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Psychodynamic Approach To Human Behavior

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Evaluate the psychodynamic perspective to human behavior

The psychodynamic perspective is a theory in psychology deriving from the work of Sigmund Freud. It focuses heavily on the unconscious mind and the fears, wishes and fantasies that are stored there. Sigmund Freud’s version also states that virtually all human behavior is motivated by sexual and aggressive urges and that the experiences we have as a child are what form our personality as adults. According to this perspective mental disorders arise from repressed conflicts that are stored in the unconscious and they can be treated by psychoanalysis. The goal of psychoanalysis is essentially that the patients become aware of their unconscious conflicts through free association and interpretation …show more content…

Before his revolutionary principles the treatment of mentally sick patients were outright scary and the thought of unconscious thoughts and wishes was ridiculous. Freud introduced a new kind of treatment for mentally sick patients, namely psychoanalysis or “the talking cure”. When studying his patients, Freud became convinced that emotional experiences in early childhood could create impulses that became trapped in the unconscious and were the reasons for mental disorders. He was treating his patients by trying to make them aware of these memories by, for example, letting them talk completely freely about whatever they wanted, something he called free association. This form of treatment has been one of the cornerstones for the development of psychotherapy and has improved the lives of many. One example of psychoanalysis is the case of Anna O. She was one of Freud’s first and most important patients involved in the development of psychoanalysis. Anna O suffered from a range of unexplainable symptoms such as disturbances in hearing, sight and speech, paralysis of the arms and legs and aquaphobia (fear of water). After numerous sessions she was able to trace back each of the symptoms to a traumatic experience in her childhood. Once she had done that and discussed the memory the symptoms curiously …show more content…

It can be likened to an iceberg, with the largest part, the unconscious, rooted deep in the depths of the sea. In the unconscious the ‘Id’ resides. The ‘Id’ is the primitive, biological part of the mind where our deepest fears and wishes, along with hidden memories etc., are lodged. It is also the source of psychic energy, which is created by the aggressive and sexual drives that motivate all of our behavior, according to Freud. Because it hasn’t been influenced by the outside world, it can create impulses without any regards to what social situations we are

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Key Elements Of The Psychodynamic Approach

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The psychodynamic theory aims to treat mental health disorders by looking at the interaction of conscious and unconscious elements of a client. By using these methods, the client is able to understand their repressed fears and conflicts as they are brought into the conscious mind. The key elements of this theory include the importance of the unconscious mind and how this might influence one's behaviour and how this can be used to address mental health conditions. The theory states our behaviour is based on our past experiences, which is why tapping into the unconscious is important to understand all past experiences and repressed feelings and memories.

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Psychodynamic Perspective Strengths

312 Words | 2 Pages

Strengths of the Psychodynamic Perspectives: The first strength of the psychodynamic perspective is that it provides explanations for all the different types of behaviours. For example, personality and gender. Another strength is that the evidence that Freud provided was gathered by using case studies therefore lots of detail was given. Other strengths include that it allowed the development of techniques, these were used to access the unconscious, the dream analysis and the psychoanalysis.

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The Psychodynamic Model (or psychoanalytic psychotherapy) is a form of therapy that is built to help clients understand their emotions, feelings, and behavior patterns, so that clients might be able to understand themselves at a higher level and be able to consciously make a better decision for themselves, and how a person’s childhood might have affected their life in later years. I will be discussing the history behind the psychodynamic theory, going more in-depth with the model itself, explaining what it’s used for, and discussing some of the theories that follow alongside the psychodynamic model. The book explains that the “basic personality, developmental processes, and interpersonal relationship,” (Edwards, pg. 70) are the focus interest

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The DSM-5 Summary

594 Words | 3 Pages

58-68. This book analyses Freudian’s psychoanalysis. Burrow realized that Freud’s psychoanalysis was based only on observations. The purpose of Freud’s psychoanalysis is to help patients find a mental place where they can live a healthy life.

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Psychodynamic Theory Vs Social Learning Theory

856 Words | 4 Pages

Freud was inspired by this theory and believed that the mind has many flows. One of the strengths of psychodynamic intervention for is its capacity to identify underlying issues such as resentment and anger that may have their genesis in early childhood familial experiences. Secondly, psychodynamic therapy "places heavy emphasis on patients ' relationships and interpersonal experience" (Shedler, 2010, para.

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The Great Gatsby Psychoanalytic Analysis Essay

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1. The psychoanalytic analysis in general Psychoanalytic criticism was developed by Austrian neurologist and the father of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud. His theory is based on conscious and unconscious functioning, stages of growth, developments in human behavior and normal and abnormal experiences. If we apply some psychoanalytic techniques like flashbacks, childhood memories and regression, we can uncover the hidden meanings, motivations, repressed dreams and wishes within the text. Major principles of Freud’s theory are the models of human psyche, the psychosexual stages, defense mechanism, the Oedipus complex, dreams and dream symbols.

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Advantages And Disadvantages Of Pharmacotherapy

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Psychotherapy has its origins in psychoanalysis, also known as the “talking cure” that was first developed by Sigmund Freud.7 The term psychodynamic refers to the “forces of the mind that are in motion”.8 Freud coined the term psychodynamic when he realised that the mind was an ever-changing system, roiling with constantly moving energised elements. Most of the activities of these mental elements occurred out of the awareness, which Freud described as unconscious. Freud postulated that these unconscious mental activities could affect one’s conscious thoughts, feelings and behaviour.8 Psychodynamic psychotherapy is,

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The Five Stages Of Psychoanalysis

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Psychoanalysis is a method of therapy that originated by famous Austrian physician, Sigmund Freud. Psychoanalysis studies the mind, and treating the mental and emotional disorders by using techniques such as free association, dream interpretation and analysis of transference to investigate the underlying motives of unconscious minds. According to Lapsley, D. K., & Stey, P.C. (2012) Encyclopedia of Human Behavior (Second edition), one of the major concepts of psychoanalytic therapy is the construction of human personality, which consists of id, ego and superego. Id is the newborn’s reservoirs and it is instinctual driven.

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Examples Of Psychobiography

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Greenberg (1986) believes Freud’s case studies do not place enough stress on revealing the outcome of the treatment and that Freud’s aim was more to illustrate his theoretical points (p.240). In cases, Greenberg asserts that many of the presented cases would not even be considered acceptable examples of psychoanalysis and, in short, that virtually all of the cases studies had basic shortcomings (p.240). Furthermore, many other powerful criticisms about Freud inaccurate and subsequently flawed evidence have been published. These critics contend that Freud’s evidence is flawed due to the lack of an experiment, the lack of a control group, and the lack of observations that went unrecorded (Colby, 1960, p.54).

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Psychoanalysis was first introduced by Sigmund Freud and is now known as classical psychoanalysis. The theory, as defined by Sigmund Freud, is the dynamic between underlying forces that determine behavior and personality. He stressed the importance of human sexuality, childhood experiences, and the unconscious processes. However, his theory was seen as misogynistic and narrow focused. Consequently, classical psychoanalysis was criticized and rejected by many scholars.

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Core Philosophy Of The Psychoanalytic Theory

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Recognizing the division of personality in the,”ID”Ego”, and Super ego and that the unconscious is an important part of who we are and noting that anxiety plays a big function in how one reacts to the world at large and highlighting Freud’s theory on defense mechanism to help one cope with such anxieties. Core Philosophy of the Therapeutic Approach The most important underlying ideas relating to the psychoanalytic theory was mainly influenced by Sigmund Freud, one of the most famous names in Psychology, his Psychoanalytic Theory formed the bases of many current psychoanalytic theories. He was the first to discuss the unconscious mind and its role in human behaviour. Freud believed that there were three levels consciousness the first he labeled s the unconscious mind which exist outside of an individual’s awareness at all times.

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Sigmund Freud's Theory Of The Unconscious Mind Analysis

1903 Words | 8 Pages

Introduction The Austrian physician, Sigmund Freud, created a set of psychotherapeutic and psychological theories called ‘psychoanalysis’ as well as derivative works of Josef Breuer and others. He claimed that his psychoanalytical theories was a contribution to science. He re-established the idea that dream had meanings, and that we can discover the meaning through the work of dream interpretation.

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Limitations Of Psychoanalytic Therapy

1590 Words | 7 Pages

Psychoanalytic Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) is reflected as the forefathers of psychology and founder of psychoanalysis. Based on Freud’s theories, psychoanalytic therapy is a type of treatment that tends to observe at the background from early childhood to perceive if these situations have affected the individual’s life, or to current issues. (Counselling Directory, 2014) This therapy discovers how the unconscious mind empowers thoughts and behaviors, with the purpose of offering insight and resolution to the person seeking therapy. This form of therapy is a long-term treatment whereby it can take duration up to weeks, months or even years depending on the complexity of the patient being explored.

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Sigmund Freud's Theory Of Psychoanalysis

909 Words | 4 Pages

However, while the term “psychoanalysis” was first conceived in 1896 the techniques used in it originated almost a year earlier. The concept of this practice first began when Freud and his colleague, Josef Breuer, started using the psychoanalytic technique, free association, with their clients. Free Association is “a method of exploring the unconscious in which the person relaxes and says whatever comes to mind, no matter how trivial or embarrassing” (Myers). Freud started recognizing that during these sessions when his clients “expressed random thoughts associated with specific queries, he could uncover hidden material from the unconscious mind” (Manger). Freud then theorized that the amount of strain experienced while enduring this process was correlated to the importance of the repressed material.

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The Three Types Of Psychoanalysis

1804 Words | 8 Pages

Psychoanalysis is a system of psychotherapy derived from the discoveries of Sigmund Freud. He believed that a person is driven by sexual and aggression impulses. There are several key concepts to psychoanalysis therapy, those of which include, The Human Nature, The Unconscious Mind, Anxiety, Defense-Mechanism and Psychosexual Stages. Individuals begin to form an approach or an outlook of life on their own during the early first 6 years of their life. Human nature is already determined at birth.

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