The Psychodynamic Approach

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Briefly describe the distinctions between the id, ego, and the superego, their relation to the conscious, preconscious and the unconscious. Our personalities are the distinctive pattern of thought, behaviour and emotion that depicts someone’s personal style of interacting with social and physical environments. The psychoanalytical approach was coined by Sigmund Freud. The basic premise is that much of what we think and do is driven by unconscious. Freud used free association which is asking the patient to say everything that comes to mind regardless of how trivial or embarrassing it may seem. Those utterances according to him indicate unconscious wishes and fears. ID – The ID is the most primitive personality structure which include…show more content…
Children soon learn that their impulses may not be gratified immediately. For example, hunger will not be eradicated until someone provides food, or hitting someone may result in punishment. The ego is therefore the “executive” of the id – it decides which impulses will be satisfied and in what manner. According to Freud our personality is developed at the age of 5, when the Oedipal conflict is resolved and the SUPEREGO is formed. Sigmund Freud believed that there are two major sources of influence on the personality: 1. the traits that develop because of fixations at any of the psychosexual stages, and 2. the relative strengths of the ID, EGO, and SUPEREGO. In psychologically healthy people, there is a balance among the three components. The SUPEREGO judges whether actions are right or wrong (moral principle) – It can also be described as the internalized representation of the values and morals of society – it is an individual’s conscience. The developed response to parental rewards and punishment. They incorporate what is learned from their parents with what they learn otherwise. Violating or ignoring the superego results in anxiety – usually anxiety over loss of parents love, this anxiety is also experienced as
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