Psychodynamic Theories
Describe how psychodynamic theories affect individual personalities.
Sigmund Freud, the founder of the psychodynamic approach, is one of the most famous psychologists in history. The psychodynamic approach includes "all the theories in psychology that see human functioning based upon the interaction of drives and forces within the person, particular unconscious between the different structures of the personality" (McLeod, 2007). The psychodynamic approach helps describe the interaction of different processes in the mind, the ones that eventually determine the human function's that individual exhibit. There are unconscious processes that influence a person's behavior that psychodynamic theories attempt to delve into in order to explain behaviors. For example, an overly simplistic example that captures the idea begin a theory affecting someone's personality includes someone being abused when they were younger and being having self-abuse behavior, like depression. Psychodynamic theories, when working in harmony, help explain the nuances of individual behavior and the underlying causes of certain functions.
Explain how psychodynamic theories influence interpersonal relationships.
Psychodynamic theories influence interpersonal relationships, since the underlying functions of human behavior can be mostly explained by these theories. One of the psychodynamic theories, the interpersonal theory helps provide insight into the causes and cures of a mental disorder by examining a patient's interpersonal interactions with other individuals. For example, "according to interpersonal theory a depressed person's negative interpersonal behaviors cause other people to reject them. In an escalating cycle, depressed people, who desperately want reassurance from others, start to make an increasing number of requests for reassurance, and the other people (to whom those requests are made) start to negatively evaluate, avoid, and reject the depressed people (or become depressed themselves)" (Nemade, Reiss, & Dombeck, 2007). This behavior captures how the psychodynamic theories can explain certain interpersonal behaviors, in this case depression and how they interact with others. This serves as a macrocosm for how psychodynamic theories influence and can even explain the details of interpersonal behavior.
Bibliography
McLeod, S. (2007). Psychodynamic approach. Retrieved from http://www.simplypsychology.org/psychodynamic.html
Nemade, R., Reiss, N., & Dombeck, M. (2007, September 19). Psychology of depression- psychodynamic theories. Retrieved from http://www.mentalhelp.net/poc/view_doc.php?type=doc&id=13003&cn=5
