FREUD’S PSYCHODYNAMIC THEORY AND THE RECENT APPROACH Essay

Freud’s psychodynamic theory was first introduced by Sigmund Freud. There are four key features to this theory and these are; Levels of the mind, Psychosexual stages and how they affect development, Parts of personality and defence mechanisms and why we use them.

Freud believed human behavior was not consciously controlled, and credited three parts in the mind to any psychological activity. These are called the unconscious, the preconscious and the conscious. Personality too was given three parts, the id, the super ego and the ego. Freud believed these parts in our mind have their individual parts to play in the way we go about life. He also stated the only way to work through conflicts that arise from our subconscious and unconscious mind is through dream analysis and psychoanalysis. Other key concepts in psychodynamic theory are the psychosexual stages of development, anxiety, defence mechanisms, and free association.

To begin, the psychodynamic theory is based on Freud’s psychoanalytic theory and primarily focuses on the role of the unconscious mind in the development of personality. The psychodynamic theory includes the idea that people have defense mechanisms. Psychological defense mechanisms are ways of dealing with anxiety through unconsciously distorting one’s perception of reality, such as denial and repression. In addition, sexual impulses play a large role in the psychodynamic theory. According to Freud, part of personality is outside of awareness, unconscious. The unconscious has difficulty retrieving material and is well below the surface of awareness. Also, the past is important in the psychodynamic theory. There are some advantages and disadvantages to this theory. For instance, the advantages are: psychodynamic theory recognizes the importance of childhood; other theorists after Freud have revised the approach to be less controversial, and this theory has been

Freud attempted to explain how the unconscious functions by dividing it into three structures, the id, ego, and superego. The id holds our primitive instincts that demand immediate gratification, because it operates on the pleasure principle (McLeod, 2010). Similarly, the ego also seeks pleasure. However, instead of seeking immediate gratification, the ego acts realistically in order to avoid potentially negative consequences that may arise. On the other hand, our superego represents our conscious. It encompasses the morals and values we learn by society and our parents as we go through the stages of

Freud divided the personality into the id, ego and super-ego. The id is home to animal urges, such as hunger or sexual desire. In babies the first facet of personality to develop is the id, they demand

The third and final element in the Freudian mind is the ego. The ego is our conception of ourself in relation to others. This is in contrast with the self-centered id. If one has a "strong ego" that person feels confident in dealing with others and can accept criticism. To have a "weak ego" is to need continual approval from others. The ego is very similar to the self-esteem concept. This is the part of the mind that develops from an awareness of social standards and is modified by contact with the social world. The ego is like the mature adult. When the id is saying, "I want that" and the superego is questioning what is right and wrong, the ego enters the equation and decides what to do. A mature ego will deny immediate pleasure in order to avoid any consequences.

In the past social worker focused on the use of psychodynamic theory in social work practice, but now it is said that this theory is no longer relevant to social work practice. Sigmund Freud psychodynamic theory looks at how human behavior and relationships are shaped by conscious and unconscious influences. For Freud, psychodynamic theory included psychoanalysis that was used a treatment to reveal the unconscious activity of an individual by making them consciously aware of it. Further, he believed that he could help people release bottled up emotions and negative experiences that could be the cause of anxiety and depression. Social construction that occurs because of a revolt effectively alters society as a whole is social worker relevancy

is aware of the id, and of the superego, and often finds the two in

The structure of the mind is explained that the human mind could be divided into three major parts, the conscious, the preconscious and the unconscious. The conscious mind represents the contents of the current awareness that focus on your attention at the moment. the preconscious mind is for thoughts and memories. the unconscious mind gathers all the memories, urges, and conflicts that are beyond awareness. The structure of personality consists of three parts, id, ego, and superego. Id means it that represents the portion of personality that consists of all the

The psychoanalytic perspective, is the outlook that behavior and personality are effected by the conflict between one’s inner dreams n and expectation of society. Most of this conflict occurs in unconscious, which is outside the knowledge of an individual. Renowned psychologist, Freud established the psychoanalytic theory as an explanation for perplexed phenomena such as the meaning behind dreams, slips of the tongue, and behavioral reflex reactions to stressful situations. The unconscious is a primary focus in psychoanalytic theory due to its typical development in childhood and the ways in which it influences nearly every detail of an individual’s life. The unconscious mind also holds unvented memories and unexpressed urges that make their process into the conscious mind through a variety of different means. However, topographical theory of the mind states that conscious, preconscious, and unconscious serve as motivating forces in human behavior. Corsin & Wedding (2011) define the conscious as mental activity which individuals are fully aware of, preconscious as thoughts and feelings that could be easily brought to mind and unconscious as thoughts, feelings, and desires of which one is unaware of.

Sigmund Freud was one of the great psychologist whose theories are still studied today. He studied the human mind more thoroughly than any other psychologist who came before him. Sigmund Freud has influenced different areas such as: psychology, art, literature, and even how people think and make choices today. Freud is said to be the founding father of the psychodynamic perspective and believed that most human behavior is caused by dark, unpleasant, unconscious impulses pressing for expression (King). When Freud came up with psychoanalysis he discovered a new science and incorporated a new scientific method of dealing with the mind and mental illnesses. “[Psychoanalysis] has the appearance of being not just a scientific theory but an enormously strong one, with the capacity to accommodate, and explain, every possible form of human behavior,” (Thornton). If a theory is compatible with all possible observations it is unscientific because it is not falsifiable (Thornton). Freud did a self-analysis and that is where he came up with the Oedipus complex, because he related his inner thoughts to those of Oedipus. Since Freud’s theories are said to not be scientific since they cannot be falsifiable, his Oedipus complex can also be said to be falsifiable.

The unconscious contains the instincts, those driving force for all human behavior. In Freud’s later writing he revised the conscious- unconscious distinction and came up with the id, ego and superego. The id is the unconscious, the least accessible part of the personality. The id includes the sex and aggressive instincts. Freud wrote, “We call it…a cauldron full of seething excitations. [The id] knows no judgments of value, no good and evil, no morality” (Freud, 1933, p 74). The id seeks immediate satisfaction without regard for the circumstances of reality. The id operates under the pleasure-seeking principal. For example, a newborn’s mind consists only of the id, which is responsible for the satisfaction of physical desires. The id, represents a human being’s most primitive desires, and a person ruled only by the id would do everything strictly for his or her own pleasure, breaking societal norms in the process and risking punishment. (SparkNotes, 2007)

At the age of 40 in 1896, Sigmund Freud introduced the world to a new term- psychoanalysis (Gay 1). Psychoanalysis is a method of treating patients with different nervous problems by involving them in dialogues which provide the physician with insight into the individual’s psyche. These dialogues provided the basis for Freud’s psychoanalytic theory, which “attempts to explain personality, motivation, and psychological disorders by focusing on the influence of early childhood experiences, on unconscious motives and conflicts, and on the methods people use to cope with their sexual and aggressive urges” (Weiten 363). Part of this theory involves the structure of the mind. This is a concept that touches

Freud’s theory was initially based on his own person and experiences and memories, hence, lacking experimental and scientific

Superego – Develops around age 6. There are two parts; the ego ideal and the conscience. The ego ideal tells us what we want to be and makes us feel satisfaction when we achieve it. The conscience makes sure we don't do badly and makes us takes actions that benefit society. It makes us feel guilty when it is not followed.