Psychodynamic Approach

Phobias
1. The psychoanalytic theory of phobias is based largely on the theories of repression and displacement. It is believed that phobias are the product of unresolved conflicts between the id and the superego. Psychoanalysts generally believe that the conflict originated in childhood, and was either repressed or displaced onto the feared object. The object of the phobia is not the original source of the anxiety.
Psyche
1. Id
  1. Consists of all the inherited (i.e. biological) components of personality, including the sex (life) instinct – Eros (which contains the libido), and aggressive (death) instinct - Thanatos.
  2. The id is the impulsive (and unconscious) part of our psyche which responds directly and immediately to the instincts. The personality of the newborn child is all id and only later does it develop ego and super-ego.
  3. The id demands immediate satisfaction and when this happens we experience pleasure, when it is denied we experience ‘unpleasure’ or pain. The id is not affected by reality, logic or the everyday world. On the contrary, it operates on the pleasure principle which is the idea that every wishful impulse should be satisfied immediately, regardless of the consequences.
2. Ego
  1. EGO DEFENCE MECHANISMS
    1. * Identification with the Aggressor: A focus on negative or feared traits (i.e. if you are afraid of someone, you can practically conquer that fear by becoming more like them. An extreme example of this is the Stockholm Syndrome where hostages identify with the terrorists)
    2. * Repression: An unconscious mechanism employed by the ego to keep disturbing or threatening thoughts from becoming conscious. Thoughts that are often repressed are those that would result in feeling of guilt from the superego. This is not a very successful defence in the long term since it involves forcing disturbing wishes, ideas or memories into the unconscious, where, although hidden, they will create anxiety.
    3. * Projection: This involves individuals attributing their own thoughts, feeling and motives to another person. Thoughts most commonly projected onto another are ones that would cause guilt such as aggressive and sexual fantasies or thoughts (e.g. you might hate someone, but your superego tells you that such hatred is unacceptable. You can 'solve' the problem by believing that they hate you).
    4. * Displacement: The redirection of an impulse (usually aggression) onto a powerless substitute target. The target can be a person or an object that can serve as a symbolic substitute.
    5. Sublimation: This is similar to displacement, but takes place when we manage to displace our emotions into a constructive rather than destructive activity. This might for example be artistic. Many great artists and musicians have had unhappy lives and have used the medium of art of music to express themselves. Sport is another example of putting our emotions (e.g. aggression) into something constructive.
    6. * Denial: Blocking external events from awareness. If some situation is just too much to handle, the person just refuses to experience it. This is a primitive and dangerous defense - no one disregards reality and gets away with it for long! It can operate by itself or, more commonly, in combination with other, more subtle mechanisms that support it. For example, smokers may refuse to admit to themselves that smoking is bad for their health.
    7. * Regression: When we are troubled or frightened, our behaviors often become more childish or primitive. A child may begin to suck their thumb again or wet the bed when they need to spend some time in the hospital. Teenagers may giggle uncontrollably when introduced into a social situation involving the opposite sex.
    8. * Reaction formation: This is where a person goes beyond denial and behaves in the opposite way to which he or she thinks or feels. By using the reaction formation the id is satisfied while keeping the ego in ignorance of the true motives. Conscious feelings are the opposite of the unconscious. Love - hate. Shame - disgust and moralizing are reaction formation against sexuality. Usually a reaction formation is marked by showiness and compulsiveness.
    9. * Rationalization: The cognitive distortion of "the facts" to make an event or an impulse less threatening. We do it often enough on a fairly conscious level when we provide ourselves with excuses. But for many people, with sensitive egos, making excuses comes so easy that they never are truly aware of it. In other words, many of us are quite prepared to believe our lies.
  2. Works by reason; the ego operates according to the reality principle, working our realistic ways of satisfying the id’s demands, often compromising or postponing satisfaction.
  3. Develops in order to mediate between the unrealistic id and the external real world.
  4. Like the id, the ego seeks pleasure and avoids pain but unlike the id the ego is concerned with devising a realistic strategy to obtain pleasure.
  5. The ego has no concept of right or wrong; something is good simply if it achieves its end of satisfying without causing harm to itself or to the id.
3. Super Ego
  1. The ideal self and conscience are largely determined in childhood from parental values and you were brought up. The superego's function is to control the id's impulses, especially those which society forbids, such as sex and aggression.
  2. The super-ego can also reward us through the ideal self when we behave ‘properly’ by making us feel proud. If a person’s ideal self is too high a standard, then whatever the person does will represent failure.
  3. It develops around the age of 4 – 5 during the phallic stage of psychosexual development.
  4. It also has the function of persuading the ego to turn to moralistic goals rather than simply realistic ones and to strive for perfection.
  5. The superego consists of two systems: The conscience and the ideal self.
    1. CONSCIENCE
      1. The conscience can punish the ego through causing feelings of guilt.
    2. IDEAL SELF
      1. An imaginary picture of how you ought to be, and represents career aspirations, how to treat other people, and how to behavior as a member of society.
Psychosexual Development
1. Oral Stage
  1. Develops 0-1 year old
  2. The first stage of personality development where infant gets satisfaction from putting things in its mouth to satisfy libido, and thus its id demands. Oral behaviours include sucking, biting, and breast-feeding. Freud said oral stimulation could lead to an oral fixation in later life. We see oral personalities all around us such as smokers, nail-biters, finger-chewers, and thumb suckers. Oral personalities engage in such oral behaviors particularly when under stress.
2. Anal Stage
  1. Develops at 1-3 years old
  2. The libido now becomes focused on the anus and the child derives great pleasure from defecating.
  3. The child is now fully aware that they are a person in their own right and that their wishes can bring them into conflict with the demands of the outside world (i.e. their ego has developed). Freud believed that this type of conflict tends to come to a head in potty training, in which adults impose restrictions on when and where the child can defecate. The nature of this first conflict with authority can determine the child's future relationship with all forms of authority.
    1. Anal Retentive
      1. Early or harsh potty training = dislike of messes, obsessive tidyness, punctuality and respect towards authority, and stubborn and tight-fisted behaviour with their cash and possessions. This is all related to pleasure got from holding on to their faeces when toddlers,
    2. Anal Expulsive
      1. Lenient potty training - rewarded more/punished less = compulsion to share things with others and giving things away and is messy, disorganized and rebellious in their personality.

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