Psychology. Describe The Application Of Psychodynamic Perspectives In Health And Social Care

If the Superego dominates the psyche and restricts the Id, a person could be deprived of socially acceptable pleasures. Freud believed that this would cause neurosis that could be expressed in anxiety disorders such as phobias or obsessions.

Freud believed that these internal conflicts happen at an unconscious level, so we are unaware of what is happening.

Although these conflicts can happen at anytime, it is most common in childhood because the Ego is not developed enough to mediate between the Id and the Superego. As well as this, the Ego isn’t developed enough to cope with external events such as maternal absence or competition with brothers or sisters. If traumatic events occur in childhood, Freud believed that they would be pushed into the unconscious part of the mind, he called this repression because the event(s) that have occurred are too painful for the Ego to bear. Whatever feelings that are repressed do not disappear, they often express themselves in dreams or irrational behaviour and they may cause psychological disorders.

To cope with the demands from the Id and the Superego, the Ego employs the use of different defence mechanisms. These often warp or deny the reality of whatever is happening at that particular time. Here is a table of defence mechanisms it is based on Geiselman (1988)

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Freud was one of the key people that were involved in changing the ways of how people who are mentally ill are thought of. He did this by showing people that people showing physical signs of mental instability could have psychological problems.

Freud developed a treatment called psychoanalysis and this has now evolved into other psychodynamic theories. The belief is that if someone understands what happened in the past it can give them a better way to cope at a conscious level.

One technique of psychoanalysis is the analysis of dreams; another is free association where people are encouraged to say whatever comes into their heads at that moment. The analyst is then able to offer an interpretation of what the client is thinking.

In health and social care psychodynamic theory can be applied in many situations. When someone has mental health issues, the “talking cure” (psychoanalysis) can benefit them because they will start to understand events that have happened in their life. Defence mechanisms of the Ego can also help to explain why people behave the way they do. This gives professionals a better chance to help them. The psychodynamic approach can be discussed in a lot more detail, and it is done so later on in the assignment.