Psychodynamic Approach

Freud

Main Ideas

Abnormalities are the result of unconscious processes

Things you’re not aware of

Introductory Stuff

The Psyche

EGO

ID SUPEREGO

The ID•Pleasure principle

•Born with it•Libido – sexual

energy•Fights with the

Superego

The EGO•Reality principle

•Develops in childhood•Balances the demands of the ID and the moral rules of the SUPEREGO

The SUPEREGO•Moral principle

•Develops around 5/6•Child internalises moral of society

•Fights with the ID

Main Assumptions

Abnormalities are caused by...

1. Intra-psychic conflict (ego failing to balance ID and SUPEREGO)

2. Overuse of defence mechanisms

3. Fixation during psychosexual development

1. Intra-psychic conflict

If within the psyche, the ego fails to balance the demands of the ID and the SUPEREGO, conflicts may arise and this can result in the development of psychological disorders

If the ID is not kept in check by the EGO – then the

person acts on their immediate desires/impulses,

whatever they may be.Can result in destructive

behaviour, pleasurable acts and uninhibited sexual

behaviour

If the SUPEREGO is not kept in check by the EGO –

then a person deprives themselves of any sort of

desires (even socially accepted ones).

Can result in anxious behaviour, for example Obsessive Compulsive

Disorder

2. Overuse of defence mechanisms

If intra-psychic conflict occurs anxiety can occur. In order to protect itself against this

anxiety, the EGO tries to balance the ID and the SUPEREGO – to do this the EGO uses defence

mechanisms

Can you think of any defence

mechanisms?

Defence Mechanisms

• Threatening impulses are pushed into the unconscious

Repression

• Unacceptable drive is displaced from its primary target to a more acceptable target

Displacement

• Refusal to accept that a particular event has occurred

Denial

Defence Mechanisms

Defence Mechanisms protect our conscious self from the anxiety produced by the

unconscious intra-psychic conflict – it this is unsuccessful, the anxiety may reveal

itself through clinical disorders e.g. Phobias, anxiety disorders

3. Fixation during PsychosexualDevelopment

If a child is under or over gratified at any stage the child may become ‘fixated’ and this

could affect their adult behaviour

Freud believed that children goes through a series of stages where the instinctive energy

of the ID looks for gratification from different areas of the body – erogenous

zones.

• Birth to 18 months

• Pleasure from mouth (via eating and drinking)

Oral Stage

• 18 months to 3 years

• Pleasure from anus (via withholding or expelling faeces)

Anal Stage

• 18 months to 4/5 years

• Gender differences are noticed – child relates to same sex parent

Phallic Stage

• 4/5 years to adolescence

• Sexual drives lay dormant

Latency Stage

• Adolescence

• Sexual urges reawaken, interest turns to relationships

Genital Stage

How would the psychodynamic approach investigate abnormality?

Case Studies

Much of Freudian theory of

psychoanalysis was based on

case studies

What is a case study?

What is the problem with using case studies?

An in-depth, detailed investigation of an individual or group. It would usually include biographical details, as well as details of behaviours or experiences of interest to the researcher.

Difficult to generaliseOften uses retrospective data

Influential

The Psychodynamic approach to psychopathology has influenced many treatments, e.g. Dream analysis, free

association

This is a strength because many therapies/treatments based on the

psychodynamic approach are still used today to help people

Deterministic

For example, according to this approach, if someone was

overindulged or deprived at a psychosexual stage of development

than they would develop an abnormality

This is a weakness because the approach suggests our behaviour is ruled by our unconscious processes only and ignores

free will

Reductionist

For example, it suggests that the complex mental disorders

are caused solely by our experience as a child

This is a weakness because it ignores the role of other factors in the development

of mental illness, such as adult experience

Unscientific

For example, concepts such as the ID, EGO, and SUPEREGO and processes

such as repression etc cannot be scientifically tested

This is a weakness because it means that many concepts proposed cannot be

directly observed and measured and the theory proven or disproven

Key terms / Buzz words

Deterministic

The Psyche

Repression

IDFixation

Reductionist

EGO

Retrospective Defence Mechanism

Psychosexual stages

Little Hans

Case Studies

SUPEREGO

Conflict

Unscientific

InfluentialAnna O

Unconscious

Childhood