Psychodynamic approach

What did Sigmund Freud suggest?

• Sigmund Freud suggested that the conscious mind is merely the ‘tip of the iceberg’. Most of our mind is made up of the unconscious – a vast storehouse of biological drives and instincts that has a significant influence on our behaviour and personality.

• The unconscious also contains threatening and disturbing memories that have been repressed, or locked away and forgotten. These can be accessed during dreams or through ‘slips of the tongue’ (what Freud referred to as parapraxes). An example of such a slip is calling a female teacher ‘mum’ instead of ‘miss’.

• The preconscious, which contains thoughts and memories which are not currently in conscious awareness but we can access if desired.

What did Freud describe personality as?

Freud described personality as ‘tripartite’, composed of three parts

• Id

• Ego 

• Superego

What is Id?

The Id is the primitive part of our personality. It operates on the pleasure principle – the Id gets what it wants. It is a seething mass of unconscious drives and instincts. Only the Id is present at birth (Freud described babies as being ‘bundles of Id’). Throughout life the Id is entirely selfish and demands instant gratification of its needs → impulsive

What is Ego?

The Ego works on the reality principle and is the mediator between the other two parts of the personality. The Ego develops around the age of two years and its role is to reduce the conflict between the demands of the Id and the Superego. It manages this by employing a number of defence mechanisms → compromising

What is Superego?

The Superego is formed at the end of the phallic stage, around the age of five. It is our internalised sense of right and wrong. Based on the morality principle it represents the moral standards of the child’s same-gender parent and punishes the Ego for wrongdoing (through guilt). → moralistic 

What are defence mechanisms?

Defence mechanisms= The Ego has a difficult job balancing the conflicting demands of the Id and the Superego but it does have help in the form of defence mechanisms. These are unconscious and ensure that the Ego is able to prevent us from being overwhelmed by temporary threats or traumas.

• However, they often involve some form of distortion of reality and as a long-term solution they are regarded as psychologically unhealthy and undesirable.

• burying the fixation in your unconscious mind

Unconscious strategies that the Ego uses to manage the conflict between the Id and the Superego.

What are three examples of defence mechanisms?

Three examples of defence mechanisms=

• repression

• denial

• displacement

What is repression (an e.g. of defence mechanism)?

Repression (an e.g. of defence mechanism)= an unconscious blocking of unacceptable thoughts and impulses (forget it)

What is denial (an e.g. of defence mechanism)?

Denial (an e.g. of defence mechanism)= refusal to acknowledge reality (deny it)

What is displacement (an e.g. of defence mechanism)?

Displacement (an e.g. of defence mechanism)= diverting of hostility to a substitute target (transfer it)

What are the psychosexual stages?

Psychosexual stages= Freud claimed that child development occurred in five stages. Each stage (apart from latency) is marked by a different conflict that the child must resolve in order to progress to the next stage. Any psychosexual conflict that is unresolved leads to fixation, where the child becomes ‘stuck’ and carries certain behaviours and conflicts associated with that stage through to adult life.

What are the names of the 5 psychosexual stages?

Names of the 5 psychosexual stages=

1. oral (Id)

2. anal (Id/ego)

3. phallic (Id/ego)

4. latency (ego)

5. genital (superego)

What is the oral stage (psychosexual stage)?

Oral stage (0-1yrs)= focus of pleasure is the mouth; mother’s breast can be the object of desire

What is the oral fixation (consequence of unresolved conflict)?

Oral fixation (consequence of unresolved conflict)= smoking, biting nails, sarcastic, critical

What is the anal stage (psychosexual stage)?

Anal stage (1–3 years)= focus of pleasure is the anus; child gains pleasure from withholding and expelling faeces

What is the anal retention (consequence of unresolved conflict)?

Anal retention= anal retentive – perfectionist, obsessive.

• or even anal expulsive – thoughtless, messy

What is the phallic stage (psychosexual stage)?

Phallic stage (3-6years)= focus of pleasure is the genital area

What is phallic personality (consequence of unresolved conflict)?

Phallic personality= narcisstic, reckless, perhaps sociopathy/psychopathy

What is the latency stage (psychosexual stage)?

Latency stage (6-12years)= earlier conflicts are repressed- failure to do so will lead to disturbed childhood memories

What is the genital stage (psychosexual stage)?

Genital (12years+)=  sexual desires become conscious as the child enters puberty.

What is the consequence of unresolved conflict in the genital stage?

Consequence of unresolved conflict in the genital stage= difficulty forming (heterosexual) relationships, loner type behaviour and perhaps ASD (autistic spectrum disorder)