Psychodynamic Theory Assignment Help : Psychodynamic Approach

The human mind is a maze of emotions, layers of it intertwining to shape our personalities and make us dynamic. As a survey states, humans only use as little as 10% of their brain consciously. The rest of the human mind remains an enigma. Time and again, psychologists and philosophers have tried to decode the human brain. From Emmanuel Kant to Carl Jung to Sigmund Freud, each has presented their perspective and study of the human mind and how we think. One such perspective is the Freudian theory of the psychodynamic approach.

So, how does Freud dissect the human mind and find out the behavioural patterns and personality as per the psychodynamic theory? Let us delve deeper into the innermost recesses of the untapped genius of humans with Freud.

What is the Psychodynamic Approach all about?

Sigmund Freud’s treatment approach based on his psychodynamic theory is called the talking theory, which involves releasing repressed emotions in a human mind to bring mental peace and composure. To put it in simpler words, the psychodynamic approach conveys what happens within the human mind at the subconscious or unconscious level. You should know about cultural capital.

This involves assessing a person’s life choices and asking why someone chose option A over B. By delving into the possible reasons for their answers, one gets to unearth some complications underneath our mind’s surface.

Breaking into the Psychodynamic Approach to Personality

The psychodynamic approach can be divided into five major sections depending on our ages. According to Sigmund Freud, every person passes through various stages – from infancy to puberty - based on specific erogenous zones.

As Freud said, a person develops a healthy personality only after going through each of the five stages of the psychodynamic approach. If a person misses any one of these stages, they develop a fixated or unstable personality as an adult. As per contemporary psychodynamic therapy, here are the five stages along with the age groups.

Oral Stage (Birth to 18 Months)

After children are born, they are physically drawn to oral pleasures, in which biological developments also play an important role. This is justified since babies can also suck and gulp when they are 18 months older.

Any hindrances in this nascent stage lead a grownup to derive oral pleasures way into adulthood. One may develop habits: chewing nails, smoking, consuming alcohol, being pessimistic, or overly reliant on others. More details about rational choice theory.

Anal Stage (18 months to 3 Years)

During this stage, the focus is on eliminating body waste and learning how to regulate such habits to meet social standards. Any hindrances in the stage or an unhealthy fixation lead to OCD behavioural issues, with an obsession with perfectionism and organisation.

Phallic Stage (Ages 3 to 6 Years)

In the phallic stage, a child automatically focuses on their genitals. While nothing noteworthy has been mentioned about young girls, Freud has termed the Oedipus Complex for boys. According to the neurologist, young boys develop sexual desires for their mothers and abhorrence towards their fathers.

As is evident, a fixation with this stage can lead to uncertainty about sexual deviance or identity. Know what is allocative efficiency.

Latency Stage (Ages 6 to puberty)

At this stage, the sexual desires of a person are mostly suppressed.

Genital Stage (Puberty Onwards)

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In the final stage, an individual's attention shifts to people of the opposite sex or as per the person’s sexual preference.

Psychodynamic Theory - Id, Ego, Superego & Defences

In his 1920 essay "Beyond the Pleasure Principle," the Austrian neurologist divided the human psyche into three parts: Id, Ego, and Superego. Here are the basic tenets of Id, Ego, Superego and Defence.

The Id:As per Freud, every human has an unconscious, demanding and impulsive layer in our psyche that has helped us meet basic needs as children. Id focuses on the pleasure theory, signifying how we fulfil every need and desire for instant gratification.
The Ego: Ego is based on Freud’s reality theory, which recognises that our Id cannot get what it needs always. The Ego works as the sentinel that allows our Id to get what it desires occasionally to compensate for the gap.
The Super-Ego: By the time we humans are five, we develop another aspect in our psyche called the Super-Ego. The Super-Ego can be termed the spiritual leader of the human mind, rebuking us and telling us we should always walk on the right path, irrespective of the situation. Colloquially, we use the word conscience to often talk about our Super-Ego.

Psychodynamic Theory in Social Work: Defence Mechanisms

As per Sigmund Freud, the three parts of the human psyche are at odds with each other due to their different primary objectives. While a person's Id eggs on to meet a need whichever way possible, the Ego stops occasionally but not always. Finally, our Sper-Ego steps in when the conflict is too much to handle.

However, there have been times when the components of our psyche have failed at resolving the conflict. This is when we end up activating defensive mechanisms to defend our acts and choices. Get allied powers assignment help to solve your assignment papers.

The human mind comes up with six types of defence mechanisms. They are:

Repression, which pushes out disturbing or threatening thoughts from our consciousness by the Ego.
Denial, where the Ego omits or hinders the proper acceptance of disturbing or overwhelming experiences, leading someone far off from the reality
Projection, where our Ego plays the blame game to alleviate our anxiety and justifying our faulty actions
Displacement, where our Ego tricks us into behaving in a manner that is socially unacceptable to satisfy an impulse
Regression, where a person tends to travel backwards in development to cope with stress
Sublimation, where our Ego tricks us into fulfilling an instinct by acting in a socially acceptable manner on a replacement

The Psychodynamic Perspective of the Unconscious

Freud always gave a lot of focus to the unconscious aspect of the human mind. He used this theory to show how a person who cannot recall any of the painful memories suffered by him or her can later trace it back. This is because the memories are stored in our unconscious.

As per Freud’s study, our personalities do not take shape due to our conscious mind, as we barely remember the tip of the iceberg. As the neurologist puts it, our subconscious mind is like an alternate third dimension of our psyche. Although we are not fully aware of what our subconscious holds in store, we can retrieve memories and information from it when prompted. Read about fight or flight response.

Freud's psychotherapy approach can be pretty befuddling, as confusing as the human mind itself. If you cannot understand the layers of the psychodynamic approach, feel free to contact our experts for instant guidance. Learn more about smart objectives.

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