1. As people progress through the stages of psychosocial development, they may get fixated due to suppressed desires. As all desires is driven by libido, according to Freud, any fixation can become a sexual fixation. Thus, being fixated at the oral stage would theoretically predispose one to have some type of oral fetish. Abnormal sexual behavior can be traced to fixation or stagnation, a neurosis that is due to a previous difficulty at one of the stages of development.Freud’s theory is interesting, certainly, and has its own internal logic. However, Freud’s model is not at all scientific. Freud also focused almost exclusively on male libido, being personally perplexed by female sexual desire and by women in general (“Modules on Freud: On Psychosexual Development,” n.d.). Without any substantial research to back up his theories, Freud’s work remains theoretical. Therefore, I do not necessarily agree with the details of the theory.
However, there is no doubt that Freud is correct that the suppression of desire can cause sexual dysfunction. Sexual dysfunction can also be due to some type of trauma. The early childhood or developmental experiences that led to the sexual dysfunction might not occur in exactly...
Using psychotherapy, a person can trace their discomfort or their habitual behaviors to something that they experienced in their childhood. In fact, some hang-ups might actually be as directly traceable to psychosexual stages as Freud suggested.
Although there are some cases in which Freud’s theory of psychosocial development may prove true, it is too abstract of a theory. A major problem overall is that Freud’s theory is by no means universal. There is too much diversity in the human experience, and too many reasons why people develop sexual dysfunctions or any other problematic behavior.
2. From a modern day vantage point, the psychodynamic approach is only partly true. Of course the mother has a tremendous impact on the development of the child. Yet many children grow up without mothers and thrive, and many have distant or even abusive mothers and also learn to cope. Coping with stress due to abandonment or abuse is a complex issue. Psychological resilience depends on personality factors, and the presence of positive role models or resources that can help the individual to process the experience instead of developing any type of…
