Psychodynamic perspective - Coursework Example

Describe the psychodynamic perspective and provide a brief biography of the individual to whom it is most closely attributed. Throughout history, people have made attempts to establish the origin of mental illnesses. Psychologists have debated this issue intensively since the 19th century leading to the development of the 10 psychological theories. Five of these theories are widely accepted in the modern society. These 5 theories are; the Learning perspective, the Cognitive Perspective, the Biological perspective, Sociocultural and the Psychodynamic Perspective (Wade & Tavris, 1993).

This essay focuses on the Psychodynamic perspective and the person to whom it is attributed to. By definition, the psychological perspective is a psychological approach that lays emphasis on the unconscious dynamics within an individual such as conflicts, inner forces or the instinctual energy’s movement. This view of human behavior and psychology generally emphasize on the function of the unconscious mind, experiences from early childhood and interpersonal relationships, and it uses this to give an explanation to human behavior as well as to treat people with mental illnesses.

It is derived from the work of Sigmund Freud (1905) who once said, "inner conflicts usually arise from child-hood and often can result to a mental illness". This normally results from hampering the balanced development of the three systems constituting the human psyche. These three systems are; the ID, the ego and the super ego (Wade & Tavris, 1993). Most psychologists suppose that mental illnesses are a direct consequence of psychodynamic conflicts, which cannot be dealt with by the defense mechanism in an appropriate way.

Basically, this means that the defense mechanism provides ways of settling conflicts in a way that satisfies both the ego and the ID. Unfortunately, these mechanisms are either insufficient or dysfunctional in some people, and this often results in maladaptive behavior. Psychodynamic therapies are generally lengthy and insight therapies derived from the psychoanalytic therapy developed by Sigmund Freud. Treatment mainly focuses on both identification and resolution of conflicts and it involves two major techniques; free association and dream analysis.

In free association, individuals are required to report anything that comes to mind. The intention of this process is to allow easy access to the unconscious (Robert, 1999). In dream analysis, individuals are required to report their dreams. These dreams are then interpreted, and this provides an insight into the unconscious motivations and conflicts. Therapists use these two processes to identify commonalities in the thoughts and behaviors of the clients as well as to interpret them in terms of the problems of the clients (Wade & Tavris, 1993).

Psychological perspective is closely attributed Sigmund Schlomo Freud who was born on 6 May 1856 in Austria. He graduated 1873 and became a neurological researcher though he was interested in philosophy as a student. He developed theories about the mechanism of repression and the unconscious mind. He also established verbal psychotherapy through the creation of psychoanalysis, a technique for treating psychopathology via dialogue between a psychoanalyst and a patient. Freud suffered from Buccal cancer and died on 23 September 1939 after instructing his doctor to help him commit suicide.

ReferencesRobert, S. F., (1999). Principles of Psychology. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.Sonderegger, T., (1998). CliffsQuickReview Psychology. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons.Tavris, C., & Wade, C., (1993). Psychology. New York, NY: HarperCollinsCollegePublishers.