Emma Culloty BIRMI2A 11 Evaluate the extent to which Freud’s theory of psychosexual development can help us to understand a Client’s presenting issue. Freud’s theory of psychosexual development is a theory that has caused a large amount of debate and can be seen as quite a contentious issue, particularly when using this theory to try and understand a client’s presenting issue. This essay will look into Freud’s psychosexual theory and will describe how it relates to adult neurotic behaviour. The essay will then look at the critiques of Carl Jung and Erich Fromm and will look at the ideas surrounding Jung’s collective consciousness and Fromm’s view based on a sociological perspective, where the person is able to decide for them and how problems can arise for a client when this does not happen. This essay will also look at the role of women and homosexuality and discuss whether Freud’s views where based on a cultural prejudice when he devised the psychosexual theory.
Sigmund Freud was the first to challenge the view that mental disorders were caused by physical illness and proposed that psychological factors were responsible for the illness. The psychodynamic approach highlights the importance of the unconscious mind and early childhood experiences. Psychodynamic psychologist’s attempt to deal with the mental health issues of their patients by incorporating these ideas and creating therapies using these ideas. The basic concept behind psychoanalysis is that a patient that suffers from mental health problems such as depression can address any regressed feelings thus, the patient gains insight of and can learn to work through their emotional baggage. It is a generalised concept that if the cause of the symptoms were tackled it would only be logical that the symptoms would then cease.
His view of human behaviour was deterministic- that is, he saw behaviour as predetermined by biological instincts and drives along with previous life experiences. ‘Heavily influenced by his study of dreams, Freud made a distinction between the unconscious and consciousness. From the very beginning, he stated that there were two kinds of unconsciousness. Hence, Freud asserted that there were three levels of consciousness; the unconscious, the preconscious, and consciousness.’(Nelson-Jones 2006, P25.) A common form of insight therapy is Cognitive Behavioural Therapy.
Freud assumed that our behavior is caused by unconscious thoughts, our desires and impulses which is also how human behaviour is explained in the psychodynamic approach. Psychodynamic approach concentrates on many different factors that may have caused psychological distress, such as childhood experiences, our current and past relationships and exploring the things we do without even being aware of it. Another very important and powerful tool is to use this therapy to interpret the transference relationship. The psychodynamic counselling sessions are more dynamic as the therapist is trying to help the patient in fewer sessions possible comparing to psychoanalysis. This is why the counselor usually presents himself as a ‘blank screen’ and lets the client act out and projects his feelings on to the therapist.
In this analysis we will look at two specific parts of analyzing psychodynamic theories. First we will discuss how psychodynamic theories affect individual personalities and finally we will explain how psychodynamic theories influence interpersonal relationships. Psychodynamic Theories Affect Individual Personalities All of the psychodynamic theories mentioned in this paper lean more to the side of being limited rather than having strength, primarily in regard to the development and effects of individual personality. A dissimilar outlook exists on the definition of personality, the driving force behind development, cause and effect, and what exactly influences it and whether it can be altered. The psychodynamic theories consist mainly of Alder’s individual psychological theory, Horney’s psychoanalytical social theory, Freud’s psychoanalytical theory, Klein’s object relations theory, Sullivan’s interpersonal theory, and Jung’s analytical theory (Feist & Feist, 2009).
The psychodynamic perspective focuses on the unconscious mind and how it interacts and affects behaviour whereas the behavioural perspective looks at how the environment as observable stimuli affects behaviour. This essay will look at both perspectives, focusing on the assumptions they make and how they contrast. The psychodynamic perspective was developed by Sigmund Freud in the nineteenth century whilst he was working with patients who showed observable symptoms but lacked any corporal origins. Freud’s treatment of his patients through hypnosis and free association led him to believe that behaviour can be largely influenced by the unconscious mentality. Passer et al.
Psychodynamic Theories Psychodynamic theories are those propounded by Sigmund Freud, which further describe the conflict among instincts, reasons, and conscience. Although many different psychodynamic theories exist, they all emphasize unconscious motives and desires, as well as the importance of childhood experiences in shaping personality. Psychodynamic theory is a view that explains personality in terms of conscious and unconscious forces, such as unconscious desires and beliefs. Psychoanalytic Theory The psychoanalytic theory focuses on the role of experiences, the unconscious, and emotions that shape one’s personality. It is based on three main assumptions: 1.
|themselves | | |2010, p. 430). | |(Feldman, 2010, p. 437). | | | |Classical Conditioning Treatments: | | | |Psychoanalysis: Freud's Therapy | |• Cognitive Treatments Approaches | | |Goal is to release hidden unconscious thoughts and |• Aversive conditioning |Treatment approaches that teach people to think in | | |feelings in order to reduce their power in |A form of
The Psychoanalysis Perspective Abstract. Sigmund Freud, the Father of Personality Psychology, highlights many theories in his writings. Most noted in this paper was the Psychoanalytic Perspective, which gives an in-depth view of determinism, the importance of conflict, early experience, infantile sexuality, and most illustrious the importance of unconscious motivation. This theory assumed that there exist three levels of consciousness in which the human mind functions. People did not come to accept his theory at first, but after much testing it was proven mostly valid and reliable.
However, by looking at the psychodynamic approach to personality, it is evident that not only are abnormal and normal personalities apparent, but a correlation can be seen between Freud’s psychosexual stages and an adult’s behaviour and personality as an outcome. Through this theory Freud demonstrates evidence supporting the abnormal personality, as early traumatic childhood experiences buried in the psyche, eventually serve as foundations for “abnormal” behaviour. Martin (1952) believes we can define the notion of normality, in terms of behaviour, as what has been socially approved. Thus, Weiten’s (2007) argument that “abnormal behaviour usually involves a deviation from social norms rather than an illness” supports this definition. However, realistically, it can more than often be difficult to distinguish between the fine line that separates normality from abnormality (Weiten).