Psy 504 - Psychodynamic Theory Paper

Psychodynamic Theory Paper

PSY 504

April 15, 2013

Psychodynamic Theory Paper

Psychoanalyst Erik Erikson, Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, and Alfred Adler were theorists who stood out in the study of psychology. Their theories helped to create and mold the psychodynamic theory and are all remembered for their contribution to the field. They had their own ideas and thoughts which have all earned a place in psychodynamic theory; and much of their work is used as foundations and building blocks in modern psychology.

Erik Erikson believed that development involves psychosocial stages in which an individual potential for their own personal growth and failure is high (Cervone & Pervin, 2010). The psychosocial stages include trust vs. mistrust; autonomy vs. shame and doubt; initiative vs. guilt; industry vs. inferiority; identity vs. confusion; intimacy vs. isolation; generativity vs. stagnation; and identity vs. despair (Cervone & Pervin, 2010). Erikson theorized an individual must go through each of these stages in their lifetime.

Sigmund Freud was dubbed the founding father of psychoanalysis (Davis & Palladino, 2002). He was a neurologist that developed a theory of personality called psychodynamic theory, which focused on the factors of the unconscious mind, and he also developed psychoanalytic therapy that focuses on helping people with abnormal behavior (Davis & Palladino, 2002). The work of Sigmund Freud focused on the personality, the memory, the sexuality of individuals, the unconscious mind, the motives and the desires of individuals (Cervone & Pervin, 2010).

The unconscious, the preconscious and the conscious are the different level of awareness that people has (Davis & Palladino, 2002). The unconscious holds the thoughts, the feelings, the memories and the desires of individuals; however these people are not aware of that they exist (Davis & Palladino, 2002). The preconscious holds the information that is not immediately in the attention of the individual, however when needed they are readily available. The conscious holds all the information that an individual has in their attention presently (Davis & Palladino, 2002).

Freud is also created the psychosexual stages of development the suggested that the personality of an individual is confirmed by the age of five (Myers, 2011). He suggests that there five different stages in the psychosexual development of an individual. These are the oral stage, the phallic stage, the anal stage, the genital stage and the latency stage. Freud believed that a child must go through each of these stages in order to experience full development (Myers, 2011).

Carl Jung, who was a friend of Sigmund Freud, was also one of his followers (Myers, 2011). Like Freud, Jung also believe that the unconscious mind play an important role in shaping the personality of individuals. He, however, thought that the unconscious mind has two different layers, which consist of the personal unconscious mind and the collective unconscious mind (Myers, 2011). The collective unconscious mind holds the memories of the individuals past which Jung referred to as the archetypes.

Alfred Adler was another follower of Sigmund Freud, who eventually pulled away from Freud. Adler developed his own school theories which he referred to as individual psychology (Myers, 2011). The beliefs of Adler indicated that neither aggressive urges nor sexual urges are the motivation behind