Psychodynamic Approach
What can be asked?
1
a) Outline two assumptions of the biological approach (4)
b) Describe Selye’s General Adaptation Syndrome as an explanation of stress (8)
2.
Describe how the biological approach has been applied to one therapy (12)
3.
a) Evaluate two strengths of the approach (6)
b) Evaluate two weaknesses of the approach (6)
4.
Compare and contrast the biological and psychodynamic approaches in terms of
similarities and differences (12)
5.
Explain and evaluate the methodology used by the biological approach (12)
Psychodynamic Approach
The
Psychodynami
c
Approach
Psychodynamic Approach
Introduction
The psychodynamic approach is one of the older approaches to psychology; some would say
it’s where it all kicked off! Originating from the start of the 19 th century, the most important
man surrounding this pioneering area of psychology is Dr Sigmund Freud.
Freud’s work mainly comes from talking to his patients, hearing their problems and thinking
about the underlying problems, rather than those we can physically see.
Assumptions of the Psychodynamic approach
1. The importance of the unconscious mind
Freud stated that our mind is made up of three parts. The conscious mind is what we are
always aware of and what we are currently thinking about. Preconscious is the part of our
mind that hold memories, we can access this if we try.
Finally, the unconscious; this is the deepest part of our
mind, where we can not access without the help of a
psychiatrist. It holds all our deep and dark motives, fears,
wants. Our unconscious thoughts sometimes surface in our
dreams or in ‘slips of the tongue’.
Freud said most of our mental activity is unconscious and he
illustrated this by comparing the mind to an iceberg, most
of which is under the surface.
2. The importance of early relationships.
In Freud’s theory, there is a close relationship between childhood experiences and adult
functioning; so who we are as an adult is a result of how things went in childhood!
Relationships with parents are particularly important; it is them who get’s us through our
developmental stages, and they will ultimately shape our progression in these stages.
Psychodynamic Approach
Freud’s theory of personality development:
Freud had vast ideas of how personality develops through childhood. In psychology,
personality can be defined as the aspects of behaviour that varies from one person to
another, but which remain consistent within the individual.
What did Freud mean by personality?
Freud said that our personality is made up of three aspects; the id, ego and superego.
Draw your id, ego and superego
We constantly have to make decisions, how we make theses decisions and the decisions we
make all depend on the resolution between our id, ego and superego.
Exercise: What would each say if…we found a wallet in the street?
Id Ego Superego –
Psychodynamic Approach
Theory continued: How our personality develops;
psychosexual stages:
Freud suggested that our personality develops throughout our childhood and particular
aspects of our personality are deeply rooted in the experiences we have during this
development. He identified 5 stages of development.
STAGE
AGE
WHAT HAPPENS DURING THIS STAGE?
Id is present from birth
Libido focus: mouth
ORAL
STAGE
0-1 YRS
Traits if successful stage:
Traits if unsuccessful stage:
Ego develops
Libido focus: bottom
ANAL
STAGE
1-3 YRS
Traits if successful stage:
Traits if unsuccessful stage:
Superego develops.
Libido focus: genitals
PHALLIC
STAGE
Children become aware that they are left out of some aspects of the parents lives, e.g. not being
allowed to their bed anymore. This results in Oedipus complex.
3-6 YRS
Oedipus complex: a rivalry relationship develops between child and father for the affection of
mother. The child unconsciously wishes to have sex with mother and kill his father. However Father
threatens castration and the boy fears him. This must be resolved; the superego forms and allows the
boy to internalise his father, meaning the boy becomes like his father.
Traits if parents are harsh during this stage:
By the end of this stage, personality is largely formed.
LATENCY
STAGE
7 TO
PUBERTY
Resting stage.
Earlier stages are revisited during this stage.
The more that goes wrong in the first 3 stages; the more difficult adolescents will be.
GENITAL PUBERTY
STAGE TO 18 YRS
Psychodynamic Approach
Case Study of Little Oedipus: Little Hans (1909)
Freud used the case studies of Little Hans to provide evidence for
the Oedipus complex. At the age of 5, Hans was bought to Freud
because he was suffering from anxiety, a phobia of horses and was
worried that this mother was going to leave him. Hans liked getting
into bed with his parents and cuddling up with his mum, Freud
analysed this to represent Hans struggling to over come the
Oedipus complex. The fear of horses was said to be a
representation of Han’s father, in particular the black reins around
the mouth symbolising his fathers beard and moustache and the
blinkers symbolising his round rimmed glasses.
Hans symptoms improved after two dreams. The first one involved
a plumber fitting Hans with a bigger bum and penis like his dads,
and the second dreaming that Hans was married to his mother and
they had had children together.
Freud interpreted this as Hans overcoming the Oedipus complex.
TIP: This is background for the phallic stage of
psychosexual personality development, if you
are asked to explain how Freud described
personality development, be sure to include
this as evidence.
Psychodynamic Approach
Applying the Psychodynamic Approach to therapy
What are the aims of Psychodynamic therapy?
TIP: In the exam, you will be
asked to describe dream
analysis. However, to gain full
marks in a question about
therapy you must link it back
to the assumptions of the
approach.
1. Catharsis
2. Insight
Therapy: Dream Analysis
Freud famously called dreams ‘the royal road to
the unconscious mind’. He believed that dreams
perform a very important psychological function;
that dreams……
Freud suggested that behind the scene and story
of a dream, there is likely to be an underlying
meaning.
There are two parts to our dreams:
Manifest content: This is what we actually see in our dream; the happy story,
Example:
Latent content: This is the underlying meaning of the dream, what the unconscious is trying
to show us.
Example:
Psychodynamic Approach
The process of turning the latent content into the
manifest content is called Dreamwork.
Dreamwork is important because it allows us to
sleep while we are dreaming about something
that normally would be so exciting that it would
wake us up!
There are four processes involved in dream work…
1: Displacement takes place when we change one person or object into someone or
something else.
2: Condensation
3: Symbolisation
4: secondary elaboration
Dream interpretation can be an important technique in psychodynamic therapy. Of course,
not everyone remembers their dreams or wishes to talk about them in therapy. However
they can reveal things about the mental state of an individual e.g. what they want to
happen in their lives, what is worrying them, what may have happened in their past or an
underlying aggressive personality?
Psychodynamic Approach
The Wolf Man’s dream:
Between 1920 and 1914, Freud treated ‘the wolf man’ for depression and
psychological dependency on enemas. In therapy, he reported a dream he had had
when he was 4 years old, in which he awoke terrified to see white wolves with fluffy
tails in a tree outside his window staring at him.
As a toddler, he had awoken at 5am and looked through the bars of his cot and
watched his parents having sex ‘doggy style’. The time was significant as in adulthood
his depression was generally worse at that time. Freud’s interpretation was that the
wolves represented wolf man’s parents, while the window represented the bars of the
cot. Wolves made good symbols of his parents because of the linguistic associations
between wolves and ‘doggy style’. Freud further interpreted that the wolf man was
gay and that the dream expressed his wish to perform a sex act in that position.
Dora’s dream:
At the age of 16, Dora had had a friends father make sexual advances towards her. Her
father refused to believe her. She began to have a reoccurring dream where her father
woke her in the night, telling her the house was on fire. Her mother wanted to go back
and save the jewel case but her father refused.
‘jewel case’ was often a term used to describe female genitals. Freud’s interpretation
was that Dora felt her own jewel case was in danger but her father had failed to help
her.
Exam skills: How does dream analysis link back to the assumptions of
the approach?
1. The importance of the unconscious mind…
TIP: You must link therapy back to
an assumption of the approach,
otherwise you will be caped at 6/12
marks.
Psychodynamic Approach
The methodology of the Psychodynamic Approach
Clinical case studies:
Freud’s main method of investigation was to develop a case study of his patient. It is
traditional for psychodynamic therapists to stick with this method.
There are thousands of case studies in books and journals; they are used for several
purposes:
1) To give insight into the experience of people with particular conditions
2) To train and prepare new therapists
3) To provide evidence for using techniques and therapies on patients
A case study is an in depth study of one person or a very small group, who has a rare or
unusual disorder or phobia.
Q) Can you think of any case studies you have learnt about so far?
Data is usually gathered from conversations between therapist and patient; however we can
conduct observations and psychometric tests.
Q) What are psychometric tests?
Case studies generally follow the same pattern when they are written up:





Patients background and family history
Description of patients previous and current symptoms
Treatment / therapy
Follow up meeting or therapy
Evaluation of the case study (what was successful and what was not)
Psychodynamic Approach
Evaluation of clinical case studies:
Strength:
Weakness:
Strength:
Weakness:
Psychodynamic Approach
Clinical interviews:
Clinical interviews are conducted individually and face to face. When interviews are for
research purposes, they are usually carried out in the patients own home. Typical when
interviews are for assessing the patient, they will take place in a clinical (surgery) setting.
Clinical interviews have a number of predetermined questions, which are asked in a
particular order. These make up the interview schedule. This ensures the interviewer get the
information they need from that patient.
However, patients do have the opportunity to speak freely and can ask the interviewer
questions.
Evaluation of clinical interviews:
Strength:
Weakness:
Strength:
Weakness:
Psychodynamic Approach
Evaluation of the Psychodynamic Approach
Strengths:
1. It has a practical value as a therapy…
2. It has good explanatory power…
Weaknesses:
1. It is not a scientific approach
It is based on questionable methods such as case studies and interviews…
Many psychodynamic ideas are hard to test…
Other points to make:
1. Determinism
The psychodynamic approach does not take one specific side to determinism and freewill.
Freud said that we will go through 5 psychosexual stages and that we will be controlled by
our unconscious. However, Freud did say that once we have psychotherapy, such as dream
analysis, we can over come the demands of our unconscious and become ‘free-men’.
2. Nature Vs. Nurture
Nature:
- 5 psychosexual stages
- Oedipus complex
- id, ego and superego development
Nurture:
-how our parents treat us during psychosexual development will shape our successes
and fixations, and determine our adult personality.
Psychodynamic Approach
Nature Vs Nurture:
Determinism:
Key issues
and
debates
Reductionism:
Psychology as a science: