The Psychodynamic Approach

What is psychodynamics?

The study of the unconscious mind and the unconscious mental drives that develop in childhood, their interactions, and how these forces influence behaviour, personality and mental states

What is the ‘psyche’?

The mind

What is the psyche made up of?

The psyche is a complex system that consists of three parts: the conscious, the preconscious and the unconscious

What is the role of the conscious mind?

The conscious mind, includes the thoughts we are aware of and can talk about, including ideas, decisions and emotions

What is the role of the preconscious mind?

Preconscious thoughts are not immediately accessible but can be bought into conscious awareness

What is the role of the conscious mind?

• The largest part of the mind

• Holds thoughts and memories that are not accessible to awareness but influence our behaviours and feelings

• Contains desires, impulses and repressed memories

According to psychic determinism, why do we behave the way we do?

Our behaviour is shaped by unresolved unconscious conflicts among different parts of our personality, as well as by experiences in early developmental stages Freud identified as psychosexual stages.

What is fixation?

Problems during Freud’s psychosexual stages can result in fixation, where an individual remains stuck in a particular stage, expressing certain negative personality traits

How does the unconscious mind protect the conscious mind?

The unconscious protects the conscious mind from harmful thoughts such as traumatic memories, fears and intense desires through defence mechanisms

What is the (tripartite) structure of personality?

The adult personality is constructed of three parts…

1) The id

2) The ego

3) The superego

What is the ‘id’?

• A selfish aspect of the mind focused on only satisfying personal needs and desires.

• For a newborn infant, the psyche solely consists of the id

• Operates on the pleasure principle, seeking immediate gratification for its wants, which is why it’s associated with hedonism

What is the ‘ego’?

• The ego uses rational thinking to manage the id’s demands, acting as a mediator between the id and superego

• At around 18 months, the ego begins to form as the primarily conscious component of personality, known as the reality princple

• This development marks a critical step in a child’s ability to interact with the world in a balanced, realistic manner

What is the ‘superego’?

• “Morality principle” emerges as the child internalises the values and norms of their parents and society

• By age 3, a child begins to develop the third primarily unconscious component of their personality

• It influences behaviour by inducing guilt when an individual’s actions conflict with its strict standards, moderating behaviour according to moral and societal expectations

What does Freud suggest about criminal behaviour?

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What does Freud think about the ‘electra complex’?

“I did not see any advance or gain in the introduction of the term ‘Electra complex’ and do not advocate its use”

What is ‘penis envy’?

Freud suggested that in the phallic stages, girls assume they used to have a penis and think they lost it due to castration. They resent their mother for this loss. Eventually, the desire for a penis is replaced by the desire for a baby. In this way, girls develop a female gender identity

What are the 3 psychosexual stages?

1) Phallic stage (3-5 years)

2) Latency stage (6-12 years)

3) Genital stage (12+)

Phallic stage (3-5 years)

• The libido is now focused on the genitals

• Boys experience the Oedipus complex: a sexual desire for their mother, castration anxiety is the fear that the father will find out and remove the boy’s genitals. The boy eventually realises he cannot compete with his father and instead identifies with him, imitating his behaviour and so develops a male gender identity

• Jung’s female equivalent, the Electra complex, describes a girl’s attachment to her father and dislike for her mother

Latency stage (6-12 years)

Freud suggests at this stage, sexual energy (libido) is dispersed across the body, and previous conflicts, desires and memories from early childhood are repressed into the unconcious

Genital stage (12+)

This is the point of puberty, and sexual desire is now conscious and in the final adult form

How does the ego resolve conflicts between the id and superego?

Defence mechanisms are strategies involving the unconscious mind that the ego can use to manage unresolvable conflicts. These mechanisms reduce the anxiety felt by the conflict between the id and the superego

What are the 3 defence mechanisms?

• Denial

• Displacement

• Repression

What is ‘denial’?

A refusal to accept the reality of a situation

What is ‘displacement’?

When a strong emotion is moved from the source of that emotion and placed onto a substitute target, generally, this is a weaker target

What is ‘repression’?

An unpleasant memory or painful emotion is placed into the unconscious mind and is no longer accessible to the conscious mind

Psychodynamic Psychology - Evaluation