The main concepts of the psychodynamic perspective is the idea of the unconscious and the level in which the unconscious influences our behaviour. It takes a very deterministic approach in that all behaviour is predetermined and out of our control. Freud (1915) first introduced the idea of the conscious, and split it into the conscious and unconscious. He compared the concept to an iceberg, the unconscious being a complex; much grander selection of thoughts and feelings. An individual, according to Freud (1915), would be unaware of these emotions, so therefore any behaviour motivated by the unconscious would be out of his or her control. On the opposite side of this argument, there is the humanistic perspective. The humanistic perspective demands
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This contrasts greatly to the psychodynamic approach. However there are similarities. Both perspectives place emphasis on the development of the self and how that alters our personalities, like Jung’s (1947) emphasis on the idea of architypes. Humanistic psychologists have specifically criticized the overly deterministic nature of the psychodynamic perspective. However the humanistic approach places a lot of emphasis on the idea that an individual has complete free will of their own behaviour (Maslow 1964). Abraham Maslow (1943) argued that personal agency was essential in order for humans to be fully functional. The psychodynamic perspective suggests that all actions are out of our control and predetermined. An example of this would be the ‘Freudian slip’ (Freud 1966). Freud proposed that when an individual misspeaks, it is actually there unconscious thoughts breaking through to the conscious. This is a predetermined action, and is out of the individual’s control. Although the humanistic approach does not provide much consideration for the theory of the unconscious; for example the idea of phenomological reality which refers to an individual’s conscious awareness of their own world; there are reasons to …show more content…
Specifically, there recognition of the unconscious, the emphasis placed on childhood experiences and the motivation behind therapies. However there were some crucial differences in the overall direction of each approach; whilst the psychodynamic perspective took a completely deterministic view on behaviour, the humanistic approach favoured free will
This contrasts greatly to the psychodynamic approach. However there are similarities. Both perspectives place emphasis on the development of the self and how that alters our personalities, like Jung’s (1947) emphasis on the idea of architypes. Humanistic psychologists have specifically criticized the overly deterministic nature of the psychodynamic perspective. However the humanistic approach places a lot of emphasis on the idea that an individual has complete free will of their own behaviour (Maslow 1964). Abraham Maslow (1943) argued that personal agency was essential in order for humans to be fully functional. The psychodynamic perspective suggests that all actions are out of our control and predetermined. An example of this would be the ‘Freudian slip’ (Freud 1966). Freud proposed that when an individual misspeaks, it is actually there unconscious thoughts breaking through to the conscious. This is a predetermined action, and is out of the individual’s control. Although the humanistic approach does not provide much consideration for the theory of the unconscious; for example the idea of phenomological reality which refers to an individual’s conscious awareness of their own world; there are reasons to …show more content…
Specifically, there recognition of the unconscious, the emphasis placed on childhood experiences and the motivation behind therapies. However there were some crucial differences in the overall direction of each approach; whilst the psychodynamic perspective took a completely deterministic view on behaviour, the humanistic approach favoured free will