psychodynamic approach

psychic determinism

our behaviour is driven by unconscious forces, of which we are not aware and have no control over, impossible or very difficult to access these drives

main beliefs

tripartite personality which we balance with defence mechanisms, personality developed through stages, early childhood experiences are key to how we progress through them, at each stage a conflict must be resolved to move to the next

conscious mind

part of mind that we know about and are aware of

preconscious mind

thoughts and memories not currently in conscious awareness but can be accessed if desired

unconscious mind

storehold of biological drives and instincts that has a significant influence on our behaviour and personality

id - tripartite personality

pleasure principle, innate unconscious drives and instincts, instant gratification, individualistic, only present at birth, entirely selfish throughout life, reward focussed

ego

reality principle, mediator between id and superego by deploying defence mechanisms, develops around age of 2 years

superego

morality principle, internalised sense of right and wrong, formed at end of phallic stage, feelings of guilt and morality

defence mechanism

unconscious, ensure ego is able to protect and prevent us being overwhelmed by temporary threats and traumas which id may impose, often involve distortion of reality, psychologically unhealthy and undesirable in long term

denial - defence mechanism

refusing to acknowledge some part of reality

displacement - defence mechanism

transferring feelings from true source of distressing emotion to substitute target

repression - defence mechanism

forcing a distressing memory out of the conscious mind

psychosexual stages

five developmental stages that all children pass through, at each stage there is a different conflict, the outcome of which determines future development

oral stage

0-1 years, mouth is main focus of libido, child enjoys tasting and sucking (breastfeeding), successful completion shown by weaning, if not completed, oral fixation - smoking, biting nails, sarcastic, critical

anal stage

1-3 years, anus is main focus of libido, child enjoys witholding and expelling faeces and urine, if not completed either anal retentive (perfectionist, obsessive) or anal expulsive (thoughtless, messy)

phallic stage

3-5 years, genital area is main focus of libido, if not completed, phallic personality (narcissistic, reckless), oedipus and electra complexes

latency stage

earlier conflicts are repressed, sexual urges are dormant

genital stage

sexual desires become conscious alongside onset of puberty, if not completed, difficulty forming heterosexual relationships

oedipus complex

boys develop incestuous feelings towards mother and hatred for rival in love-father, boy fears father will castrate them and so repress feelings for mother and identify with father, taking on his gender role and moral values

electra complex

girls experience penis envy, desire father because penis is primary love object, girls hate mother as she believes she took her penis, thought to give up desire for father over time and identify with mother and desire a baby, not fully resolved and so leads to weaker morals

little Hans case study

5 year old boy who developed a phobia of horses after seeing one collapse, freud suggested phobia was Hans’ repressed fear of father displaced onto horses, horses symbolic representation of Hans’ real unconscious fear - fear of castration in oedipus complex

case studies - interpretive method - allows triangulation of data (validity)

in-depth research into an individual or small group with a unique characteristic, idiographic approach

stregths of case studies

offers rich, detailed insights = high validity, generates hypotheses for future study, allows research into unique or specific scenarios which otherwise could not be researched, more likely to build rapport - greater detail and honesty, idiographic approach

limitations of case studies

not generalisable to those beyond the unique sample = lower applicability and population validity, not easily replicable = lower reliability, data is subjective, lacks accuracy, personal rapport built may lead to investigator bias

interviews - interpretive method - allows triangulation of data (validity)

unstructured or semi-structured, allows for depth and richeness of info and leads to qual. data

strengths of interviews

offers rich, detailed insights = high validity, can lead to serendipitous information, more likely to build rapport - greater detail and honesty

limitations of interviews

self-report issues- subjective so less reliable, demand characteristics

free association - interpretive method - allows triangulation of data (validity)

patients encouraged to speak freely without restraint, anything that comes to mind without judgement

dream analysis - interpretive method - allows triangulation of data (validity)

analysis of what dreams reveal about the unconscious/repressed thoughts/feelings/memories

strengths of dream analysis

allows (according to psydy approach) access to the unconscious

limitations of dream analysis

restrospective/recalling unconscious, info may lack accuracy (less valid) and be subjective (less reliable), power of the analyst - reflects their pov, subjective interpretation, may lead to innscurate assumptions as a result of investigator bias

gender bias in the psychodynamic approach

alpha - oedipus and electra complexes, womens problems remain unresolved, women have weaker moral complexes, beta - based complexes on penis envy and Little Hans study, did not invent electra complex

psydy - important contributions to therapy

introduced the concept of psychotherapy - free association and dream analysis - forerunner for many modern talking therapies (hour ish long 1-1 sessions) creating new approach for treating mental disorders psychologically instead of physically, introduced concept of unconscious mind (idea we are not always aware of what is causing psych distress)

appropriateness for severe illness

inappropriate and even harmful for people experiencing more serious mental disorders such as schizophrenia, symptoms of schizophrenia include paranoia and delusional thinking, so those with the disorder have lost their grip on reality and cannot articulate their thoughts in the way required for psychoanalysis

research for psydy approach

shedler 2010: meta analysis suggetss therapeutic benefit to psydy therapy, freud’s own clinical research, Little Hans case study

research against psydy approach

Fonagy 2015: comparisons with active treatments rarely identify psydy therapies as superior to control interventions, shows little benefit for PTSD, OCD, or psychosis

untestable concepts

not open to empirical testing so cannot be disproved, the approach is on an unconscious level so difficult to test in standardised way, because ideas based on individual difficult to make universal claims about human beahaviour, suggests Freud’s theory was pseudoscientific rather than an established fact, cannot manipulate or measure variables