Psychodynamic Approach

About mind and energy.
Freud's Theory
1. Unconscious is the largest part of the mind which has the greatest influence on an individual.
  1. Unconscious mind is something we can not control and that we do not knoe fully what it holds. Material that we can not face such as traumas which we repress. This is in order to protect our conscious from hurt.
  2. Inaccessible by normal means.
    1. But can access the preconscious mind, what we don't know but can find out if we 'trick' the mind.
2. THEORY OF PERSONALITY
  1. 3 aspects to the personality: Id, Ego and Superego.
    1. Personality develops through the first 5 years of childhood. The Id is the first to develop and is known as the instructive part. Ego is the second to develop which is the rational part and the personality, it is through the ego that the Id gets what it wants. Supergo is the third to develop, it acst on the morality principle. As the supergo develops th ego has to learn to satisfy the Id aswell as satisifying the superego.
      1. For an adult the personality should be balanced with the ego successfully balancing the needs of the Id and Superego.
        Neuroses occurs when theis is not balanced and the personality becomes too focused on the Id or too focused on the Superego.
3. Defence Mechanisms
  1. A means of protecting the ego when there is a conflict betweent the Id and superego.
  2. Repression
    1. not remembering something because it can't be accessed, needing to remain in the unconscious to protect the personality.
  3. Denial
    1. Refusal to acknowledge threatening thoughts all together,
4. Stages of Pshycosexual Development. There are 5 stages every person passes through. At each stage the libido is focused on this one area. If a stage is not resolved there is fixation within that stage, this occurs when there is over indulgence or fustration. If the fixation is not resolved the libido will be locked in that specific stage, if a fixation occurs the child will still want to gain satisfaction from that stage when an adult.
  1. Oral Stage, 0-18 months.
    1. Mouth is focus of Pleasure.
      1. Fixation occurs due to frustration if they have been weened to soon, Adult characteristics: envious, pessimistic and sarcastic. too much nursing and indulgence results in optimism admiration of others and being gullible.
    2. Anal Stage 1-3 years.
      1. Anus is focus of pleasure. (toilet training)
        If parents are too leniant and allow child to make a mess, the child will show anal expulsive behaviours in adulthood - mesyy, reckless and disorganised. If child refuses to go and that is not overcome by the parents the adult will show anally retentive behaviours, obstinate, careful and precise.
        Expulsion or retention of faeces.
      2. Phallic Stage 3-5 years.
        Genitals focus of pleasure.
        In this stage boys experience the Oedipus complex. Through the oedipus complex boys adopt their gender behaviour.
        An adult fixated at this sage is said to have a phallic character- self assured, reckless, vain and proud. they may also be incapable of loving someone.
        Latency Period. No sexual drive in this period, it's more of resting period. Repression of desires children focus more on same sex friendships.
        Genital Stage. Starts with puberty.
        Libido focused on genitals, formation of heterosexual friends and relationships. If too much libido has been taken up and locked in the previous stages there may not be enough for 'normal ' re;atioships to be formed.
5. Gender Development
  1. Gender behaviour is learnt in the phallic stage
    1. When pleasure is sought in the genitals. In this stage the superego develops and with it gender behaviour. Oedipus complex is key for gender development in boys and the Electra complex for the girls.
      1. Oedipus Complex
        comes from boy's natural love for their mother. The libido focuses on the genitals and so this love turns into sexual feelings. The father then stands in the way of the boy's feelings because of the father's relationship with the mother,, so the boy feels aggression towards his fatherand love fort he mother. all this is at an UNCONSCIOUS level. The boy also fears that his father will casrtate him for having such feelings towards his mother. Castration fear is stronger than the desire for the mother and so the desire is repressed.
        Ego resolves the complex by satisfying the Id, love and fear can be reconciled if the boy identifies with the father. The supergo is developed when the boy adopts the fathers approach to social rules. The boy learns to be male by identifying with and becoming like his father.
Neuroses, Freud aimed to cure neurosis.
1. Neurosis is mental problems that the patient can be aware of.
Evaluation on Freuds Theory.
1. STRENGHTS
2. WEAKNESSES
  1. Lack of scientific evidence. Freuds methods required subjective interpretation.
  2. freud's concepts are not measurable. Data was not collected that could be easily replicated because it was so subjectively analysed. The Id, Ego and Supergo are not real in the sense that the can't be measured.
  3. Case studies were used, aren't reliable as if repeated the same results would not be found. The data collected is unique from that spec ific person.
  4. Results can not be generalised, as Freud drew his conclusions from a small sample of case studies , mainly of middle-class Viennese women. His sample was biased in terms of gender, there was no range if class of people nor age of people.
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	Created by madisonreilly almost 12 years ago