Psychodynamics

Front row: Sigmund Freud, G. Stanley Hall, Carl Jung; Back row: Abraham A. Brill, Ernest Jones, Sándor Ferenczi, at: Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts. Date: September 1909.

Psychodynamics, also known as psychodynamic psychology, in its broadest sense, is an approach to psychology that emphasizes systematic study of the psychological forces underlying human behavior, feelings, and emotions and how they might relate to early experience. It is especially interested in the dynamic relations between conscious motivation and unconscious motivation.^[1]

The term psychodynamics is sometimes used to refer specifically to the psychoanalytical approach developed by Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) and his followers. Freud was inspired by the theory of thermodynamics and used the term psychodynamics to describe the processes of the mind as flows of psychological energy (libido or psi) in an organically complex brain.^[2] However, modern usage differentiates psychoanalytic practice as referring specifically to the earliest forms of psychotherapy, practiced by Freud and his immediate followers, and psychodynamic practice as practice that is informed by psychoanalytic theory, but diverges from the traditional practice model.^[3]

In the treatment of psychological distress, psychodynamic psychotherapy tends to be a less intensive (once- or twice-weekly) modality than the classical Freudian psychoanalysis treatment (of 3–5 sessions per week) and typically relies less on the traditional practices of psychoanalytic therapy, such as the patient facing away from the therapist during treatment and free association. Psychodynamic therapies depend upon a psychoanalytic understanding of inner conflict, wherein unconcious thoughts, desires, and memories influence behavior and psychological problems are caused by unconcious or repressed conflicts. ^[4]^[5]

Despite largely falling out of favor as the primary modality of psychotherapy and facing criticism as being "non-empirical", psychodynamic treatment has been shown to be effective at treating a number of psychological conditions in randomized controlled trials, more effectively than controls and to the same degree as other psychotherapy modalities.^[6]^[7]

Overview

In general, psychodynamics is the study of the interrelationship of various parts of the mind, personality, or psyche as they relate to mental, emotional, or motivational forces especially at the unconscious level.^[8]^[9]^[10] The mental forces involved in psychodynamics are often divided into two parts:^[11] (a) the interaction of the emotional and motivational forces that affect behavior and mental states, especially on a subconscious level; (b) inner forces affecting behavior: the study of the emotional and motivational forces that affect behavior and states of mind.

Freud proposed that psychological energy was constant (hence, emotional changes consisted only in displacements) and that it tended to rest (point attractor) through discharge (catharsis).^[12]

In mate selection psychology, psychodynamics is defined as the study of the forces, motives, and energy generated by the deepest of human needs.^[13]

In general, psychodynamics studies the transformations and exchanges of "psychic energy" within the personality.^[9] A focus in psychodynamics is the connection between the energetics of emotional states in the Id, ego and super-ego as they relate to early childhood developments and processes. At the heart of psychological processes, according to Freud, is the ego, which he envisions as battling with three forces: the id, the super-ego, and the outside world.^[8] The id is the unconscious reservoir of libido, the psychic energy that fuels instincts and psychic processes. The ego serves as the general manager of personality, making decisions regarding the pleasures that will be pursued at the id's demand, the person's safety requirements, and the moral dictates of the superego that will be followed. The superego refers to the repository of an individual's moral values, divided into the conscience – the internalization of a society's rules and regulations – and the ego-ideal – the internalization of one's goals.^[14] Hence, the basic psychodynamic model focuses on the dynamic interactions between the id, ego, and superego.^[15] Psychodynamics, subsequently, attempts to explain or interpret behaviour or mental states in terms of innate emotional forces or processes.

History

Ernst von Brücke, early developer of psychodynamics

Freud used the term psychodynamics to describe the processes of the mind as flows of psychological energy (libido) in an organically complex brain.^[2] The idea for this came from his first year adviser, Ernst von Brücke at the University of Vienna, who held the view that all living organisms, including humans, are basically energy-systems to which the principle of the conservation of energy applies.^[16] This principle states that "the total amount of energy in any given physical system is always constant, that energy quanta can be changed but not annihilated, and that consequently when energy is moved from one part of the system, it must reappear in another part."^[16] This principle is at the very root of Freud's ideas, whereby libido, which is primarily seen as sexual energy, is transformed into other behaviours. However, it is now clear that the term energy in physics means something quite different from the term energy in relation to mental functioning.

Psychodynamics was initially further developed by Carl Jung, Alfred Adler and Melanie Klein.^[9]^[10] By the mid-1940s and into the 1950s, the general application of the "psychodynamic theory" had been well established.^{[citation needed]}

In his 1988 book Introduction to Psychodynamics – a New Synthesis, psychiatrist Mardi J. Horowitz states that his own interest and fascination with psychodynamics began during the 1950s, when he heard Ralph Greenson, a popular local psychoanalyst who spoke to the public on topics such as "People who Hate", speak on the radio at UCLA. In his radio discussion, according to Horowitz, he "vividly described neurotic behavior and unconscious mental processes and linked psychodynamics theory directly to everyday life."^[17]

In the 1950s, American psychiatrist Eric Berne built on Freud's psychodynamic model, particularly that of the "ego states", to develop a psychology of human interactions called transactional analysis^[18] which, according to physician James R. Allen, is a "cognitive-behavioral approach to treatment and that it is a very effective way of dealing with internal models of self and others as well as other psychodynamic issues.".^[18]

Around the 1970s, a growing number of researchers began departing from the psychodynamics model and Freudian subconscious. Many felt that the evidence was over-reliant on imaginative discourse in therapy, and on patient reports of their state-of-mind. These subjective experiences are inaccessible to others.^[19] Philosopher of science Karl Popper argued that much of Freudianism was untestable and therefore not scientific.^[20] In 1975 literary critic Frederick Crews began a decades-long campaign against the scientific credibility of Freudianism.^[21] This culminated in Freud: The Making of an Illusion which aggregated years of criticism from many quarters.^[22] Medical schools and psychology departments no longer offer much training in psychodynamics, according to a 2007 survey. An Emory University psychology professor explained, “I don’t think psychoanalysis is going to survive unless there is more of an appreciation for empirical rigor and testing.”^[23]

Freudian analysis

According to American psychologist Calvin S. Hall, from his 1954 Primer in Freudian Psychology:

Freud greatly admired Brücke and quickly became indoctrinated by this new dynamic physiology. Thanks to Freud's singular genius, he was to discover some twenty years later that the laws of dynamics could be applied to man's personality as well as to his body. When he made his discovery Freud proceeded to create a dynamic psychology. A dynamic psychology is one that studies the transformations and exchanges of energy within the personality. This was Freud’s greatest achievement, and one of the greatest achievements in modern science, It is certainly a crucial event in the history of psychology.

At the heart of psychological processes, according to Freud, is the ego, which he sees battling with three forces: the id, the super-ego, and the outside world.^[8] Hence, the basic psychodynamic model focuses on the dynamic interactions between the id, ego, and superego.^[15] Psychodynamics, subsequently, attempts to explain or interpret behavior or mental states in terms of innate emotional forces or processes. In his writings about the "engines of human behavior", Freud used the German word Trieb, a word that can be translated into English as either instinct or drive.^[24]

In the 1930s, Freud's daughter Anna Freud began to apply Freud's psychodynamic theories of the "ego" to the study of parent-child attachment and especially deprivation and in doing so developed ego psychology.

Jungian analysis

At the turn of the 20th century, during these decisive years, a young Swiss psychiatrist named Carl Jung had been following Freud's writings and had sent him copies of his articles and his first book, the 1907 Psychology of Dementia Praecox, in which he upheld the Freudian psychodynamic viewpoint, although with some reservations. That year, Freud invited Jung to visit him in Vienna. The two men, it is said, were greatly attracted to each other, and they talked continuously for thirteen hours. This led to a professional relationship in which they corresponded on a weekly basis, for a period of six years.^[25]

Carl Jung's contributions in psychodynamic psychology include:

The psyche tends toward wholeness.
The self is composed of the ego, the personal unconscious, the collective unconscious.^[26] The collective unconscious contains the archetypes which manifest in ways particular to each individual.
Archetypes are composed of dynamic tensions and arise spontaneously in the individual and collective psyche. Archetypes are autonomous energies common to the human species. They give the psyche its dynamic properties and help organize it. Their effects can be seen in many forms and across cultures.
The Transcendent Function: The emergence of the third resolves the split between dynamic polar tensions within the archetypal structure.
The recognition of the spiritual dimension of the human psyche.
The role of images which spontaneously arise in the human psyche (images include the interconnection between affect, images, and instinct) to communicate the dynamic processes taking place in the personal and collective unconscious, images which can be used to help the ego move in the direction of psychic wholeness.
Recognition of the multiplicity of psyche and psychic life, that there are several organizing principles within the psyche, and that they are at times in conflict.

References

^ What is psychodynamics? — WebMD rehashing Stedman's Medical Dictionary 28th Edition (2006), Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
^ ^a ^b Bowlby, John (1999). Attachment and Loss: Vol I, 2nd Ed. Basic Books. pp. 13–23. ISBN 0-465-00543-8.
^ https://www.apa.org/monitor/2017/12/psychoanalysis-psychodynamic
^ Adapted from Corsini and Wedding 2008; Corsini, R. J., & Wedding, D. (2008) Current Psychotherapies, 8th Edition. Belmont, CA.: Thomson Brooks/Cole. (pp. 15-17).
^ Opland, C.; Torrico, T. J. (2024). "Psychodynamic Therapy". StatPearls. PMID 39163451.
^ Fonagy, P. (2015). "The effectiveness of psychodynamic psychotherapies: An update". World Psychiatry. 14 (2): 137–150. doi:10.1002/wps.20235. PMC 4471961. PMID 26043322.
^ Lilliengren, Peter (2023). "A comprehensive overview of randomized controlled trials of psychodynamic psychotherapies". Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy. 37 (2): 117–140. doi:10.1080/02668734.2023.2197617.
^ ^a ^b ^c Freud, Sigmund (1923). The Ego and the Id. W.W. Norton & Company. pp. (4–5). ISBN 0-393-00142-3.
^ ^a ^b ^c Hall, Calvin, S. (1954). A Primer in Freudian Psychology. Meridian Book. ISBN 0-452-01183-3.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ ^a ^b Psychodynamics (1874) - (1) the psychology of mental or emotional forces or processes developing especially in early childhood and their effects on behavior and mental states; (2) explanation ! or interpretation, as of behavior or mental states, in terms of mental or emotional forces or processes; (3) motivational forces acting especially at the unconscious level. Source: Merriam-Webster, 2000, CD-ROM, version 2.5
^ Psychodynamics Archived 2007-11-16 at the Wayback Machine – Microsoft Encarta
^ Robertson, Robin; Combs, Allan (1995). Chaos theory in Psychology and Life Sciences. LEA, Inc. p. (83). ISBN 0-8058-1737-9.
^ Klimek, David (1979). Beneath Mate Selection and Marriage - the Unconscious Motives in Human Pairing. Van Nostrand Reinhold. p. 3. ISBN 0-442-23074-5.
^ Carlson, Neil, R.; et al. (2010). Psychology: The Science of Behaviour. United States of America: Pearson Education. pp. 453–454. ISBN 978-0-205-64524-4.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ ^a ^b Ahles, Scott, R. (2004). Our Inner World: A Guide to Psychodynamics and Psychotherapy. Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. (1–2). ISBN 0-8018-7836-5.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ ^a ^b Stephen P. Thornton. "Sigmund Freud (1856—1939)". Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved 2013-05-26.
^ Horowitz, Mardi, J. (1988). Introduction to Psychodynamics - a New Synthesis. Basic Books. p. 3. ISBN 0-465-03561-2.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ ^a ^b Berne, Eric (1964). Games People Play – The Basic Hand Book of Transactional Analysis. New York: Ballantine Books. ISBN 0-345-41003-3.
^ Grünbaum, Adolf (1984). The Foundations of Psychoanalysis: A Philosophical Critique. University of California. ISBN 978-0520050174.
^ Popper, Karl R. (1962). CONJECTURES AND REFUTATIONS The Growth of Scientific Knowledge. New York: Basic Books. p. 38.
^ Crews, Frederick C. (1975). Out of My System: Psychoanalysis, Ideology, and Critical Method. Oxford. ISBN 0-19-501947-4.
^ Crews, Frederick C. (2017). Freud: The Making of an Illusion. Metropolitan. ISBN 9781627797177.
^ Cohen, Patricia (November 25, 2007). "Freud Is Widely Taught at Universities, Except in the Psychology Department". New York Times. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
^ Walsh, Anthony (1991). The Science of Love - Understanding Love and its Effects on Mind and Body. Buffalo, New York: Prometheus Books. p. 58. ISBN 0-87975-648-9.
^ Hall, Calvin S.; Nordby, Vernon J. (1999). A Primer of Jungian Psychology. New York: Meridian. ISBN 0-452-01186-8.
^ niu.edu Archived 2007-06-26 at the Wayback Machine Outline of the Major Points in Carl Jung's Contributions to Psychology