Psychodynamic Flashcards
(3 cards)
Pioneering Approach
A strength of the psychodynamic approach is that it has had a huge
influence on psychological thinking and can explain a wide range of behaviours such as aggression, anxiety and eating disorders. It drew attention to the connection between
experiences in childhood (such as our relationship with our parents) and later development and played a major role in establishing developmental psychology and other theorists such as Bowlby. This is a strength as his pioneering work had a major influence on psychology and Western contemporary thought.
Practical Application
One major contribution that the psychodynamic approach has made
to psychology is the introduction of therapies used to access the unconscious. Psychoanalysis
(including dream analysis and free association) is used to find and treat unconscious conflicts. Freud and his followers were also the first to demonstrate the potential of
psychological, rather than biological explanations for behaviours. This led to the formation of psychological treatments, rather than biological therapies, which have been found to be successful in treating patients with a wide range of disorders. This is a strength as it illustrates the useful practical applications of the approach.
Case Study methodology
Freud’s psychoanalytic theory was based on case studies e.g. he
used Little Hans to support the existence of the Oedipus complex. This is a strength as the idiographic approach, is an in-depth qualitative method of investigation using, in this case detailed, carefully recorded observations. However, critics have suggested that it is not possible to make such universal laws of behaviour and personality development based on studies of such a small number of individuals who were psychologically abnormal. This therefore questions whether the conclusions drawn from these case studies lack population validity and whether they can be used to explain the personality of the population as a whole.
