PSY 1 - APPROACHES IN PSYCHOLOGY - Web Edition
THE PSYCHODYNAMIC APPROACH
ASSUMPTIONS – an examination essential
Outline the main assumptions of the psychodynamic approach.
There are Three main assumptions to focus on to help us understand Freud’s theory. Learn all three, but only two are required for the exam.
First, the unconscious mind has a very big influence o our behaviour, so we often do things without understanding the real reason why we are doing them. So, for example we may be an extremely tidy person and claim this is because neatness is important. Freud would say that our tidiness could be the result of our fixation at the anal stage and that the result of harsh potty training is still at work in our unconscious
He also suggested that there are three parts to the psyche (personality):the id represents a person’s basic drives, such as the sexual drive, and the superego represents the conscience we develop by living in a society. These two parts of the psyche need to be managed by the ego. When this balance isn’t achieved, abnormal behaviour may result. For example, anxiety disorders may occur from an over-developed superego (conscience), when the person simply worries far too much trying to live up to external rules, perhaps those imposed by over-strict parents. Since these processes occur at an unconscious level, people cannot be aware of them.
Third, the psychodynamic approach assumes that experiences in our earliest years can affect our emotions, attitudes and behaviour in later years without us being aware that it is happening. The quality of our relationships with our parents in our early years influences how well we progress through the stages of development. So, if our parents are too relaxed during our potty training we may grow up to be an untidy, reckless adult.
Describe how the psychodynamic approach has been applied to one theory in psychology. - Freud’s Theory of Psychosexual development.
Freud believed that we all go through Five stages of personality development. The first three of these stages are connected to where our to where our libido (focus of pleasure, ”life-force”) is located.
In the Oral Stage (0-1 Years) the mouth is the main focus of pleasure, and the baby also uses the mouth to take comfort and find out information. If the oral stage goes smoothly the adult will have a balanced approached to food and drink, and will be able to depend on others in close relationships. If the oral stage goes badly, for example the baby is separated from his mother, they may have problems in adulthood around oral behaviours – eg smoking, or excessive drinking.
In the Anal Stage (1-3 Years) the libido moves to the anus and the child’s focus is on control of the bowels. They are aware that they are an independent person (the Ego is now fully formed) and know that in potty training their parents are trying to restrict them. Problems in potty training can result in either very messy or obsessively tidy adult behaviour.
In the Phallic stage (3-6) years the libido now shifts to the genitals and the child becomes more interested in gender and relationships. The child realises he is excluded from parts of his parent’s relationship and develops a jealousy of his father’s bond with his mother. At the same time as resenting his father, the child also fears that his father might harm him (castration is the boy’s big fear, because the libido is located in the genitals). To deal with this the boy internalises the father’s beliefs about right and wrong (this is how the superego is formed) and so, by identifying with him sops fearing castration. This is called the Oedipus complex in boys. In girls, a similar process called the Electra Complex happens, whereby girls end up internalising their mother’s beliefs. If parents don’t deal sensitively with their child’s desire for the opposite-sex parent the child can grow up with lots of guilt and shame.
The final two stages are the Latency Stage (6-puberty) where the libido is present but has little effect. The final stage is the Genital Stage (puberty onwards) where the new adult’s libido focuses on the genitals in a mature way.
Fixation(getting stuck) or a trauma(disturbing event) can have a major effect on adult’s behaviour. Because this is all happening in the unconscious) the adult is not aware of it.
THE PSYCHDYNAMIC APPROACH -STRENGTHS & WEAKNESSES
Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the psychodynamic approach.
A strength of the psychodynamic approach is that it reminds us that experiences in childhood can affect us throughout our lives without us being aware that it is happening. Some experiences in childhood may be so emotionally painful that the only way the child can cope is by repressing the memory of these experiences into the unconscious. Therefore, the approach accepts that everyone can suffer mental conflicts and neuroses through no fault of their own. The approach also offers a ‘cure’ for abnormality through psychoanalysis by reaching the underlying causes in the unconscious, making them conscious, and releasing the patient from the emotional pain caused by the childhood trauma.
Freud was the first to stress the importance of psychological factors causing abnormal behaviour. His argument that psychological problems can result in physical symptoms is widely accepted today. Many people would agree that unconscious processes do have an effect on human behaviour, and Freud’s work on how defence mechanisms protect the ego is especially useful. Most people accept that we do use repression, denial, projection, and other defence mechanisms to protect our egos.
The main limitation of the psychodynamic model is that it cannot be scientifically observed or tested. In fact, one cannot even imagine a test by which psychodynamic theory can be disproved. There is no way of demonstrating if the Unconscious actually exists. There is no way of verifying if a repressed memory is a real or false memory unless independent evidence is available. In other words, most of psychodynamics must be taken on faith.
A second weakness is that any evidence recovered from a patient must be analysed and interpreted by a therapist. This leaves open the possibility of serious misinterpretation or bias because two therapists may interpret the same evidence in entirely different ways. Psychoanalysis is time-consuming and expensive, and serious questions have been raised about its effectiveness.
In addition, the psychodynamic approach ignores possible biological, behaviourist, and cognitive explanations of abnormal behaviour, and may be in that sense dangerously reductionist.
Q2: Explain how the psychodynamic approach has been applied in either Dream Analysis or Free Association [12]
The aim of dream analysis is to access thoughts and feelings in the unconscious mind. This links to the assumptions of the psychodynamic approach as Freud stated that we have an unconscious mind which contains thoughts and feelings that we are unaware of. He argued that the content of the unconscious mind can have a damaging effect on our conscious mind. By gaining insight into our unconscious motivations, we have a better chance of changing that feeling or behaviour.
Freud argued that our dreams act as a type of wish fulfilment, allowing our id more freedom. Repressed desires in the unconscious, which are often irrational and instinct-driven, are fulfilled in dreams. However if we literally dreamed about what we desired, it would cause stress to our conscious mind; therefore our ego disguises the actual content of the dream using dreamwork. The content of the consciously remembered dream is the “manifest” content. The true meaning of the dream however is the “latent” content.
Dreamwork describes a number of processes which the ego uses to hide the latent content, to avoid causing stress to the conscious mind. For example, symbolism occurs when the latent content is represented by symbols; for example, the manifest content of a train going into a tunnel could be symbolic of the latent content of sex, or a weapon could be symbolic of a penis.
During therapy, the client or patient will discuss their dream with the therapist who will help them interpret the meaning of the dream. The therapist will use their understanding of dreamwork to try to turn the manifest content back into the latent content; in other words to undo what the ego has done. The dream is interpreted in the context of the client’s life. For example, a fish might symbolise a fear of water for one client, but represent a friend who is a fisherman for another. Importantly, while therapist will offer various interpretations, it is the client who will choose those interpretations that feel best for them. Once this latent content has been made clear, the patient may then gain insight into their unconscious, and work on dealing with the problem.
There is some evidence for the psychodynamic explanation of dreams (and therefore the therapy). Solms (2000) performed PET scans on sleeping people, and found that during dreaming, parts of the brain involved in rational decision making were dormant, while those involved in motivation and memory were active. In Freud’s language, the ego becomes suspended while the id is given free reign.
A PSYCHODYNAMIC THERAPY - Free Association
Describe how the psychodynamic approach has been applied in one form of therapy in psychology, e.g. Free Association.
The psychodynamic approach assumes that experiences in our earliest years can affect our emotions, attitudes and behaviour in later years without us being aware that it is happening. There are repressed memories of traumatic events in our childhood which still drive us as adults.
The therapy called Free Association is based on the psychodynamic model of abnormality. Psychotherapy places great significance on childhood experiences, such as the psychosexual stages, and on repressed impulses and unresolved conflicts in the unconscious.
The aim of psychodynamic therapy is to make these unconscious forces conscious so that the ego can deal with them.
During therapy sessions the patient is encouraged to relax on a couch and talk about whatever comes into his mind. The therapist listens and offers no judgement about anything the patient says. It is hoped the patient will relax his internal censor and released repressed material from the unconscious. The therapist then helps the patient interpret the material and gain insight into the origins of the conflict. During the therapy the patient may also transfer his unconscious feelings and emotions onto the therapist.
The psychotherapist helps the patient deal with the emotions and memories recovered from the unconscious. This cathartic emotional experience is called abreaction, and a patient experiencing abreaction will be ‘cured’ of his disorder. In modern psychoanalysis, the therapist will help the patient come to a cognitive understanding of his experiences in childhood.
Example:
The Talking Cure has had some success with mental problems such as anxiety, hysteria and OCD, but some psychologists argue it is being able to talk about difficulties that produce the improvement, making the therapy essentially cognitive rather than psychodynamic.
Explain and evaluate the methodology used by the psychodynamic approach.
The First method used by psychodynamic psychologists is the Clinical Interview.
Aim: To investigate the unconscious forces that are driving an individual’s behaviour.
The interviewer has a set of questions that they work through. Depending on the answers given, follow up questions are asked by the interviewer to probe deeper into unusual responses, to get a better insight into the subject’s unconscious.
Strengths
This is an effective may of extracting as much information as possible out of an interview because the psychologist has the freedom to follow up interesting answers in way that would not be allowed in a structured interview.
A second strength is that the Clinical interview focuses very much on what is unique about the client and treats them as an individual.
Weaknesses
Each interviewer would have a slightly different approach to follow-up questions, so it would be difficult to compare findings.
The interviewer would need to be very experienced because the questions they ask (and the way they ask them) may affect the kind of answers given.
Case Studies
In the psychodynamic approach, these are studies focused on an individual, though other approaches do case studies on a single family, one school or a single event. A case study could contain interview records, discussions with other family members and therapy notes.
Strengths
First, they offer insight into unusual behaviour and rich details about the individual being studied.
Second,
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