Their are many facets to the psychodynamic approach but
the main ideas are that human behavior is driven from forces within the mind. In Freud's
belief, unconscious forces are what drive human behavior. Freud said this unconscious
was crucial in understanding humans. There are three main parts of the brain that are in
continual conflict that drive this behavior: the id (your basic urges), your superego
(part of your brain that tries to repress your id and moderate/ temper impulses) and
your ego (what is ultimately done).
The ultimate drives
were sexual and for survival (freud was influenced by Darwin). In other words, many of
our unconscious urges were to mate and were repressed which could cause psychic conflict
and would lead to many conditions that Freud viewed as problematic. Therapy would
consist of trying to uncover these unconscious urges that were "repressed" through
processes of free association. Dreams were also thought of as gateways into the
unconscious.
Developmentally Freud believed most behavior
was set at age 5, and that were stages where some psycho-sexual task needed to be
completed (such as weaning, potty training). All of these focused on erogenous zones
(pleasure zones).
Psychodynamic theory was considered less
scientific espeically when in contrast to the behavioral view (which focuses on external
behavior and does not conceptualize anything with the mind). Freud's theories are
interesting and inspirational but his methods weren't always scientific. His sample was
generally upper class viennese women and a lot of his ideas cannot be
tested.
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