Psychodynamic Approach And Humanistic Psychology: Key Perspectives In Psychology

Key Perspectives in Psychology
Psychology is a broad subject formed of many different areas which are called key perspectives. The Psychodynamic Approach and Humanistic perspective are two examples of this. The Psychodynamic approach is involved with the subconscious and the effects this has on behaviour. One of the most influential psychodynamic psychologists, Sigmund Freud, mainly theorizes that behaviour as adults is based on childhood experiences and the unconscious mind. Humanistic psychology observes the psychology of the individual, not only through the observer, but through the individual themselves. Humanist psychologists, such as Abraham Maslow, provide some of the most enduring theories in humanistic psychology. These perspectives …show more content…
Here Freud reports his findings of the treatment of the boy’s phobia of horses. Freud believes that children pass through five psychosexual stages of development. These are known as: the oral stage, the anal stage, the phallic stage, the latency period and the genital stage. The first three stages take place within the first five years of childhood where the id, ego and superego are established. In the case study, Freud mainly deals with the phallic stage where the child’s sexual identity is established. He believes that Hans experienced the Oedipus complex, whereby the child would see his father as competition for his mother’s affection. The boy fears that his father will castrate him and as a result identifies with his father as a suitable role model in order to resolve this complex. Freud believes that the repressed desires by the boy are found within his unconscious (dreams) and this is what has caused Little Hans’ phobia of horses. (Freud, …show more content…
The length of the clients history that can be made can help identify the origins of abnormal behaviour. This is due to a great supply of qualitative data. Freud believed that the relationship between Hans and his father allowed a more detailed case study due to more in depth discussions. However, it is also important to note that the case study only relates to the individual and that the relationship between Hans and his father may not be typical of others. Freud was also not directly involved with the study as Hans father would relay information to Freud. Freud had only met Little Hans a small number of times. The results may therefore be biased as Hans’ father was a supporter of Freud’s findings. The studies are also very time consuming and findings are difficult to replicate (Hulbert,