The Psychodynamic Perspective.
The Psychodynamic Perspective. One of the key beliefs of the psychodynamic approach is that our adult personality and behaviour are determined by our childhood experiences. Sigmund Freud chiefly initiated this approach. Although Freud continually revised many of his theories, three of them remained constant. These were; firstly, that a vast majority (about 6/7) of the mind is unconscious and contains our instincts, drives and repressed memories. The only ways to discover the contents of the unconscious mind are dream analysis, word association and hypnosis. Secondly, that the mind is made up of three parts, the ID, the EGO and the SUPEREGO. The ID works on the pleasure principle. It contains the psychic energy of all our drives, instincts and repressed memories; it requires immediate satisfaction without any regard for reality. It was referred to by Freud as, 'a cauldron of seething excitations' (cited in Hill 2001, pg 73). The EGO works on the reality principle. It aims to fulfil the ID's desires whilst keeping them in line with what is possible in the real world. The SUPEREGO pressures the EGO to keep the ID in line with moral ideology. It sets ideals and consists of the conscience, which makes us feel things such as pride and guilt. To enable the EGO to deal with the demands of the ID and SUPEREGO, it uses a number of defence mechanisms. Some of these are
