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THE PSYCHODYNAMIC APPROACH, - Coggle Diagram
THE PSYCHODYNAMIC APPROACH
Assumptions
Our behaviour and feelings as adults (including psychological problems) are rooted in our childhood experiences
Psychodynamic theories state that childhood experiences shape our personality
Traumatic events that occur during childhood may be repressed & remain in the unconscious, and cause problems as adults.
Stresses the importance of relationships, especially those with family members.
Parent and child relationships are important.
In a way, the relationship with your opposite parent determines the romantic relationships you will have as an adult. E.g. poor relationship with mother = problems getting on with women in general.
Freud said all children go through psychosexual development. 5 stages that children go through: oral, anal, phallic, latency, genital. The id, ego and superego develop throughout the stages. The child’s libido (sexual and psychic energy) is focused on a particular body part at each stage.
Adult personality can be shaped by fixation at these stages. This happens if the child gets too much or too little gratification at a stage.
All behaviour has a cause (usually conscious), even slips of the tongue. Therefore all behaviour is determined
An example of the power of our unconscious mind is a Freudian slip- when you say something accidentally which reveals something that you are unaware of in your unconscious mind.
The psychodynamic approach is strongly determinist as it believes that we have no control as our behaviour is driven by the unconscious mind.
Freud believed that slips of the tongue were not accidents as everything happens for a reason. They provide insight into the unconscious mind.
Our behaviour and feelings are powerfully affected by unconscious motives
We have an ‘unconscious mind’ that influences our behaviour.
Our conscious mind is unaware of what thoughts and emotions occur in the unconscious. However, these thoughts/feelings can have an effect on our conscious mind.
There are ways of accessing what goes on in your unconscious mind: dream analysis, rorschach inkblot test, word association.
Freud suggested there are different levels of consciousness: conscious, preconscious, unconscious. Our mind is like an iceberg, what remains hidden is the most significant.
The unconscious mind is the primary source of our behaviour.
Personality is made up of three parts the id, ego and superego
Each part of our personality wants different things, and they don’t always agree.
Conflict can occur between the different parts of your personality. This conflict can result in problems and mental disorders.
The ability to function despite the conflict between the different parts of personality is called ego strength. However, conflict can create anxiety, which is dealt with by the ego’s use of defense mechanisms.
Someone who has a strong ego will manage these pressures effectively. Someone with a weak ego may give in to the id and superego too readily.
The id and superego are often at odds about what is morally right, and what we want to do. The ego mediates between them, and chooses a course of action that satisfies both the id and superego.
The id is present from birth and consists of basic biological impulses or drives such as hunger, thirst etc. It works on the pleasure principle and we are driven to seek pleasure and satisfaction. These drives motivate us to behave in certain ways and humans are motivated to satisfy urges and wishes.
The ego aims to gratify the id’s impulses in line with what is realistically possible, and what is morally acceptable by considering the environment it’s in. This develops as the child grows.
The superego judges whether actions are right or wrong, acting as a conscience. It’s an internalised representation of the same sex parent.
Violating the superego’s standards or even the impulse to do so may cause anxiety. This anxiety is largely unconscious but may be experienced as guilt.
Theorists
Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud is known as the father of psychoanalysis. He produced psychological theories to explain the origin of human behaviour. Freud’s psychoanalysis was the original psychodynamic theory, but the approach overall includes theories built from his ideas.
Erik Erikson (1950)
Carl Jung (1912)
Melanie Klein (1921)
Alfred Adler (1927)
Anna Freud (1936)