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 dynamic psychology, in its broadest sense, is an approach to psychology that emphasizes systematic study of the psychological forces that underlie 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.
The term psychodynamics is also used by some 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) in an organically complex brain.
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. Psychodynamic therapies depend upon a theory of inner conflict, wherein repressed behaviours and emotions surface into the patient’s consciousness; generally, one's conflict is subconscious.
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