Psychology - Psychodynamic Approach

Assumptions of the Psychodynamic Approach

• Early childhood experiences and unconscious conflicts shape our behaviour

• Freud likens our minds to icebergs, where the bulk of our mental processes lies beneath the surface

• All children go through the psychosexual stages of development, any unresolved conflicts in any stage lead to psychological issues in adulthood

• Our tripartite personality modelled upon - the id, ego, superego, all structures that explain how internal conflicts arise and influence behaviour

Role of the unconscious

• Used metaphor of an iceberg to describe mind structure

• Conscious: Part of the mind we are aware of

• Preconscious: Thoughts/mems not always accessible but easily recalled

• Unconscious: Drives/instincts motivating our behaviour + personality in the unconscious, is inaccessible, also stores traumatic + unpleasant memories from childhood

The tripartite structure of personality

• id: ‘pleasure principle’ so unconscious, insatiable instincts which are innate, operates on the basis of seeking pleasure, selfish and demands instant gratification of its needs

• ego: ‘reality principle’ developed between 18 months and 3 years, is the conscious, rational part of personality, in touch with reality and arbitrates between the demands of the id and superego

• superego: ‘morality principle’ developed between 3-6 years old, is the unconscious/preconscious, moral part concerned with right and wrong

Defence mechanisms

• repression: unpleasant memory pushed into unconscious so cannot cause anxiety

• denial: refusing to accept reality of an unpleasant situation, reducing anxiety

• displacement: re-directing a strong emotion onto a neutral person or object

Psychosexual Stages

• Oral: main focus of pleasure is mother’s breast, stage completed successfully via weaning

• Anal: main source of pleasure from expelling and withholding faeces, stage completed successfully via potty training 

• Phallic: main source of pleasure from genital area, boys experience Oedipus complex/girls experience Electra complex 

• Latency: sexual urges sublimated into sports and hobbies, focus on developing same sex friendships 
  Genital: focus on genitals and experiencing pleasure with a partner, aim to develop healthy adult relationships

Fixation of each psychosexual stage 

• Oral: needy, over sensitive, oral fixation (e.g. smoking or nail biting), sarcastic, verbally abusive 

• Anal: tidy, ‘control freak’ or generous and disorganised 

• Phallic: If a child fails to identify with parent, can cause gender identity issues 

If you are deprived or over-indulged in any of these stages, you can become fixated in each stage

Evaluation of the Psychodynamic approach 

• Strength: Psychoanalysis techniques used by some therapists nowadays to treat mental disorders, driving force in one on one counselling - e.g. dream analysis and free association to access unconscious mind successful in treating anxiety, suggesting psychodynamic ideas have merit and validity 

• Limitation: Freudian therapy seen as inappropriate for those with serious mental health illness (e.g. schizophrenia which entails paranoia and delusion) so they lose contact with reality and are unable to articulate accurate thoughts, suggests psychoanalysis only effective for mild neuroses and inapplicable for a wide range of mental health conditions, reduces validity of approach

• Strength: Case studies support the theory, e.g. ‘Little Hans’ phobia of horses were a displaced phobia of his father, also Oedipus complex affecting boys development in phallic stage - however case studies not generalisable to all as based on one unique individual 

• Limitation: Pseudoscientific, unfalsifiable so not open to empirical and scientific testing, so hard to prove or disprove - concepts e.g. id and Oedipus complex believed to occur at unconscious level so cannot test, therefore approach rendered unscientific and less credible 

• Limitation: reliance on psychic determinism, behaviour dictated by unconscious conflicts rooted in childhood. Freud believed nothing was coincidental, even a ‘slip of the tongue’ is driven by unconscious forces, dismissing influence of free will on behaviour.