Psychodynamic Approach Essay
Psychodynamic Approach
What is it?
The psychodynamic approach includes all the theories in psychology that see human functioning based upon the interaction of drives and forces within the person, particularly unconscious, and between the different structures of the personality.
The Psychodynamic Approach Assumptions
Our behaviour and feelings are powerfully affected by unconscious problems
The causes of these emotional problems can usually be traced back to early childhood.
All behaviour has a cause (usually unconscious), even slips of the tongue. Therefore all behaviour is determined.
Humanistic nature is basically deterministic.
Our behaviour is determined by irrational forces, unconscious motivations, and biological instinctual drives.
Instinct
Life instincts: …show more content…
Stores all experiences, memories and repressed material.
Consciousness is a thin slice of the total mind.
Parts of the unconscious mind (the id and superego) are in constant conflict with the conscious part of the mind (the ego).
Five Stages of Development
Freud believed that children pass through five stages of development, known as the psychosexual stages because of Freud’s emphasis on sexuality as the basic drive in development.
Oral Stage from birth until approximately 15 months. The focus of pleasure is on the mouth.
Anal Stage from approximately 15 months to 3 years of age. Children gain pleasure from retaining or expelling faeces.
Phallic stage from approximately 3 years to 5 years of age. The focus of a child’s pleasure is on their genitals. During this stage Freud hypothesised that a young boy would experience what he called the Oedipus complex. This would provide the child with highly disturbing conflicts, which had to be resolved by the child identifying with the same-sexed
What is it?
The psychodynamic approach includes all the theories in psychology that see human functioning based upon the interaction of drives and forces within the person, particularly unconscious, and between the different structures of the personality.
The Psychodynamic Approach Assumptions
Our behaviour and feelings are powerfully affected by unconscious problems
The causes of these emotional problems can usually be traced back to early childhood.
All behaviour has a cause (usually unconscious), even slips of the tongue. Therefore all behaviour is determined.
Humanistic nature is basically deterministic.
Our behaviour is determined by irrational forces, unconscious motivations, and biological instinctual drives.
Instinct
Life instincts: …show more content…
Stores all experiences, memories and repressed material.
Consciousness is a thin slice of the total mind.
Parts of the unconscious mind (the id and superego) are in constant conflict with the conscious part of the mind (the ego).
Five Stages of Development
Freud believed that children pass through five stages of development, known as the psychosexual stages because of Freud’s emphasis on sexuality as the basic drive in development.
Oral Stage from birth until approximately 15 months. The focus of pleasure is on the mouth.
Anal Stage from approximately 15 months to 3 years of age. Children gain pleasure from retaining or expelling faeces.
Phallic stage from approximately 3 years to 5 years of age. The focus of a child’s pleasure is on their genitals. During this stage Freud hypothesised that a young boy would experience what he called the Oedipus complex. This would provide the child with highly disturbing conflicts, which had to be resolved by the child identifying with the same-sexed