, early developer of psychodynamics Freud used the term psychodynamics to describe the processes of the
mind as flows of
psychological energy (
libido) in an organically complex
brain. This principle states that "the total amount of energy in any given physical system is always constant, that energy quanta can be changed but not annihilated, and that consequently when energy is moved from one part of the system, it must reappear in another part." In the 1950s, American psychiatrist
Eric Berne built on Freud's psychodynamic model, particularly that of the "
ego states", to develop a psychology of human interactions called
transactional analysis which, according to physician James R. Allen, is a "cognitive-behavioral approach to treatment and that it is a very effective way of dealing with internal models of self and others as well as other psychodynamic issues". Philosopher of science
Karl Popper argued that much of Freudianism was untestable and therefore not scientific. In 1975 literary critic
Frederick Crews began a decades-long campaign against the scientific credibility of Freudianism. This culminated in
Freud: The Making of an Illusion which aggregated years of criticism from many quarters. Medical schools and psychology departments no longer offer much training in psychodynamics, according to a 2007 survey. An
Emory University psychology professor explained, “I don’t think psychoanalysis is going to survive unless there is more of an appreciation for empirical rigor and testing.”
Freudian analysis According to American psychologist
Calvin S. Hall, from his 1954
Primer in Freudian Psychology: At the heart of psychological processes, according to Freud, is the
ego, which he sees battling with three forces: the id, the super-ego, and the outside world. In the 1930s, Freud's daughter
Anna Freud began to apply Freud's psychodynamic theories of the "ego" to the study of parent-child attachment and especially deprivation and in doing so developed
ego psychology.
Jungian analysis At the turn of the 20th century, during these decisive years, a young Swiss psychiatrist named
Carl Jung had been following Freud's writings and had sent him copies of his articles and his first book, the 1907
Psychology of Dementia Praecox, in which he upheld the Freudian psychodynamic viewpoint, although with some reservations. That year, Freud invited Jung to visit him in Vienna. The two men, it is said, were greatly attracted to each other, and they talked continuously for thirteen hours. This led to a professional relationship in which they corresponded on a weekly basis, for a period of six years.
Carl Jung's contributions in psychodynamic psychology include: • The psyche tends toward wholeness. • The self is composed of the ego, the personal unconscious, the
collective unconscious. The collective unconscious contains the
archetypes which manifest in ways particular to each individual. •
Archetypes are composed of dynamic tensions and arise spontaneously in the individual and collective psyche.
Archetypes are autonomous energies common to the human species. They give the psyche its dynamic properties and help organize it. Their effects can be seen in many forms and across cultures. • The Transcendent Function: The emergence of the third resolves the split between dynamic polar tensions within the archetypal structure. • The recognition of the spiritual dimension of the human psyche. • The role of images which spontaneously arise in the human psyche (images include the interconnection between affect, images, and instinct) to communicate the dynamic processes taking place in the personal and collective unconscious, images which can be used to help the ego move in the direction of psychic wholeness. • Recognition of the multiplicity of psyche and psychic life, that there are several organizing principles within the psyche, and that they are at times in conflict. == See also ==