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Psychodynamic Theory And Contemporary Psychology

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Psychodynamics is a well-known field in modern culture, even to those who have never studied psychology. Psychodynamic theories have been massively influential on contemporary psychology, in a number of ways. It has inspired the work of many others, including those who disagreed with the theories, which encouraged them to develop their own. This essay will examine only a small number of the links between psychodynamic theories and contemporary psychology. It will look at how Freud 's theories have inspired the development of attachment theories. This essay will also examine how psychodynamic theories of the unconscious have evolved into contemporary psychology. Finally, it will consider how theorists who have disagreed with psychodynamic theories have developed their own new fields of psychology, and how they are applied today. Whether people support or reject psychodynamic theories, there is no doubt those theories have had a profound effect on contemporary psychology. One of the primary beliefs of Freud 's theory is that our childhood experience can have an impact on our behaviour and thoughts as an adult. Bowlby agreed with Freud 's theory and also believed that mental health issues could be linked back to experiences as children (Bowlby, 1956). Bowlby used this idea to develop his theory of attachment. Attachment theory is the belief that we innately develop an intense emotional bond to the primary caregiver. This relationship lays the foundation for future
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Since the ‘50s, Bowlby worked alone and with distinguished colleagues such as psychoanalyst James Robertson, ethologist/zoologist Robert Hinde and psychologist Mary Ainsworth on several different studies. Bowlby suggested that due to the attachment between children and their carers, children suffer loss when they are separated. Bowlby’s study with the ethologist Robert Hinde, inspired the idea that certain attachment behaviours have evolved as a survival mechanism (Bergen, 2008). The core of the theory today is that the quality of close relationships affects personality, emotional and social development not only in childhood but throughout the life of the individual (Howe, 2001). This suggests that attachment theory is effectively a biological, psychological and social theory of human development.

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