Psychodynamic Framework Of Personality

The psychodynamic theory of personality, psychoanalysis, was the first theory of personality; a theory established by Sigmund Freud, (Wade, Tavris, & Garry, 2015). The emphasis in Freud's theory is on the movement of psychological energy, known as attachments, conflicts, and motivations, in a person's head (Wade et al., 2015). Freud believed that unconscious passions and desires have far more control over people's personality than their conscious thoughts might. These unconscious feelings, according to Freud, are expressed through art, dreams, apparent accidents, and slips of the tongue (Wade et al., 2015). The framework of personality, asserted by Freud, is based upon three major systems known as the id, the super ego, and the ego.

The id consists of two primitive, unconscious instincts, one being sex, driven by the energy known as the libido, and the instinct of avoiding death. The id is the system that promotes aggressive, self gratifying actions. This system, the id, is given to us at birth (Wade et al., 2015). In the opposite corner of Freud's psychoanalysis systems, is the superego. This system contains a person's conscience, morality, and parental authority. The superego is what provides the feelings of humiliation and dishonor when we follow the id's urges towards self satisfying, rule breaking actions. The last system to develop, the superego is majorly unconscious, but partially exists in our conscious thoughts (Wade et al., 2015). Serving as a mediator between the id and the superego, the ego represses the impulses of sexual, aggressive, and other socially inappropriate actions generated by the id until there is a socially acceptable outlet available. The ego exists in both our conscious thoughts and our unconscious instincts, representing, as Freud said, "reason and good sense". This system is the second to develop (Wade et al.,

Archetypes are commonly found in fairytales, religions, and legends. Some common archetypes include the hero, mother earth, a strong father, and a source of evil (Wade et al., 2015).

Object Relations School Developed by Melanie Klein, D. W. Winnicott, and other analysts, the object relations school stresses formative relationships and the first two years of life, and stresses further the relationship with the mother. This theory indicates that the chief problem of life is finding balance between individuality and the need for others. The balance is constantly adjusting to separation and loss, of which we react according to our experiences during the first two years of