Psychodynamic approach

Psychodynamic approach

1. psychodynamic approach emphasises

   • change and development in the individual
   • unconscious motives and desires
   • importance of early childhood in shaping personality

2. the unconscious reveals itself through freudian slips, creativity and neurotic symptoms

3. Personality has 3 parts in conflict:

   • ID - impulsive physical appetites including libido
   • Ego - mediates between ID, reality and Superego
   • Superego - conscience (internalisation of societal rules) and ego-ideal (determined by parental expectations)

4. defence mechanisms prevent traumatic memories becoming conscious and causing anxiety

   • repression - unconscious blocking of unacceptable thoughts and impulses
   • Denial - refusal to accept reality
   • Displacement - redirecting hostile feelings onto an innocent person or object

5. Application: psychodynamic was pioneering; based on case studies rather than introspection, first to propose psychological treatments for disorders. meta analysis of psychotherapy studies concluded that Psychoanalysis (championed by freud) produced significant long lasting improvements in symptoms, shows value of insights gained from psychoanalysis and treatments created from them.

6. there is empirical support for psychodynamic, such as unconscious motivations for behaviour and defence mechanisms. many claim psychoanalysis is not testable or falsifiable however many aspects have been tested and are supported by evidence

7. Gender-Bias: freud based theories using male sexual development as norm (androcentric), later psychoanalysts have criticised freud's theory and developed a new one better relating to female development. this is problematic bc he treated many female patients and his theories are still influential

8. Culture bias: may have little relevance to non-western cultures. in china anxious and depressed people avoid those thoughts rather than being willing to openly discuss. contrasts western belief that open discussion is helpful in therapy, psychoanalysis developed in a western, middle class culture so has limitations outside that culture (ethnocentric)

9. psychoanalysis is a comprehensive theory which is externally valid even outside the field of psychology. e.g. in literary criticism, characters can be explored in terms of their unconscious motivations or as a projection of unconscious motivations of the author. this gives language and common concepts for interpretation of books, films and media; this explains ongoing popularity of freud's theories.