PSYCHODYAMIC PSYCHOLOGY

1.THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MENTAL OR EMOTIONAL FORCES OR PROCESSES DEVELOPING ESPECIALLY IN EARLY CHILDHOOD AND THEIR EFFECTS ON BEHAVIOR AND
MENTAL STATES
2. EXPLANATION OR INTERPRETATION (AS OF BEHAVIOR OR MENTAL STATES) IN TERMS OF MENTAL OR EMOTIONAL FORCES OR PROCESSES
3. MOTIVATIONAL FORCES ACTING ESPECIALLY AT THE UNCONSCIOUS LEVEL

Psychodynamic Theories
Psychodynamic theories see behavior
as a product of psychological forced
within the individual, often outside
conscious awareness Five
propositions common to all
psychodynamic theories Much of
mental life is unconscious Mental
processes such as emotions,
motivations & thought may conflict
with one another Early childhood
experiences strongly affect
personality development Our mental
representation of ourselves and
others guides our interactions with

1.Conscious - all
things we are
aware of at any
given moment
conscious
2. Unconscious
Superego
3. Preconscious Id
Ego

*Personality Development
personality forms during the
first few years of life,
personality forms during the
first few years of life, rooted
in unresolved conflicts of
early childhood rooted in
unresolved conflicts of early
childhood Psychosexual
Stages Oral (0-18 mos.) centered on the mouth Anal
(18-36 mos.) - focus on
bowel/bladder elim Phallic (36 yrs.) - focus on
genitals/Oedipus Complex
(Identification & Gender
Identity) Latency (6-puberty)
- sexuality
is dormant
Genital
Defense
Mechanisms
Anxiety is
(puberty on) - sexual feelings
produced when the ego cannot satisfy
toward others Strong conflict
the demands of the id in a way
can fixate an individual at
acceptable to the superego This
Stages 1,2 or3
anxiety causes feelings of uneasiness
and worry Ego may employ any of a
number of defense mechanisms to
protect the conscious mind from this
anxiety

* Psychoanalytic
Approach Conscious
Unconscious Superego
Preconscious Id Ego
Information which can
easily be made
conscious Thoughts,
feelings, urges and
other information that
is difficult to bring to
conscious awareness
Information in your
immediate awareness
Rational, planning,
mediating dimension
of personality
Moralistic, judgmental,
perfectionist
dimension of
personality Irrational,

*Freuds
psychoanalytic
theory of
personality suggests
that personality
develops through a
series of stages,
each of which is
associated with a
major stages
biological function.
More specifically,
Freud theorized that
as people age, they
pass through
Defense Mechanisms
Denial Refusal
systematic
to acknowledge several
a painful
reality
stages
of
Repression Unpleasant thoughts are
psychosexual
excluded from consciousness
development
in their
Projection Attributing
ones feelings,
personality.
motives, wishes on/to others

Identification Taking
on traits of others
to avoid feeling incompetent
Regression Reverting to childlike
behavior

* Defense Mechanisms
Intellectualization Thinking about
stressful problems in an abstract way
to detach oneself from them Thinking
about stressful problems in an
abstract way to detach oneself from
them Reaction Formation Expression
of exaggerated ideas and emotions
that are opposite of true feelings
Expression of exaggerated ideas and
emotions that are opposite of true
feelings Displacement Shift repressed
motives from an original object to a
substitute object Shift repressed
motives from an original object to a

WEAKNESSES

1.The psychodynamic approach is that it

is unfalsifiable.
This is a weakness because the
assumptions
cannot be scientifically
measured or proved wrong.
An example of this is the idea of the mind
being split into three parts.
2 The psychodynamic approach is that it is
deterministic. This is a weakness because
it suggests that behavior is pre-determined
and people do not have free will. An
example of
this is the psychosexual stages.
3. Over focus on sexual issues
Psychodynamic theory
as developed by Freud tended to focus
too much on sexual issues, and deemphasize the
importance of interpersonal and social
factors in causing and maintaining mental
disorders. Is it more likely that failing to
resolve the Oedipus complex causes
abnormality, or could a dysfunctional
parenting style
leading to an insecure attachment be the
cause?
4.The psychodynamic approach is very
determinist as it says that suffering
childhood trauma
will lead to abnormal behavior in adulthood,
however it ignores the influence of genes
(biology), reward (behaviorism), and
thinking patterns (cognitive approach).
5.Deterministic For example, according to
this
approach, if someone was overindulged or
deprived
at a psychosexual stage of development
than they would

STRENGHT

1.Psychodynamic approach is that they focused

on the effects that childhood experiences have
on the developing personality. This is a strength
because Freud was the first psychologist to
realize the importance of childhood.
2.The psychodynamic approach is that it takes
both nature and nurture into account. This is a
strength because it emphasis the importance
of both. An example of this is that Freud's
assumption of childhood experiences focused
on nurture whereas the ID, Ego and Super-ego
focused on nature.
3. Many observations of psychodynamic
therapists appear to be borne out in everyday
life, e.g., Defense mechanisms. Many people
with psychological disturbances do recollect
childhood traumas. Freudian theory provides a
comprehensive framework to describe human
personality Freud the distressed, making
their suffering more comprehensible to the rest
of society. By developing a method of
treatment, Freud encouraged a more optimistic
view regarding psychological distress. Mental
illness could, in some cases at least, be
treated!
4. The psychodynamic therapy is that it
recognizes that there is a subconscious and
that the subconscious has an impact on our
behavior. Where as other types of psychology
focus only on the surface behavior or thoughts,
psychodynamic therapy looks at the very
deepest parts of a person and tries to heal
them from the inside out.
5.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