Psychodynamic Approach Associated with Sigmund Freud Slides 1-14 lesson 1

Why Freud is important…. Saw the importance of sex Saw the importance of childhood Created the first talking therapy

Sigmund Freud….associated with Unconscious Mind Freudian Slips Dreams Psychological defence mechanisms The structure of personality Psychosexual development

Can you identify a key assumption of The Cognitive approach The social approach

One Key assumption of the psychodynamic approach That a large part of the mind is ‘unconscious’ but it can affect our feelings, thoughts and behaviour

Other important assumptions The first 5 years of life are important to personality development All children pass through the same 5 stages, if issues remain unresolved in any of these stages it can lead to later personality problems Libido is sexual energy an instinctive energy. We are born with innate drives.

Consciousness: The Conscious State: Means all the mental processes that we are directly aware of at a given moment. Thoughts that are suitable for us to be aware of pass from the unconscious to the conscience mind.

Pre-conscious: Contains thoughts that can become conscious to us. Thoughts arising from the unconscious that may at a later stage become conscious are stored here.

Unconscious: This part of the mind is NOT accessible and contains our inner drives and repressed experiences. All thoughts start here Biological instincts originate from here including unacceptable sexual thoughts. It contains the Eros and Thanatos instincts including the Libido which can manifests into the sex drive. Thoughts that do not go into the pre-conscious must be actively repressed- this is a dynamic process, although we are unaware of it happening. (D)

Unconscious: Has no logic and makes no distinctions between reality and fantasy (carrying out sexual desires). Unconscious thoughts try to actively get though to or consciousness. Can use symbols such as in dreams. Can hold two conflicting thoughts at the same time- eg. Feeling love and hate . Influences behaviour in logical ways- or so Freud though- eg Freudian slips.

Revealing inner thoughts: Actively repressing inner thought takes up energy (psychic energy originates in the unconscious) Thought are sublimated i.e. channelled into other forms Freudian slips. Dreams Neurotic symptoms.

Freudian slips Things in our unconscious mind trying to slip into our consciousness, we substitute words for an indented one: eg: Organism or orgasm Love or hate However has been criticised- do all mistakes have relevance to inner emotions? See U tube clip

Psychodynamic theory is massive so read around this subject! Starting point is Brain pages 160 - 226

Specific reading Page 163-165 Page 185-195

Structural model of the Personality: ID: primitive part, contains energy to fulfil our instincts. e.g. Sexual and aggressive drives. Pleasure Principle. Defends conscious against displeasure. EGO: Contacts with the external world. Functions to satisfy ID’s needs. Reality Principle. SUPEREGO: Contains the ego-ideal which is a set of moral standards, it is the conscience which punishes bad behaviours and leads to guilt and anxiety

Id Super Ego Ego Personality

Conscious Preconscious Unconscious

The importance of early childhood experiences Key assumption 2 The importance of early childhood experiences

Psychosexual Stages Freud said all children go through these stages of development. The order cannot be changed At each stage the libido (inborn energy) is concentrated in different parts of the body. The child is driven to satisfy the libido since satisfaction gives pleasure. What happens during these stages affects the adult personality.

Psychosexual stages We are all hedonistic- that is we are driven to satisfy the instinctual demands of the ID Sources of pleasure are determined by the libido (life force) As a child moves through different stages of development (psychosexual stages) the sources of pleasure change

Psychosexual Development: Instinctual drives: Oral Stage Anal Stage Phallic Stage (Oedipus and Electra complex) Latency stage Genital stage

The Psychosexual Stages 1. The Oral stage –birth to about 18months 2. The Anal Stage 18 months-3years 3. The Phallic Stage 3-5 years 4. Latency 5years-puberty 5. Genital stage puberty onwards.

Stages: Each stage at a different time in development and is related to gratification of the ID form a different pleasure source. Driven by Instinctual drives: Thantos: death instinct, aggressive drives. Eros: life instinct, sex drive/libido.

Electra and Oedipus

Development of Sex and Gender and Morals A child’s sense of gender was said to develop during the Phallic stage of psychosexual development. Boys go through the Oedipus complex Girls go through the Electra complex. By the end of this stage children should know their sex and gender, and begin development of a conscience.

Oedipus Complex: BOYS: Awareness of penis. Attracted to mother- sexual. Competes with father for affection. Resents father and wishes him dead. Fears father as if he finds out might cut off his penis- Castration Complex. Resolved by identifying with father, represses love for mother.

Electra Complex: GIRLS: Notices no penis, believed already castrated. Turns to father as suffers Penis Envy. Blames mother for castration so fears mother. Fear of losing mother and symbolic gains of imitating mother (who father is attached to) represses love for father and identifies with mother. (Stop)

The Oedipus Complex Father 2. Son notices Father- Mother Sexual relationship Son desires Mother 3. Son becomes jealous, scared of Father. Begins to feel guilt Mother Son 1. Mother –Baby relationship

Resolution of the Complex Son realises that he cannot beat Father Instead he lessens his identification with the Mother and identifies with father. Through this he learns male behaviour, so that when he matures he can gain a female of his own. If this stage is not satisfied this could lead to…

Recap The Human Mind has three levels of consciousness. (Iceberg) The adult personality has three main parts.(Tripartite) All humans go through five ‘Psychosexual Stages’ of development. What happens in these stages can be seen in the adult personality.

The Adult Personality-Three Main Parts Superego Ego Child Id Baby These parts interact dynamically

The ego uses defence mechanisms when threatened by pressure from the Id and Superego.

Defence Mechanisms: Protect us from mentally disturbing, harmful thoughts- memories- experiences. Unconscious mind holds onto harmful thoughts by using defence mechanisms such as repression. These thoughts may stem form earlier life, such as abuse, or unresolved Oedipus complex and can effect us in later life.

Bad thought/Urge Help!! Stressed Ego! Intellectualise or Rationalise It Repress It Deny It Defence Mechanisms Displace It Project It

Is there any evidence for Defence Mechanisms? Denial Reaction formation Projection Regression Sublimation Displacement Repression Is there any evidence for Defence Mechanisms?

Adams et al 1996: Reaction Formation Reaction Formation means adopting a view that is the direct opposite of true feelings. Studied homophobic men watching gay porn. Measured aggression levels and sexual arousal using questionnaire, self reports and physiological measures

Results Adams et al 1996. No difference in aggression. No difference when viewing lesbians or heterosexual scenes. BUT 80% homophobic men were aroused when viewing gay scenes- compared to only 33% non-homophobic men. Evidence for defence mechanism against being gay.