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Sigmund Freud's Psychodynamic Approach

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Freud’s Psychodynamic Approach
Over the years, many psychologists have projected theories that attempt to explain the backgrounds of personalities. One set of theories stems from the work of a doctor in Vienna, Austria, Sigmund Freud. Freud first proposed the theory of psychoanalysis during the 1890’s. These theories are known as psychodynamic theories. Even though many divergent psychodynamic theories exist, they all stress unconscious motivations and desires, in addition to the importance of childhood experiences in shaping their personalities. Freud also proposed there were ways that we dealt with those theories called defense mechanisms. He believed we must learn to deal with the anxiety that comes from sources in the external world and conflict within one’s own mind.
In the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, Freud established a method that he called psychoanalysis and he used it to treat mental disorders. He shaped his theory of psychoanalysis by observing his patients. According to this psychoanalytic theory, personalities can arise because of efforts to resolve struggles between unconscious aggressive and sexual impulses and societies demands to confine these impulses.
Freud described the personality as having three major components: the id, the ego, and the superego. The id represents the unconscious, which contains thoughts, feelings, desires, and memories that people have no awareness of, but that impact every part of their day-to-day lives. The id is the portion of
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