The Psychodynamic Approach Flashcards
What are the 4 parts of the psychodynamic approach?
- The role of the unconscious mind
- The structure of personality
- Defence mechanisms
- Psychosexual stages of development
What is the conscious mind?
(The role of the unconscious mind)
- Consists of thoughts we’re aware of
- Includes our perceptions and everyday thoughts
What is the preconscious mind?
(The role of the unconscious mind)
- Memories and stored knowledge
- We can access these if needed
What is the unconscious mind?
(The role of the unconscious mind)
- Includes information which is very hard or even impossible to retrieve
- The biggest part of our mind
- Includes fears and instincts, distressful, painful or embarrassing material that would damage the psyche if recalled into conscious awareness
What are Freud’s 3 theories of personality?
(The structure of personality)
- ID
- Ego
- Superego
What is the ID?
(The structure of personality)
- The “selfish beast part of the personality”
- Contained in the unconscious part of the mind
- Uses the primary process to satisfy its needs
- Operates according to the pleasure principle
What is the ego?
(The structure of personality)
- The executive of the personality
- Uses its cognitive abilities to manage and control the ID and balance its desires against the restrictions of reality and the superego
- Operates according to the reality principle
What is the superego?
(The structure of personality)
- The conscience and ego ideal
- A “relentless policeman” and continues to insist that we do the right thing
- Opposes the desires of the ID
- Enforces moral restrictions and battles against ID impulses
What are the 3 defence mechanisms?
(Defence mechanisms)
- Displacement
- Repression
- Denial
What is displacement?
(Defence mechanisms)
When a strong emotion is pushed onto another person or object
What is repression?
(Defence mechanisms)
Preventing a thought for emerging into the awareness ‘what we don’t know won’t hurt us’
This thought is pushed into the unconscious mind
What are the 5 psychosexual stages of development?
- Oral stage
- Anal stage
- Phallic stage
- Latent stage
- Genital stage
What is the oral stage and when does it occur?
(Psychosexual stages of development)
- Occurs between ages 0-1
- ID gratification is focused on the mouth which the main erogenous zone
What is the anal stage and when does it occur?
(Psychosexual stages of development)
- Occurs between ages 1-3
- Potty training, control, delayed gratification are issues during this time
- The erogenous zone is the sphincter muscles of the anus and urinary tract
- Fixations at this stage: anal retentive personality and anal expulsive personality
What is the phallic stage and when does it occur?
(Psychosexual stages of development)
- Occurs between ages 3-6
- Genital region becomes primary source of ID gratification
- Children will be observed to be handling their genitals and parents should accept this as normal
- Fixation is phallic retentive
- Oedipus complex + Electra complex