Level 2 Counselling skills. Theories -CBT, Psychodynamic and Person Centred.

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UNIT 3 – ASSESSMENT 6 – RESEARCH PROJECT             CHARMIAN BELLINGHAM

PSYCHODYNAMIC THEORY

Freud is one of the most influential psychologists ever. His theories radically altered the way that people understand the mind and behaviour, and the therapy he developed for psychological problems was the first to be based on the idea that you could help people just by talking. He was the founder of psychoanalysis and one of the best-known figures in psychology. If Freud represents your layperson's idea of psychology, then you probably have an image of a patient lying on a couch talking about their deepest and darkest secrets.

Psychodynamic psychology ignores the trappings of science and instead focuses on trying to get 'inside the head' of individuals in order to make sense of their relationships, experiences and how they see the world. The psychodynamic approach includes all the theories in psychology that see human functioning based upon the interaction of drives and forces within the person, particularly unconscious, and between the different structures of the personality.

Freud believed that we are aware of very little that goes on in our unconscious minds. Most of our thoughts, feelings and many of our memories are locked away in the unconscious. We don’t know they are there, but they have a huge impact on what we say and do. In other words, any of our actions may have hidden purposes and meanings. The term - psyche is often compared with ‘personality’ but really is closer in spirit to ‘soul’. Freud believed that the psyche contained several parts that are continually at war with each other. The conflict that arises between the id, ego and superego is what drives our behaviour.

Assumption 1 - Behaviour is influenced by the three parts of the mind. Freud believed that the adult personality is structured into three parts that develop at different stages in our lives.

Id - This is the impulsive (and unconscious) part of our personality, and is present at birth. It demands immediate satisfaction, which can be referred to as the pleasure principle. The main aim of the id is to gain pleasure and gratification at any cost.

Ego - This is the conscious, rational part of the mind that develops around the age of two years. Its function is to work out realistic ways of balancing the demands of the id in a socially acceptable way. It is governed by the reality principle.

Superego - This is the last part of our personality to develop. Forming at around the age of four years, it embodies the child’s sense of right and wrong as well as his or her ideal self. The superego seeks to perfect and civilise our behaviour. It is learned through identification with one’s parents and others.

Assumption 2 - Behaviour is influenced by different levels of consciousness and ego defences. Freud proposed that the mind is like an iceberg – much of what goes on inside the mind lies under the surface. This is the preconscious and unconscious mind. The conscious mind is logical, whereas the unconscious mind is not and is ruled by pleasure-seeking. The unconscious mind cannot be directly accessed, but expresses itself indirectly through, for example, dreams. The unconscious is also related to ego defence mechanisms.

Conflicts between the id, ego and superego create anxiety. The ego protects itself with various ego defences. These defences can be the cause of disturbed behaviour if they are overused.

Assumption 3 - Behaviour is influenced by early childhood experiences. In childhood, the ego is not developed enough to deal with traumas, which are therefore repressed. For example, a child may experience the death of a parent early in life and repress associated feelings. Later in life, other losses may cause the individual to re-experience the earlier loss, and can lead to depression. Previously unexpressed anger about the loss is directed inwards, towards the self, causing depression. There are key developmental stages in early childhood. Fixation on any one of these stages may have a lasting effect on the individual’s personality.

Freud thought Childhood influences in the first few years of our lives, were crucial to our future development. The relationships we establish, the way we are treated by our parents and many of our other experiences have a huge impact to the structure of our psyche and the personality and behaviour we display as adults. Freud thought that childhood development went in stages. At each stage, different parts of the psyche are developed and different influences become important. The stages go in a fixed order, and a relatively fixed time scale. Problems in adulthood can usually be traced back to issues that first arose during a particular stage of development. He believed the contents of our unconscious are locked away from us, but we can understand people if we try, because the unconscious still influences them. Unconscious thoughts and motives may appear in a disguised form in all sorts of ways – how they act, the mistakes they make, and the content of their dreams can all be decoded.

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Although we may behave in complex and sophisticated ways, Freud believed that we are still animals, and consequently that our behaviour is governed by the same drives as any other animal. Therefore, at the roots of our behaviour are drives like hunger, thirst, aggression and sex. Sexual motives he considered especially important. Freud proposed that the unconscious mind expresses itself through dreams, and that the content of a person’s dreams can therefore reveal what is in their unconscious. Dream analysis is the process of assigning meaning to dreams.

One strength of the psychodynamic approach is that it takes into account ...

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