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Psychodynamic Theory

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Submitted By sjohnson10
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Scott Johnson 1/28/2013
Psychodynamic theory is defined as the study of the psychological forces that underlie human behavior. It is primarily the dynamic relations between our conscious and unconscious motivation. Sigmund Freud is noted as the Father of psychodynamic theories. Our unconscious processes shape who we are and what our personality is.
Freud’s structure of personality is your Id, Ego and Super ego. Id is our basic want to need, an “I want it now” idea. It’s our unconscious instincts. Ego keeps us in reality, it is more of a research idea. It is the mediator between the ego and super ego. It manages our personality and our decision making. Super ego is what’s right vs. what’s wrong. It is our individual moral values. The psychodynamic theory is the interactions and battle of id, ego and super ego. A focus of psychodynamics is the forces that are in conflict in our subconscious that form our personality and behavior. Our conscious layer is thoughts and feelings we are fully aware of. Preconscious is info that is just beneath our awareness. Unconscious layer includes feelings we are not aware of but greatly influence our behavior. Defense mechanisms are largely unconscious reactions that protect us from painful emotions such as anxiety or guilt. I think this is the more interesting part of the psychodynamic theory.
Defense Mechanisms include repression, denial, rationalization, displacement, projection, regression and reaction formation. For example, one of my friends last month got arrested for Public Intoxication and the other day I asked how the ticket went over with his parents and his response was, “what ticket? I haven’t gotten a ticket.” This surprised me, I thought getting a P.I. was a big deal but he was here just brushing it off. Now I know that he was in denial and that just meant his refusal to believe it was true because it provoked anxiety

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