The Psychodynamic Approach (from 1890's) Flashcards
What are the 4 sections of the psychodynamic approach?
- role of the unconscious
- the structure of personality
- defence mechanisms
- psychosexual stages
Who came up with the psychodynamic approach
- Sigmund Freud
- in Vienna in the late 1800’s
- started out as a neuropathologist
What are assumptions of the psychodynamic approach ?
- psychic determinism
- focus on how all of our behaviour can be motivated by unconscious motives and events that occurred in early childhood. This led to term ‘the child is father to man’
- looked at symbolism (in dreams)
What are the three sections of the unconscious mind?
- Conscious
- Preconscious
- Unconscious
What is the conscious mind?
Consists of thoughts we are aware of. This includes our perceptions and everyday thoughts. This is only the top of the iceberg
What is the preconscious mind?
Just beneath the surface. This includes memories and stored knowledge. We can access these if needed
What is the unconscious mind?
This includes information which is very hard or even impossible to retrieve, and is the biggest part of our mind. According to Freud, this can include our fears, instincts, distressing, painful or embarrassing material as well as shameful or traumatic past experiences
What is the role of the unconscious mind?
To direct and motivate behaviour without conscious awareness. It also protects us from these distressing, painful or embarrassing material that would damage the psyche if recalled into conscious awareness
What are the three structures of the personality ?
- id
- ego
- superego
What is the definition for the id?
- operates on the pleasure principle, seeks immediate gratification/satisfaction
- is made up of aggressive, selfish instincts
- is present from birth
- resides in the unconscious mind
What is the definition for the ego?
- operates on the reality principle
- the ego is aware that immediate gratification is not always possible
- works to balance the demands of id and superego
- develops between 1-3
- resides in the conscious mind
What is the definition for the superego?
- operates on the morality principle (our sense of right and wrong and our individual values instilled from childhood)
- stores and enforces rules
- develop between 3-5 years
- resides in the unconscious mind
What part of the mind are defence mechanisms in?
Unconscious
What is displacement ?
- the unconscious redirection of an impulse (usually aggression) onto a powerless substitute target. The target can be a person or object that can serve as a symbolic substitute
- example : a child who is a bully behaves that way because they are unhappy at home, they displace their anger onto peers
What are the two stages of repression?
1- the id has impulses that the ego doesnt want to allow into the conscious mind so it keeps them out using repression
2- the ego also uses this to protect from traumatic experiences/feelings. The memory of that event/feeling is too much to bear so ego pushes it into unconscious mind so you don’t have to deal with the trauma
- ids impulses and trauma
What is the example of repression?
- Anna Freud
- Looked at those who had survived Aushwitz
- found that the kids with worse memories had better mental health
What is Denial?
- involves unconsciously blocking external events from conscious awareness. If a situation is just too much too handle the person unconsciously cannot accept it
- example : a drug addict - accepting you are an addict is too much to bear. Your ego protects you from this anguish so you don’t think you have a problem
What is projection?
- This involves individuals attributing their own unacceptable thoughts, feelings and motives to another person
- Example : you may hate someone but your superego says that hatred is unacceptable. You can ‘solve’ the problem by believing that they hate you
The psychosexual stages of development:
What happens at 0-1
- Oral (mouth)
- id is developing
- weaning - going onto solid foods
- sudden weaning/delayed weaning
The psychosexual stages of development:
What happens at 1-3
- Anal
- ego is developing
- toilet training
- overly harsh toilet training (anal retentive)
- overly lax toilet training (anal expensive)
The psychosexual stages of development:
What happens at 3-6
- phallic (genital area)
- superego is developing
- Oedipus complex (boys) and Electra complex (girls)
- identification when same sex parents, development of gender identity, empathy and conscience
The psychosexual stages of development:
What happens at 6 - Puberty
- Latency
- no area in particular
The psychosexual stages of development:
What happens from puberty onward
- Genital
- Genital area
How do we remember the psychosexual stages?
O - Oral - Old A - Anal - Age P - Phallic - Pensioners L - Latency - Love G - Genital - Grapes
