The Psychodynamic Approach

Psychodynamic Approach: A perspective that describes the different forces (dynamics), most of which are unconscious, that operate on the mind and direct human behaviour and experience.

The Unconscious: The part of the mind that we are unaware of but which directs much of our behaviour

Id: Entirely unconscious, the Id is made up of selfish aggressive instincts that demand immediate gratification. It operates on the pleasure principles and is present at birth.

Ego: The ‘reality check’ that balances the conflicting demands of the Id and Superego. It develops around 2 years old and employs defence mechanisms.

Superego: The moralistic part of our personality which represents the ideal self and how we ought to be. It’s formed at the end of the phallic stage, around five. It represents the moral standards of the child’s same-sex gender parent.

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

Repression: Forcing a distressing memory out of the conscious mind

Denial: Refusing to acknowledge some aspect of reality

Displacement: Transferring feelings from the true source of distressing emotion onto a substitute target.

Psychosexual Stages: Five developmental stages that all children pass through.

Oral Stage: 0-1 years where the focus of pleasure is the mouth and the consequence of unresolved conflict is oral fixation, leading to smoking, biting nails or being sarcastic.

Anal Stage: 1-3 years where the focus of pleasure is the anus and the child gains pleasure from withholding and expelling faeces and the consequences of unresolved conflict could being anal-retentive (perfectionist) or anal expulsive (thoughtless)

Phallic Stage: 3-6 years where the focus of pleasure is the genital area and the consequence of unresolved conflict is a phallic personality (narcissistic, reckless)

Latency Stage: Earlier conflicts are repressed, with no conflicts.

Genital Stage: Sexual desires become conscious alongside the onset of puberty and the consequence of unresolved conflict could be difficulty forming heterosexual relationships.

Real-World Application: First introduced the idea of psychotherapy which was the first attempt to treat mental disorders psychologically rather than physically. The new therapy employed a range of techniques designed to access the unconscious such as dream analysis. it is the forerunner to many modern-day talking therapies, such as counselling.

Explanatory Power: Freud’s theory has had a huge influence on psychology and contemporary thought and the psychodynamic approach remained a key force in psychology for the first half of the 20th century. The approach was significant in drawing attention to the connection between experiences in childhood and our later development.

Untestable Concepts: Karl Popper argued that the psychodynamic approach does not meet the scientific criterion of falsification as it is not open to empirical testing. Many of Freud’s concepts are said to occur at an unconscious level, making them almost impossible to test.