1. The psychodynamic approach, treatments and evaluations AS Psychology, unit 2 AQA- individual differences (psychopathology)

2. Psychodynamic approach Mental illness is caused by unresolved, unconscious conflicts in the mind formed in childhood. The mind consists of the id (always seeks pleasure), superego (insists of the morally right choice) and the ego (mediates the opposing demands of the id and superego). The mind uses defence mechanisms to protect the ego such as denial and repression, but in the long term can cause problems and lead to mental illness. Early childhood experiences will later effect adult behaviour, if a child suffers bereavement they will repress that feeling (protecting the ego) but if a similar incident occurs in adulthood, those repressed feelings will effect how the adult deals with the latest loss.

3. Psychodynamic approach Defence mechanisms can cause long term problems and lead to mental illnesses: Denial leads to schizophrenia Regression leads to schizophrenia Repression leads to depression These unconscious defence mechanisms can affect our behaviour and cannot be controlled, leading to mental illnesses.

4. Psychodynamic approach- evaluation Strengths Effective treatment- psychoanalysis can be effective, so if the treatment is effective then the approach the treatment is based on must be correct and valid Weaknesses Weak evidence to support the idea that anxiety causes mental illness- evidence is based on repressed Viennese Victorian women. So the theory may, only apply to women and only women from Vienna and can be out of date

5. Psychodynamic approach- evaluation Reductionist- ignores other factors such as genes and the environment, so the explanation can only give a limited understanding of the mental illness in question Id, ego, superego are untestible- psychodynamic concepts of the id, ego and superego are abstract and therefore untestible as they may not even exist. Therefore we can’t be sure that anxiety is caused by conflicts between the id and superego.

6. Psychodynamic Treatments- psychoanalysis Attempts to make the unconscious conflicts conscious by using the following methods: Free association- patient lies on a sofa and says out load whatever comes into their mind. The therapist interprets these thought to try and uncover the unconscious conflict. Inkblot tests- these are random shapes with no meaning. The patient looks at them and tells the therapist what they see. This triggers the unconscious mind as the description of the shape helps to reveal what is in your unconscious thoughts

7. Psychodynamic Treatments- psychoanalysis Dream analysis- dreams have hidden meanings and a therapist can uncover unconscious conflicts being expressed through a dream Freudian slips- words accidently said out load which can indicate what a person is really thinking and can show any unconscious thoughts related to childhood experiences The psychoanalyst will interpret responses and feedback to clients. The patients responses are used as evidence to get transference (moving the conflict onto the therapist. Therapy may be cathartic and require the patient to visit 4 times a week sometimes for years.

8. Psychodynamic Treatments- psychoanalysis- evaluation Strengths Effectiveness- studies have shown that psychoanalysis is quite effective. It has been claimed to have improved symptoms from a variety of disorders by up to 80%, whereas other therapies have success rates of 65%. weaknesses Appropriateness (time)- 4 times a week and can last for years, so it is very time consuming so people may not engage in the therapy. Appropriateness (side effects)- repressed memories are uncovered which can cause stress and distress. False memories can be uncovered which can lead to people being accused of something they haven’t done such as murder