The Psychodynamic Approach

What are the main assumptions of the psychodynamic approach?

• Freud proposed the notion of the unconscious.

• The personality (psyche) has a tri-partite structure including the ID, ego and superego.

• The personality is entirely constructed by the passage through the psychosexual stages of development through infancy and adolescence.

• The unconscious conflicts in the psyche are mediated by processes called defence mechanisms.

Outline the role of the unconscious in the psychodynamic approach?

According to Freud, there are vast parts of the mind inaccessible to conscious awareness.

• The metaphor of an iceberg was used to explain this, with consciousness being the very small top part we can access- including the ego and some of the superego.

• The pre-conscious mind is the middle part under the surface that we can access if we want-including memories, thoughts etc…

• Finally, the unconscious mind is the largest part at the bottom that we cannot access- including the unacceptable biological demands of the id.

Freud says that any traumatic events from childhood are repressed into the unconscious mind and hidden from conscious awareness.

• Psychodynamic theorists suggest these events can be explored using psychoanalysis.

The unconscious mind can reveal itself in many ways such as dreams, fantasies or freudian slips.

Briefly describe Freud’s model of the human personality?

Tri-partite personality:

• the ID: works off the pleasure principle

• the EGO: works off the reality principle

• the SUPEREGO: works off the morality principle

Describe the ID as part of Freud’s tri-partite personality?

THE ID: works off the pleasure principle

We are born with it.

• The primitive part of the psyche

• It has unconscious biological drives and instincts

• It demands instant gratification

• It rewards you with pleasure and punishes you with anger

Describe the ego as part of Freud’s tri-partite personality?

EGO: works off the reality principle

It develops after birth.

• It is in the conscious mind

• It reduces the conflict between the demands of the ID and the superego.

• It acts as a moderator for a more realistic action to take place.

• It uses defence mechanism to protect itself from anxiety and provide refuge from stress.

Describe the superego as part of Freud’s tri-partite personality?

SUPEREGO: works off the morality principle

It develops as you get older.

• Present in the conscious and unconscious mind.

• Represents the moral standards of the same sex parent.

• Rewards you with pride, and punishes you with guilt.

• It is in direct opposition to the id.

Outline what defence mechanism are, and name three examples?

Unconscious strategies that the ego uses to manage the conflicts of the id and the superego.

• The ego distorts reality so that the individual can continue with their everyday life without unpleasant feelings or memories dominating their conscious awareness.

examples:

• denial

• repression

• displacement

Outline denial as a defence mechanism, and provide an example?

It involves the blocking of external events from the conscious awareness.

• This might include convincing themselves of an alternate reality as a way of refusing to experience it.

e.g: somebody with a gambling addiction might deny that they have a problem with their finances despite being in large amounts of debt.

Outline repression as a defence mechanism, and provide an example?

An unconscious mechanism to keep disturbing or threatening thoughts from the conscious mind.

e.g: an adult who has experienced neglect at the hands of their parents as a child may have no conscious awareness that this trauma occurred, although they may show distrust of others in later life.

Outline displacement as a defence mechanism, and provide an example?

It involves satisfying an impulse (e.g: aggression) with a substitute object.

e.g: someone who was bullied at school might go home and take it out by being mean to their younger sibling.

List the five psychosexual stages in order?

• Oral

• anal

• phallic

• latent

• genital

What does libido mean?

pleasure

Outline the oral stage of psychosexual development?

ORAL STAGE:

Age: 0-2

Focus of Libido: Mouth

The infant experiences pleasure through their mouth, particularly sucking and biting.

Unresolved conflict: Oral fixation

A person might engage in behaviours such as smoking, nail biting etc… in later life.

They also might be sarcastic or witty.

Outline the anal stage of psychosexual development?

ANAL STAGE:

Age: 2-3

Focus of libido: Anus

The child becomes aware of the reality principle imposed by the parents, and must undergo potty training in order to control their bowel movements.

During this stage, the ego develops.

Unresolved conflict: Anal fixation

Anal fixation manifests in two ways:

ANAL RETENTIVE: A person that enjoys potty training too much, might become an obsessive perfectionist.

ANAL EXPLUSIVE: A person that hates potty training might become a messy and thoughtless person.

Outline the phallic stage of psychosexual development?

PHALLIC STAGE:

Age: 3-6

Focus of libido: Genitals

The major feature of this stage is the oedipus or electra complexes in which infants must overcome their unconscious sexual desires for their opposite sex parent by identifying with the same sex parent.

In this stage, the superego develops.

Unresolved conflict: Phallic fixation

This could manifest in reckless and narcissistic behaviours if the superego does not properly develop.

Describe the process of the oedipus complex at the phallic stage?

The libido is focused on the genitals.

Toddlers crave their parent‘s attention intensely.

• It is received during the day, but at night, the child is taken to a separate room and the mother goes to bed with the dad (a bigger and stronger male).

This jealousy and desire is interpreted as sexual desire for the mother.

Boys then experience castration anxiety out of fear of the father learning of this desire.

• Boys overcome this by identifying with his same sex parent in order to make him an ally.

  • This leads to the internalisation of the parent‘s values (i.e learning what it is to be a man).

  • So, the infant adopts the same sex parent‘s morals.

• Thus, the superego is developed.

Describe the process of the electra complex at the phallic stage?

The focus of the libido is the genitals.

Girls realise they do not have a penis, they think they should, and blame their mother.

• This results in penis envy as they cannot have the same relationship with their mothers as dad can.

• When this desire is not fulfilled, they replace this desire with wanting to have a baby. (If I can’t have a penis, I’ll make something that has one)

Girls then resent their mothers as they have sexual desires for their dad.

• Eventually (takes much longer than for boys), girls overcome this and see their mother as an ally.

  • Thus, they identify with their mum and internalise their moral values.

Therefore, the superego develops.

Outline the latent stage of psychosexual development?

LATENT STAGE:

Age: 6-puberty

Focus of libido: Hidden

The sexual energy which drove the previous stages now becomes latent, so the individual can focus on the world around them and form friendships.

Unresolved conflict: Latent fixation

Could result in immaturity and the person may struggle with their self esteem.

Outline the genital stage of psychosexual development?

GENITAL STAGE:

Age: Puberty+

Focus of libido: Forming heterosexual relationships

The final stage culminates with the psychosexual energy taking residence in the genitals to be directed towards the formation of adult relationships.

Unresolved conflict: Genital fixation

A person who becomes fixated at the genital stage may struggle to form heterosexual relationships.

Evaluate the strengths of the psychodynamic approach?

STRENGTH: EXPLANATORY POWER

Although controversial and bizarre, Freud’s theory has had a huge impact on psychology and western contemporary thought.

• It was key force in psychology alongside behaviourism in the first half of the 20th century, and it has been used to explain a wide range of phenomena.

  • Such as personality and moral development, gender identity etc…

It draws attention to a connection between childhood experiences and later development which has led to future research.

STRENGTH: REAL WORLD APPLICATION

It introduced the idea of psychotherapy and brought a new world of therapies.

• Psychoanalysis: the first attempt to treat mental disorder psychologically rather than physically.

• It is the forerunner to modern talking therapies such as counselling.

Techniques such as dream analysis are designed to access the unconscious.

• It claims to help by bringing repressed thoughts into consciousness to be dealt with.

Evaluate the limitations of the psychodynamic approach?

LIMITATION: PSYCHIC DETERMINISM

Freud suggests that there is no such thing as an accident, and that much of our behaviour is predetermined by unconscious conflicts rooted in childhood.

• So, a slip of the tongue is actually driven by unconscious forces (freudian slip)

Critics therefore claim that this is very extreme as view, and it dismisses the influence of free will.

LIMITATION: UNFALSIFIABLE

Many of its concepts are very abstract and untestable.

• Karl Popper argued that the approach does not meet the scientific criteria of falsification.

  • In that, it is not open to empirical testing and the possibility of being disproved.

• Concepts such as the ID and oedipus complex are said to occur in the unconscious mind, making them very difficult to test.

Furthermore, Freud’s ideas were based on the study of individuals such as Little Hans, making it difficult to make universal claims about human behaviour.

Therefore, according to Popper, the theory is one of pseudoscience.