1.2: Psychodynamic approach

Freud

Founder of the psychodynamic approach and of psychology.

Childhood experiences

Also known as psychosexual stages, the five stages of childhood development.

Frustration

When the needs of an experience are not met, causing problems in adult’s personalities.

Overindulgence

When the needs of an experience are oversatisfied, causing problem’s in adults personalities.

Unconscious mind

Expressed through dreams and determines much of our behaviour. Contains unresolved conflicts.

Ego defense mechanisms

Mechanisms in place to protect from anxiety caused by id, ego and superego conflicts.

Oral

Stage of childhood experiences that occurs between 0-18 months old, and involves sucking, chewing and breastfeeding. Frustration causes optimism, frustration causes pessimism.

Anal

Stage of childhood experiences that occurs between 18 months-3 years old and involves potty training. Frustration causes tidiness, overindulgence causes messiness.

Phallic

Stage of childhood experiences that occurs between 3-5 years old and involves masturbation, the Oedipus/ Electra complexes, superego and gender identity. Issues causes vanity and difficulty forming and maintaining relationships.

Latency

Stage of childhood experiences that occurs from 5 years old until puberty, and involves no fixation and instead understanding of the world and the gaining of knowledge. No fixations can develop during this stage.

Genital

Stage of childhood experiences that occurs from puberty onwards, and involves a fixation on heterosexual sex (homosexual sex was seen as a personality fault). Fixations on this are healthy and lead to a well adjusted adult.

Regression

Ego defense mechanism where a person returns to an earlier stage of development, such as sucking their thumb.

Repression

Pushing painful memories into the back of the unconscious minds in order to forget them, such as childhood traumas.

Tripartite

The three parts of an adult’s personality, encompassing the id, ego and superego.

Id

Part of tripartite personality that demands immediate satisfaction of our inate urges, known as the pleasure principle.

Ego

Part of tripartite personality that develops around the age of two, and balances the demands of the id in socially acceptable ways, known as the reality principle.

Superego

Part of tripartite personality that forms around four years old and encompasses morality and a person’s ideal self, learned through identification with parents and others.

Attachment

Theory of relationships theorised by Bowlby, where children form a strong bond with their mother for evolutionary theory, known as monotropy.