The Psychodynamic approach

Basic assumptions

- Conscious mind is the tip of the iceberg, most is made up of Unconscious, biological Drives and Instincts that influence our behaviour and personality

- Early childhood experiences play key role in determining individuals mental/emotional state and outcomes in later life

Tri-partite Structure of personality

Id - Present at birth, follows the Primitive Pleasure Principle

Ego

- Develops around 2

- Operates on Reality Principle

- Mediator for the Id + Ego using Defence Mechanisms

Superego

- Follows the Morality principle

- Represent Right and Wrong

- Forms around age 5

Id

- Present at birth

- Operates on Pleasure principle

- Consists of Unconscious drives + Instincts

- Important to ensure survival

Ego

- Mediates between demands of the Id + Superego

- Develops at around age 2

- Operates on reality principle

- Uses Defence Mechanisms to mediate

Superego

- Our Internalised Sense of Right and Wrong

- Forms at end of Phallic stage arounf 5

- Operates on Morality principle

- Moral standards are learnt from childs same sex parent

Defence mechanisms

Strategies used by the Ego to reduce the anxiety from the conflict of the Id and Superego

Repression

- Pushing unpleasant memories to the Unconscious mind

Denial

- Refusing to accept the reality of an unpleasant situation

Displacement

- Directing strong emotion to a neutral person or object, reducing anxiety.

Repression

Denial

Displacement

Pushing unpleasant memories to the Unconscious mind

Refusing to accept the reality of an unpleasant situation

Directing strong emotion to a neutral person or object, reducing anxiety

Psychosexual stages

Oral 0-1 years - Focus of pleasure is from the mouth. Oral fixation can lead to smoking, biting nails, sarcasm

- Anal stage 1-3 years - Focus of pleaure is from the anus gaining pleasure from expelling faeces. Anally retentive means to be obssesive and a perfectionist, Anally expulsive means to be thoughtless and messy

-Phallic stage 3-6 years - Focus of pleasure is from the genital area. Unresolved conflict leads to phallic personality; narcissistic and reckless

- Latency stage 6-11 years - libido (sexual energy) is displaced throughout the body

What are the three Levels of Consciousness

Conscious

- Part of mind we are aware of

Preconscious

- Just below the surface where "Freudian slips" (Parapraxes) lie

Unconscious

- Hidden depth of the iceberg that hold information the individual may be unaware of

The Conscious Mind

Tip of the iceberg

Part of the mind we are aware of

The Preconscious mind

Just below the surface of the Conscious mind

Holds Dreams and Freudian slips

Believed dreams revealed secret fears + desires

Freudian slips - reveal Secret, Repressed feelings

The Unconscious mind

- Hidden Depths of the iceberg

- Holds info + feelings the individual may be unaware of

- Psychoanalysis is necessary to access these thoughts

What are the Psychosexual stages

5 stages of child development

Child must deal with conflict at each stage to progress to next stage

Unresolved conflict leads to Fixation

Oral, Anal, Phallic, Latent, Genital

Fixation

Result of unresolved conflict from a stage

Where behaviours associated with that stage are brought into adult life

Oral stage

Age 0-1

- Mouth is the focus of pleasure, Breastfeeding

- Conflict can arise from too much or too little breastfeeding

- Unresolved Conflict leads to Oral fixation eg smoking, biting nails, overeating

Anal stage

Age 1 - 3

- Anus is focus of pleasure

- Conflict arises from toilet training

- Harsh toilet training leads to Anal retentive behaviour eg neatness, perfectionist

- Lenient toilet training leads to Anal expulsive behaviour eg messiness, insensitivity

Phallic stage

Age 3-6

- Genital area is focus of pleasure

- Conflict arises from Oedipus or Electra complex

- Resolved by identifying with father or mother

- Unresolved conflict leads to Phallic personality eg Narcissistic, reckless

Latency stage

6-Puberty

- Previous Conflicts become repressed

- Focus on Cognitive development + Forming Relationship

- No conflicts

Genital stage

Puberty onwards

- Genitals are Focus of Pleasure

- Sexual desires become conscious

- Unresolved conflict leads to Genital Fixation eg Difficulty in forming heterosexual relationships

Dream analysis

- In dreams the Id is able to fulfil desires + fantasies

- If we actually dreamt the Id desires, all dreams would be violent + sexual, offending our Superego

- Ego deals with this by converting the true meaning of our dreams into harmless symbols + quickly forgetting most of our dreams

- If we work out the underlying conflicts, we can address them in conscious mind and overcome them

Oedipus complex

- A boy's Unconscious Desire for Mother

- Sees father as a rival and envys him

- Experiences Castration Anxiety as a punishment for this desire

- Resolved by identifying with father, forming the Superego

Castration anxiety

The unconscious fear that a boys father will remove his testicles as a punishment

Causes hatred + envy towards father in the Oediupus complex

Electra complex

- Girls Unconscious Desire for Father during Phallic stage

- Sees Mother as a rival and feels Hatred towards her

- Experiences Penis Envy

- Resolved by identifying with mother, forming the Superego

Little Hans study

Freud Collected information on Hans behaviours and dreams from letters + reports from his Dad

Dad reported;

Fear of horses (especially white horses with blinkers),

Dreams about giraffes,

Curiosity about genitals and having a baby,

Freud interpreted these as Oedipus complex, castration anxiety, and the psychosexual stages of development.

Psychic Determinist criticism of Freuds theory

- Theory is Psychic Deterministic

- Suggests Behaviour is determined by unconscious drive

- In society we hold criminals accountable under the assumption of Free Will

- Freuds theory allows individuals to blame harmful behaviour on unconscious trauma or childhood repression

- This conflicts with the UKs moral and legal views

- Therefore if we accept this theory, it raises ethical questions on whether people should be punished or treated

Unfalisifiability criticism of Psychodynamic theory

- Ideas cannot be empirically tested

- eg id, ego and superego are difficult to operationalise, test and measure

- Because of this the theory is Unfalsifiable + lacks objective research support

- Reduces validity compared to more scientifically credible theories like the Biological approach

Transformative strength of Psychodynamic theory

- Changed how effects of early childhood is viewed

- Freud highlighted the long term impacts of early relationships

- Has inspired future psychologists eg Bowlbys attachment theory, also emphasises impact of early bonding experiences on emotional development

- Also influenced child psycho therapy, now widely used

- Therefore increases external validity

Psychoanalysis key parts

Transference

- Patient projects feelings about significant others (e.g. parents) onto the therapist.

Free Association

- Patient says whatever comes to mind, helping reveal unconscious thoughts.

Dream Analysis

- Interpreting dreams to uncover unconscious desires and conflicts.