The Psychodynamic Approach

The psychodynamic approach was founded by Sigmund Freud (1856--1939) and was the first major approach to attempt a comprehensive explanation of human behaviour. Freud's ideas were revolutionary: he proposed that much of our behaviour is driven by unconscious forces — desires, memories, and conflicts of which we are not consciously aware.

---

The Unconscious Mind

Freud proposed that the mind operates at three levels of consciousness:

Level	Description	Example
Conscious mind	Thoughts and feelings we are currently aware of	Knowing your name; being aware you are reading
Preconscious mind	Thoughts and memories that are not currently in awareness but can be accessed if needed	Your phone number; what you had for breakfast
Unconscious mind	A vast store of biological drives, repressed memories, and traumatic experiences that influence behaviour without our awareness	Repressed childhood trauma; unacceptable desires

Freud believed the unconscious mind is the primary driver of behaviour. He used the analogy of an iceberg: the conscious mind is the small visible tip, while the vast, hidden mass below the waterline represents the unconscious.

Key Definition: Unconscious mind — the part of the mind that contains thoughts, memories, and desires that are not accessible to conscious awareness but which influence behaviour, feelings, and decisions. According to Freud, the unconscious is the most important part of the mind.

---

The Structure of Personality: Id, Ego, and Superego

Freud proposed that personality is made up of three interacting systems:

Component	Operates On	Description	Present From
Id	Pleasure principle	The primitive, instinctive part of personality; seeks immediate gratification of desires and urges; entirely unconscious	Birth
Ego	Reality principle	The rational, decision-making part of personality; mediates between the demands of the id, the superego, and reality; operates at all three levels of consciousness	Around age 2
Superego	Morality principle	The internalised sense of right and wrong; represents moral standards learned from parents and society; operates at all three levels	Around age 4--5

graph TD
    A[Id: Pleasure Principle] -->|Desires| B[Ego: Reality Principle]
    C[Superego: Morality Principle] -->|Moral standards| B
    B -->|Mediates demands| D[Behaviour]

The ego must balance the conflicting demands of the id (which wants immediate pleasure) and the superego (which demands moral perfection). When these conflicts create anxiety, the ego deploys defence mechanisms to protect itself.

---

Defence Mechanisms

Defence mechanisms are unconscious strategies used by the ego to manage anxiety arising from conflict between the id and superego.

Defence Mechanism	Description	Example
Repression	Pushing threatening or distressing thoughts into the unconscious	A person who was abused as a child has no conscious memory of the abuse
Denial	Refusing to accept reality or the facts of a situation	A person diagnosed with a terminal illness refuses to believe the diagnosis
Displacement	Redirecting feelings from their true source onto a safer target	A person who is angry at their boss goes home and shouts at their partner
Projection	Attributing your own unacceptable thoughts or feelings to someone else	A person who is attracted to a colleague accuses the colleague of flirting with them
Sublimation	Channelling unacceptable urges into socially acceptable activities	Aggressive impulses channelled into competitive sport

Key Definition: Defence mechanisms — unconscious psychological strategies used by the ego to protect itself from anxiety caused by the conflicting demands of the id and superego. They distort or deny reality.

---

Psychosexual Stages of Development

Freud proposed that personality develops through a series of five psychosexual stages during childhood. At each stage, the child's pleasure (libido) is focused on a different body area (erogenous zone). If a child receives too much or too little stimulation at any stage, they become fixated — stuck at that stage, leading to characteristic personality traits in adulthood.

Stage	Age	Focus (Erogenous Zone)	Key Issue	Fixation Traits
Oral	0--1	Mouth (sucking, biting)	Weaning	Smoking, nail-biting, sarcasm, dependency
Anal	1--3	Anus (withholding/expelling faeces)	Toilet training	Anal retentive (obsessive tidiness) or anal expulsive (messy, reckless)
Phallic	3--5/6	Genitals	Oedipus/Electra complex	Vanity, recklessness, sexual anxiety
Latency	6--puberty	None (dormant sexual urges)	Social and intellectual development	No fixation traits
Genital	Puberty+	Genitals	Mature sexual relationships	Successfully reaching this stage indicates healthy personality development

The Oedipus Complex (Phallic Stage)