Have you ever had a bad day at school or work and taken your frustration out on someone at home? Or perhaps you have a crush on someone but find yourself insisting that your friend has that crush, not you. Both of these are common situations that find their roots in what we call the psychodynamic approach in psychology, and believe it or not; your unconscious mind is the driving force here! Let's explore this concept further.
- We will begin by talking about the psychodynamic approach in psychology.
- Next, we will discuss the assumptions of the psychodynamic approach.
- We will then look at some examples of the psychodynamic approach.
- Next, we will talk about the evaluation of the psychodynamic approach.
- And finally, we will explore the strengths and weaknesses of the psychodynamic approach.
Psychodynamic Approach Psychology
When we think of 'psychodynamic', it's likely that the first thing we think about is Sigmund Freud. But what really is the psychodynamic approach, and why did Freud introduce it? Let's discuss this below.
The psychodynamic approach to psychology emphasises our unconscious thoughts and aims to understand how these thoughts conflict with our experiences, i.e., biological, societal and those from early childhood.
You might be wondering how our unconscious can contribute to our conscious behaviour. Well, Freud believed that our unconscious mind is an area where some of our deepest feelings and traumas hide, yet they still actively interact with our daily lives, thereby contributing to our behaviour in the present day.
Psychodynamic means' mind energy' or 'mind in conflict'.
It is based on the idea that every person has different personality parts (psyche) and conflicting interests, and they may not be consciously aware of what they want. The psychodynamic approach brings us a different perspective.
Fig. 1 - The unconscious mind is the driving force for our behaviours, emotions and thoughts
Psychodynamic Approach Assumptions
The psychodynamic approach might bring us a different perspective, but what is this perspective based on? What are its assumptions? Let's discuss some of these below.
Freud suggested that the reason for our behaviour and our emotions is all down to our unconscious mind - we store information from our past in that area, and it stays hidden away, but it still contributes to our conscious thoughts and actions.
Freud talked about the mind by using the metaphor of the iceberg. It might be a metaphor you've come across in your study of psychology, but let's recap what it is.
An iceberg is a piece of ice submerged underwater, with the most important part at the bottom and just a fraction showing through the top.
That's great, but how does that relate to us as individuals? Well, according to Freud, our mind is an iceberg - the most important part is our unconscious, the one which is hidden away, and the visible part is our conscious.
Our behaviour might result from our unconscious, but what comprises our unconscious mind? Is it just the thoughts we don't want to accept, or is that and so much more? According to Freud, our childhood experiences - the good, the bad and the ugly - form the majority of our unconscious, shaping our personalities and making us who we are; maybe this is why we're all so different!
Psychodynamic Approach Assumptions: Behaviour is Determined
The psychodynamic approach insists that all behaviour has an underlying cause in the unconscious. With this being said, Freud believed that our unconscious translates into our consciousness with the use of 'Freudian slips'.
A Freudian slip is an error in memory, thought or behaviour linked to the unconscious mind. It can also be known as a 'slip of the tongue'.
When a Freudian slip occurs, we often express what we're really thinking about and do so by saying something we didn't intend to. Since these slips provide insight into our deeper thoughts, Freud believed that there are no mistakes or errors and that every behaviour means something.
Psychodynamic Approach Assumptions: Tripartite Personality
Freud assumed that an individual's personality was divided into three parts, interacting with each other and contributing to our behaviour. These are:
THE ID | THE EGO | THE SUPEREGO |
| Operates in the most primitive parts of our personality. | Mediates between the impulsive demands of the id and the reality of the external world. | Shaped by societal values and morals. |
| Based on the pleasure principle and demands immediate gratification regardless of the circumstances. | Must compromise between the impulsive needs of the id and the moralistic demands of the superego. | Characterised by the 'inner voice' that lets us know when we have 'broken the rules, causing feelings of guilt. |
| It contains the libido and is unconscious. | Part of the conscious mind. | Both conscious and unconscious. |
Defence mechanisms are activated when triggered by the ego. To deal with the conflict, it needs support from the other two parts of the personality: the id and superego.
These mechanisms tend to operate unconsciously and work by distorting reality. The ego has to deal with the natural world and all its problems. Defence mechanisms stop the person from becoming aware of any unpleasant thoughts and feelings associated with traumatic events.
There are several defence mechanisms, but let's look at some common ones below.
It could be that you've experienced some form of trauma when you were younger, but you have no recollection of it - chances are, this is a form of repression.
Repression is when your mind subconsciously blocks any information that you consider unpleasant.
Repressing your emotions is often a way to escape them and not let them present themselves in your conscious thoughts and actions.
Have you ever been in a situation where something unpleasant happens, and you deny it entirely?
Denial is a form of avoidance and occurs when a person is not keen on accepting reality.
By avoiding unpleasant situations, individuals may believe they will be protected from painful feelings associated with the event.
Have you ever had a difficult day at school, gone home and lashed out at your sibling for something that shouldn't have been a big deal? Maybe, maybe not.
Displacement arises when a person feels unable to express difficult or hostile feelings at the time and therefore might transfer them to a helpless person or object.
Defence mechanisms are our body's way of protecting ourselves from feelings and situations it knows are unpleasant and/or disturbing. While we all know they exist, we may not consciously be engaging in them - they do occur subconsciously, after all!
Psychodynamic Approach Examples
In addition to suggesting the structure of personality, Freud introduced the 'psychosexual stages of development'. Let's briefly look at the stages below.
| STAGE | CHARACTERISTICS |
| Oral stage | Occurs between birth and two years old. The focus at this stage is the experience of pleasure perceived through the mouth. |
| Anal stage | Occurs between two and three years old. It is the stage when the child becomes aware of reality outside the home and societal rules. The focus at this stage is the anus. |
| Phallic stage | Occurs between three and six years old. This is the stage when the superego develops. It is an important moment for overcoming unconscious desires directed to the mother for boys and the father for girls. The focus at this stage is the genitals. |
| Latency stage | It starts around six years old and lasts until puberty. The sexual energy from the previous stage becomes latent so that the child can focus on the world around them, i.e., the focus of this stage is hidden. |
| Genital stage | This happens after puberty; this stage culminates with the psychosexual energy taking place in the genitals to be directed towards the formation of adult relationships. |
According to Freud, abnormal behaviours can develop if a fixation develops in any of the above stages. Some of these behaviours include the following -
Obsessive hand-washing or counting footsteps.
Smoking, nail-biting, and sarcasm.
Agoraphobia.
Hoarding.
Sexual compulsions.
Smoking can be linked to a fixation during the oral stage of psychosexual development, or nail-biting may occur due to an anxiety-inducing childhood event.
Freud introduced techniques like dream analysis and group analysis psychotherapy to treat these behaviours.
Psychodynamic Approach Evaluation
Nowadays, Freud's theories are considered the foundation for developing the practice of psychology and for a deeper understanding of how cultures operate socially. The evidence for his theories is based on clinical research rather than empirical.
However, its scientific trustworthiness is questionable. Not many people would deny the existence of unconscious drives and defence mechanisms. In fact, psychoanalysis is still used to treat patients with profound psychological issues. The existential concepts behind the Freudian approach have allowed it to maintain some hold on psychotherapeutic techniques.
Along with Freud's theory, he has shared with the world a new style of therapy: psychoanalysis. He applied a series of techniques designed to access the unconscious mind.
Strengths and Weaknesses of the Psychodynamic Approach
Now that we have understood what the psychodynamic approach is, and have got an insight into some of its theories, let's discuss some strengths and weaknesses.
Strengths
The manner that Freud related to childhood experiences and adult characteristics is globally accepted. Freudian psychoanalysis is still in contemporary use.
Freud's theory of psychoanalysis assumes that much of mental life is unconscious and that past experiences, especially in early childhood, shape how an individual feels and behaves throughout life.
Weaknesses
Freud established the psychodynamic approach highlighting the importance of the unconscious mind related to behaviour. However, the psychodynamic approach is not considered scientific. It examines many concepts/theories that cannot be empirically tested—relying on subjective interpretation.
Evidence for the psychodynamic approach is most often based on case studies, i.e., the case of Little Hans. The critique here is that case studies are observations of one person in great detail - their fears, thoughts and actions. Therefore, studying one person and trying to generalise the reasoning behind the problem to the greater population is not accurate.
The Case of Little Hans
When Little Hans was four years old, he witnessed an accident wherein a horse collapsed in the street, after which he developed a fear of horses. Freud used his stages of psychosexual development to resolve this very fear. After Little Hans turned three, he developed an interest in what he called 'widdlers' - his penis and that of other males, including animals. When his mother noticed this, she threatened to get him castrated unless he stopped his obsession.
Additionally, when his mother gave birth to a little girl, Hans experienced jealousy and wanted his sister to drown in the bath.
Freud's explanation for both events was that Hans was in the phallic stage and had developed the Oedipus complex, which meant he feared castration and wanted his mother all to himself.
Later, Watson and Skinner established the behaviourist approach in 1913. They criticised Freud, arguing that true scientific psychology should restrict itself to phenomena that can be observed directly and measured. They believed that behaviour is environmentally determined by conditioning, meaning that behaviour is something we can learn.
Psychodynamic Approach - Key takeaways
- The psychodynamic approach emphasises our unconscious thoughts and aims to understand how these thoughts conflict with our experiences.
- The assumptions of the psychodynamic approach are unconscious motives, childhood experiences, determined behaviour and the tripartite personality.
- Some common defence mechanisms are repression, displacement and denial.
- According to Freud, if a fixation develops in any of his psychosexual stages, abnormal behaviours can develop, i.e., excessive hand-washing, nail-biting, etc.
- While Freud's theories are considered the foundation for developing the practice of psychology and for a deeper understanding of how cultures operate socially, their scientific trustworthiness is questionable.
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