The Psychodynamic Approach Flashcards
What were the suggestions that Sigmund Freud made?
-Suggested that people are born with basic instincts, drives and behaviours controlled by the unconscious mind
- Believed that childhood is extremely important and that most behaviour is rooted in early experiences
- The relationship between a child and parents is a crucial determinant of mental health
What is the conscious?
The small amount of mental activity we are aware of
What is the preconscious?
Memories we could be aware of if we tried to
What is the preconscious?
Memories we could be aware of if we tried to
What is the unconscious?
- Memories we are not aware of
- Vast storehouse of biological drives and instincts that have a significant influence on behaviour and personality
- Contains threatening and disturbing memories that have been repressed that can be accessed in dreams or parapraxes
What are parapraxes?
‘A slip of the tongue’, where you were meant to say one thing but accidentally say something else
What are the 3 parts of the Psyche (personality)?
The Id, ego and superego
What is the Id?
Entirely unconscious, primitive part of personality that is made up of selfish aggressive instincts that demand immediate gratification
What is the ego?
The ‘reality check’ which acts as a mediator between the other two parts of the personality
What is the superego?
The moralistic part of the personality that has an internalised sense of right and wrong, divided into conscience (causes guilt)
What are the 3 levels of consciousness?
Conscious, preconscious and unconscious
What are defence mechanisms used for?
The ego balancing conflicting demands of the Id and superego, they are unconscious and ensure the ego is able to prevent us from being overwhelmed by temporary threats or traumas
What are the 3 defence mechanisms?
Denial, repression and displacement
What is denial?
The refusal to accept reality to avoid having to deal with painful feelings that might be associated with a particular event - person acts as if event never happened
What is repression?
The unconscious blocking of unacceptable thoughts and impulses that continue to influence behaviour without the individual being aware of the reasons behind the behaviour
What is displacement?
Involves the redirecting of thoughts or feelings in situations where a person feels unable to express them in presence of the person they should be directed towards
What are Freud’s psychosexual stages?
- He suggested that problems in childhood can cause psychological abnormalities in adulthood
- Emphasise that the most important driving force in a person’s development is libido, and pleasure comes from its discharge
What is libido?
The need to express sexual energy
What are the 5 psychosexual stages?
Oral, anal, phallic, latent and genital
What is the oral stage?
0-1 - the mouth is the main point of sensation and the way a child expresses early sexual energy (sucking, biting)
What is the anal stage?
1-3 - the focus of pleasure is the anus so a child gains pleasure from withholding and expelling faeces - major conflict of stage is toilet training as if overemphasised can become perfectionist
What is the phallic stage?
3-6 - the focus point of pleasure is the genital area - major conflict of this stage is Oedipus complex
What is the latent stage?
6-12 - child develops a mastery of the world around them so during this stage conflicts from previous stages are repressed and usually cannot remember early years
What is the genital stage?
12+ - sexual desire becomes conscious alongside onset of puberty which eventually directs us towards sexual intercourse and beginnings of new adult life
What is the Oedipus complex?
During phallic stage, little boys develop incestuous feelings towards their mother and murderous hatred towards father, and take on father’s gender role and moral values
What is the the Electra complex?
During phallic stage, little girls experience penis envy, where they desire their father as the penis is the primary love object and hate their mother
How does the Little Hans study support the Oedipus complex?
- Hans (5 years old) had phobia of horses after one fell in the street
- Freud suggested his phobia formed as a displacement for the fear of his father
- The horses were a symbolic representation of Hans’ real unconscious fear: fear of castration experienced during the Oedipus complex
