Psychodynamic Theory :: Psychology, Freud

The scheme our learning team is studying is the psychodynamic advance or what is sometimes called psychoanalytic approach. The main contributors to Psychodynamic approaches was the founder Sigmund Freud (1859-1939), Anna Freud (1895-1982) gave significant share to the psychodynamics of adolescence and Erik Erickson (1902-1994) called the new Freud but with an emphasis on ego (conscious) forces, termed as psychosocial theory (Craig & Dunn, p 11-13). Psychodynamics is the explanation or interpretation (as of behavior or amiable states) in terms of mental or emotional forces or processes (www.merriam-webster.com) by means of case study, the psychodynamic approach was veritable by Sigmund Freud. Freud visited Charcots, a laboratory in Paris investigating people suffering from hysteria. There, Freud began patient case studies (Crain, p. 254). Freud developed 5 st matures of human development known as the Oral, Anal, Phallic, Latency and genital stages. The Oral stage is from the ages of birth to 18 months. This stage engages in oral exam makeivities such as sucking. Next the Anal stage begins around age 18 months to 3 years of age. Freud suggests that during the Anal stage a youngster focuses on the pleasure of purging from the rectal area. The Phallic stages, none as the masturbation stage, when a child gets pleasure from center on his genital areas usually happens during ages 3 years to 6 years of age. After the Phallic stage come the Latency stages. Latency is when children at the ages of 6 to 12 years old work to develop cognitive and interpersonal skills suppressing sexual interests but those 12 years and older perch into the Genital stages. During the Genital stage those suppressed sexual interests re-occur and the need to bechance gratification dependent on finding a partner (Craig & Dunn, p 12)In addition to Freuds stages of development his best-known concepts are those of the id, ego, and superego (Crain, p. 268). The id genius called the uncon scious is the personality that focuses on maximizing pleasure and minimizing pain done reflexes and drives such as hunger or bladder tensions (Crain, pp. 268-269). The id concept is impulsive, pell-mell and unrealistic. Although the id stage stands for the untamed passions it is balanced out by reason and upright sense called the ego (Crain, p. 270). The ego evaluates situations comparing them to what has happened in the past and tie realistic changes planning for the future. This is what is called secondary process thinking. Ego considers the possibilities of the act in question giving the opportunity to make safe and goodly choices.