory is pushed into the unconscious mind where it is not accessible to the conscious mind and therefore cannot cause anxiety.
There is no recall of the event
or situation.

Question 15

What is denial?

Answer 15

Denial is a form of defence mechanisms,
It is when there is a refusal to accept the reality of an unpleasant situation. This reduces anxiety cause by that situation.
Someone may believe that the situation is not negative and that therefore it should not cause anxiety. A resistance to accept reality.

Question 16

What is displacement

Answer 16

Displacement is a form of defence mechanisms,
This is where the focus of a strong emotion is expressed onto a neutral person or object. This reduces anxiety by allowing expression of that emotion.
Someone may exhibit very strong emotion but focus it onto an uninvolved person or object.

Question 17

What is the oral stage of Psychosexual stages

Answer 17

0-18m
Focus of pleasure is in the mouth – mother’s breast is the object of desire.
Can lead to Smoking, biting nails, sarcastic, critical and aggressive.

Question 18

What is the anal stage of Psychosexual stages

Answer 18

18m -3yrs
Focus of pleasure is the anus (anal retentive or expulsive). Child gains pleasure from withholding and expelling faeces.
Anal retentive – perfectionist, obsessive.
Anal expulsive – open with emotions, thoughtless, messy.

Question 19

What is the phallic stage of Psychosexual stages

Answer 19

3-6 yrs
Pleasure focus is in the genital area. Child experiences the Oedipus or Electra complex.
Can lead to Narcissistic, reckless, possibly homosexual.

Question 20

What is the Latent stage of Psychosexual stages

Answer 20

6-11yrs
Libido is displaced throughout the body – the child concentrates on being a child.
Can lead to Earlier conflicts are repressed, difficulty expressing emotions or forming healthy relationships

Question 21

What is the Genital stage of Psychosexual stages

Answer 21

12yrs+
Sexual desires become conscious alongside of the onset of puberty. Difficultly forming heterosexual relationships.

Question 22

What is the oedipus complex?

Answer 22

Freud argued that a boy experiences intense sexual feelings for their mother, his father is seen to be a rival and he therefore wants him to leave so that the mother can focus on him.
As the father is a lot bigger so the child feels threatened by his presence.
The boy is worried that his father will castrate him as he may see him as a rival- ‘castration anxiety.’

Question 23

What is the Electra complex?

Answer 23

Girls believe mother removed penis, they develop penis envy of males.
The little girls desires the father in a similar way to boys with their mothers. Fixations at the phallic stage can lead to a jealous and anxious adult.

Question 24

What is an Anal retentive?

Answer 24

Someone who is a perfectionist or obsessive.

Question 25

What is an Anal expulsive?

Answer 25

It is an open person who is emotional, thoughtless and messy.

Question 26

What are the strengths of the Psychodynamic approach?

Answer 26

A strength is that the
psychodynamic approach
has explanatory power. (used to explain a wide range of behaviours)

A strength of the
psychodynamic approach is
that it has practical applications in the real world. (therapy known as psychoanalysis for people with mental issues)