Essay on Critical Evaluation of the Psychodynamic Approach

Their teacher replies ‘ Because each has something different to offer to our understanding of behaviour, making each approach unique.’

Since adulthood, the structure of the development of personality current is observed under the terms of whether he or she passed with success the different psychosexual stages of childhood, youth and adulthood. Different mental illnesses are the result of a failure in the progression through the early childhood development (for example, - caught up in the “annals “of the stage), which in turn, translate into problems with the balance of the structure of the personality (the ego, the superego and the id). Some of the unconscious reasons for the majority of human behavior are sex and aggression. (Herkov, M. G. (2013, January 30). For example, perhaps the superego is much stronger than it should be and the ego is unable to always counteract its demands for

I primarily believe in the behavioral perspective. However, on the topic of obsessive compulsive disorder I find that I favor the psychodynamic perspective. OCD is classified as a long lasting disorder, in which a person has recurring thoughts and behaviors they feel need to be completed repetitively. I tend to favor the behavioral perspective because I agree with the idea that outside factors influence a persons responses and behaviors. Throughout childhood and even more on, one is constantly taught about their environment and they learn everything they need to know in life through this perspective. Whether that be conditioning a child as they grow, so that they are able to learn and differentiate good from bad through reward and punishment. To understanding why an individual acts a certain way and what

The ego must make a balance between the id and the superego; trying to satisfy our needs whilst not offending the superego. The ego sometimes uses defence mechanisms to remove problems. Some examples are:

Psychodynamic theorists believe that demanding parents might play a role in the development in this disorder. People with this disorder might consider their environment to be hostile because of their parents consistent and unreasonable demands. Some cognitive theorists believe that people with this disorder have broad maladaptive thoughts of people, such as “people will harm you if given the chance.” Biological theorists suggest that this disorder might have genetic causes.

During casual conversations I have often been quoted as stating” We are all a bunch of big kids”. This comment stems from my personal belief that adults are influenced during childhood experiences and these experiences greatly impact their adulthood. To elaborate in depth regarding my personal beliefs; I will examine the psychodynamic and developmental perspectives, how they relate to my personal life and reflect on how each perspective is been used in my professional life.

Susanna would benefit most from a psychodynamic treatment approach, with a specific emphasis on clarification, confrontation, and interpretation/transference interpretation. As highlighted by McWilliams (1999), recurrent themes emerge within the therapy which constitute the client’s internal and external world. With this in mind, Susanna’s internal object relations would undoubtedly unfold in the relationship with the therapist. As Susanna evidences a lack of insight, it will be the therapist’s responsibility to clarify Susanna’s experiences for her. In this view, clarification refers to the reformulation of the patient’s verbalizations to convey a more coherent view of what is being communicated. The therapist may want to clarify what it was like in Susanna’s household growing up, and gather further information on Susanna’s romantic relationships. Clarifying sentiments might include “you stated that at times you felt loved by your mother, and hated at other times, but overall do you feel that your mother loves you?”

The Humanistic approach also focuses on positives, as it encourages the client to be aware of

Psychodynamic theories may vary in their individual descriptions of intrapsychic and psychosocial processes and forces, but most follow concepts from Freudian psycho-analysis. There are five main key concepts regarding the psychodynamic theory. The first, the importance of early childhood experiences in personality development. Second, the existence of unconscious and preconscious motivation, unconscious is the part of the mind that holds ideas, thoughts, and memories that we cannot access and bring into our conscious awareness (Canda, Chatterjee, and Robbins, 2012). In contrast, preconscious holds ideas, thoughts, and memories that we are not currently thinking of, but if we concentrate, we can bring those to our conscious part of mind (Canda,

Operant conditioning is when actions produce a positive or negative reinforcement, for example gambling and winning a load of money is a positive outcome so the individuals behaviour becomes more frequent as buying a scratch card will be associated with winning money; which is a reinforcement that may lead to a gambling addiction. Whereas negative reinforcement is when the individual is punished for their actions, their behaviour is less likely to be reinforced for example if an individual smokes or drinks and they fall ill they may be less likely to smoke or drink in the fear of falling ill again. However, the psychodynamic approach focuses on the mind in shaping personality and behaviour. Personality is made up of three components; id which

In my opinion, the psychodynamic theory makes most sense because it gives the background of sexual drive as far as the id, ego, and superego. Freud came up with a theory which explained the desire to want to do something and having balance. With this theory, most child molesters use their id and not their ego. They think about their wants and needs and not what is morally right. Also, cognitive distortion makes sense too because it breaks down the thoughts of a child molester. According to the research, molesters think if a person did not resist, then they wanted it and a lot of sexual offenders think like that by taking it as consent sex when it is not. For example, if a child just lays there and do not say stop they think the child must want

Often in the professional world occupations use different methodologies to guide people through their practice. As a social worker we are educated to use evidence based methods to provide a sound intervention or preventation process to help consumers address their barriers. In may practice as a social worker I would like to utilize both psychodynamic and cognitive behavior therapy when partnering with clients to address their barriers.

This case is so impressive to see the client as a holistic whole rather than a part. Individuals are regarded as being in movement towards goals. Motivation is to move towards the future. Adler defined “Individual Psychotherapy” to awaken the client’s innate “social interest” This psychotherapy consists of such steps as forming a relationship, investigating the client’s lifestyle, interpreting it to the client, and helping the client change in collaboration with the client (Wedding & Corsini, 2014). It was amazing to learn that the client, Roger, changed his orientation to life, others, and himself from viewing in the negative to accepting in a happier and more productive way through this psychotherapy.

Research into clinical psychotherapy has evolved since the period of World War II, as psychologists attempted to understand and treat soldiers who were affected from the terrific war experiences (Laurence, J. H., & Matthews, M. D. 2012). Study conducted by the American Psychological Association’s Psychological Assessment Work Group (PAWG) has proven the efficacy of psychological tests which are used in clinical assessments by discovering that psychological tests produce comparable validity results to medical tests such as mammography, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and electrocardiograms. They conclude that some psychological tests work well as medical tests in detecting the same illnesses such as dementia. Neuropsychological tests produce

The psychodynamic perspective, at the simplest, is the approach to psychology focussing on the conscious, unconscious, and subconscious processes and drives, and the interaction between them. The first use of the approach is widely credited to Breuer and Freud, who published Studies on Hysteria in 1895, cited by McLoed, 2007. Studies on Hysteria popularised the concept that hysteria, a condition that has now been separated into many distinct conditions, could be caused by a traumatic experience that did not integrate into a patient’s view of the world.