Psychodynamic Approach Essay
The first psychological theory I am using is the Psychodynamic Approach which was created by Sigmund Freud, Freud believed that early childhood experiences give an explanation for the behaviour you have when you are an adult, he believed that you develop a mental and emotional state from birth to adolescence which is when your personality is set as you have been influenced by family and friends at this point in life. In this theory there are three levels of mind. The first level of mind is conscious, this is where we think and become aware of what is around us, the second level of mind is pre-conscious, this is where we store memories and information that is important to us, we can access this information at anytime with some encouragement,
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the third level of mind is unconscious, this is where thoughts, desires, fears we are not aware of are stored and hidden, such as an bad experience from the past you do not want to remember. In addition to this there are also three parts of the personality in this theory, the first part is id, which is what you are born with, this part of your personality is selfish and unrealistic as this is the childlike part of our personality, the second part is ego, this develops from id, this develops as you realise you cannot get everything you want, we know how to stop and think of our actions as this is the adultlike part of our personality, the third part of our personality is super ego, this also develops from id, this develops when you are making others aware of rules and knowing right from wrong as this is the parentlike part of our personality.
The strengths of the Psychodynamic Approach would be that this theory will help her remember things easier as there is ways the conscious mind can be shown and taught things, another strength would be that the care workers can determine what part of personality she is using to figure out how they should speak to Sandra.
This theory will help her to remember things as care workers will try their best to help make her conscious mind aware of her memories that have been forgotten because of her dementia by using pictures and notes. This theory would also help the care workers can determine what part of personality she is using which is childlike because of her dementia and stroke affecting her understanding and thinking so they would communicate and talk to her in a childlike manner to help her understand what is going on, this would help her process her thinking quicker as what the care workers are asking would be said in a simple childlike way, this could help Sandra trust her care workers more. The weaknesses of this theory would be if the wrong part of personality is determined and the carers use the wrong talking manner, another weakness would be that carers might not be able to make the conscious mind aware of what information should be stored If the wrong part of personality is determined and some care workers talk to her in a adultlike manner it could cause anger and upset which could then result in her not trusting the carers she has as she would not be able to process it as quickly which may frustrate her, if the care workers are not able to make Sandra aware of her past or present memories therefore causing her to keep on forgetting and deteriorating. This would help a care worker work effectively with Sandra as they will be able to determine what the strengths and weakness of this are and find different ways to help her such as using pictures left around the house or notes to remind her of family members or
stories.
This is relevant to Sandra making choices about her own care as the carers can try to make her conscious mind aware of the choices she can make for her care by using childlike manners towards her to make it easier for her to understand and think about it.
The second psychological theory I am using is the Albert Ellis and Rational Emotive Behaviour Theory which was created because Ellis did not believe going into your past is an effective way to achieve change unless its acted on with new insight on the situation, he believed that it is necessary to recondition your thoughts so that you can free yourself from past and present emotional problems. In this theory Ellis believes that we have rational and irrational thoughts, these can be for and against you striving for your goals such as being happy, having meaningful relationships, and having self-acceptance. Rational thoughts is where we think and do things to help us work towards goals such as go to college, these are realistic, and logical thoughts. Irrational thoughts is where our beliefs and behaviours limit us from achieving our goals, these are unrealistic, and illogical thoughts. To change our irrational thoughts there are three things that can be done, these are becoming aware of the thoughts, challenging the thoughts, and changing the thoughts. This theory includes the ABC (DE) Model, A is the activating event - the trigger, B is for belief, the thought and opinions of the event, C is the consequence, you may behave a certain way once the event has happened, D is disputing where you debate with yourself and become aware of irrational beliefs you have, and E is for effect which is where you take actions in result of the event happening and change your irrational thoughts to rational thoughts.
The strengths of the Albert Ellis and Rational Emotive Behaviour Theory would be that it helps resolve the situation Sandra is going through quickly as care workers would help her work through the ABC (DE) model to challenge her irrational thoughts rather than her being left to it on her own and not being able to work past these thoughts, another strength would be that it works effectively on depression which Sandra suffers from therefore it will work well for her as it could help her get better and be taken off antidepressants. A weakness of this theory would be that once she is done with the ABC (DE) another event could happen which could set her back to where she started and start having irrational thoughts again, another weakness would be that care workers may find it difficult to challenge Sandra’s irrational thoughts as she is suffering from depression so it may take more time to change her thoughts for the better. This would help a care worker work effectively with Sandra as they will be able to determine what the strengths and weakness of this are and find different ways to help her such as finding different ways for her to go back to daycare such as finding a new place which is accessible for her wheelchair so that she can meet new friends and not feel as isolated.
This is relevant to Sandra making choices about her own care as the carers could work through the ABC (DE) model with her and use her rational thoughts to make decisions on the care she wants to receive, this will help to work past feeling as though she is not listened to.
The third psychological theory I am using is the Maslow Hierarchy which is shown below, this was created by Abraham Maslow. The maslow hierarchy has five different stages which you can see in the diagram, you need to work up each stage of needs to achieve your full potential in life. Sandra would be at the safety needs stage as she does not feel secure or safe because of the illnesses she has as it causes her to forget things or not be able to talk properly, to work past this she should receive support from her family and her carers to use things to help her feel safer such as using a notepad or whiteboard to write things down so that she feels listened to rather than others making all her decisions.
The strengths of the maslow hierarchy would be that Sandra would be able to work past each stage by making sure she achieves each need and then can achieve her full potential, this can be done by her carers and family ensuring she works on this by using different activities such as using flashcards to remind her who certain people if her dementia has caused her to forget. Another strength would be that the hierarchy will ensure she has her mind on something that she needs to work on therefore helping her depression get better as it focuses her mind on stages she needs to achieve in life. The weaknesses of the maslow hierarchy would be that Sandra may not be able to reach her full potential as she may not be able to go past the other stages because of her dementia or the affects of her stroke. Another weakness of the maslow hierarchy would be that Sandra could go back down the hierarchy rather than up as she could lose her physiological needs which are the most important basic needs.
This is relevant to Sandra making choices about her own care as the carers could work through each stage with her and ensure she reaches and achieves her full potential in life, this can be done by her making her own choices about her care to ensure she feels confident and happy with where she is in life.
the third level of mind is unconscious, this is where thoughts, desires, fears we are not aware of are stored and hidden, such as an bad experience from the past you do not want to remember. In addition to this there are also three parts of the personality in this theory, the first part is id, which is what you are born with, this part of your personality is selfish and unrealistic as this is the childlike part of our personality, the second part is ego, this develops from id, this develops as you realise you cannot get everything you want, we know how to stop and think of our actions as this is the adultlike part of our personality, the third part of our personality is super ego, this also develops from id, this develops when you are making others aware of rules and knowing right from wrong as this is the parentlike part of our personality.
The strengths of the Psychodynamic Approach would be that this theory will help her remember things easier as there is ways the conscious mind can be shown and taught things, another strength would be that the care workers can determine what part of personality she is using to figure out how they should speak to Sandra.
This theory will help her to remember things as care workers will try their best to help make her conscious mind aware of her memories that have been forgotten because of her dementia by using pictures and notes. This theory would also help the care workers can determine what part of personality she is using which is childlike because of her dementia and stroke affecting her understanding and thinking so they would communicate and talk to her in a childlike manner to help her understand what is going on, this would help her process her thinking quicker as what the care workers are asking would be said in a simple childlike way, this could help Sandra trust her care workers more. The weaknesses of this theory would be if the wrong part of personality is determined and the carers use the wrong talking manner, another weakness would be that carers might not be able to make the conscious mind aware of what information should be stored If the wrong part of personality is determined and some care workers talk to her in a adultlike manner it could cause anger and upset which could then result in her not trusting the carers she has as she would not be able to process it as quickly which may frustrate her, if the care workers are not able to make Sandra aware of her past or present memories therefore causing her to keep on forgetting and deteriorating. This would help a care worker work effectively with Sandra as they will be able to determine what the strengths and weakness of this are and find different ways to help her such as using pictures left around the house or notes to remind her of family members or
stories.
This is relevant to Sandra making choices about her own care as the carers can try to make her conscious mind aware of the choices she can make for her care by using childlike manners towards her to make it easier for her to understand and think about it.
The second psychological theory I am using is the Albert Ellis and Rational Emotive Behaviour Theory which was created because Ellis did not believe going into your past is an effective way to achieve change unless its acted on with new insight on the situation, he believed that it is necessary to recondition your thoughts so that you can free yourself from past and present emotional problems. In this theory Ellis believes that we have rational and irrational thoughts, these can be for and against you striving for your goals such as being happy, having meaningful relationships, and having self-acceptance. Rational thoughts is where we think and do things to help us work towards goals such as go to college, these are realistic, and logical thoughts. Irrational thoughts is where our beliefs and behaviours limit us from achieving our goals, these are unrealistic, and illogical thoughts. To change our irrational thoughts there are three things that can be done, these are becoming aware of the thoughts, challenging the thoughts, and changing the thoughts. This theory includes the ABC (DE) Model, A is the activating event - the trigger, B is for belief, the thought and opinions of the event, C is the consequence, you may behave a certain way once the event has happened, D is disputing where you debate with yourself and become aware of irrational beliefs you have, and E is for effect which is where you take actions in result of the event happening and change your irrational thoughts to rational thoughts.
The strengths of the Albert Ellis and Rational Emotive Behaviour Theory would be that it helps resolve the situation Sandra is going through quickly as care workers would help her work through the ABC (DE) model to challenge her irrational thoughts rather than her being left to it on her own and not being able to work past these thoughts, another strength would be that it works effectively on depression which Sandra suffers from therefore it will work well for her as it could help her get better and be taken off antidepressants. A weakness of this theory would be that once she is done with the ABC (DE) another event could happen which could set her back to where she started and start having irrational thoughts again, another weakness would be that care workers may find it difficult to challenge Sandra’s irrational thoughts as she is suffering from depression so it may take more time to change her thoughts for the better. This would help a care worker work effectively with Sandra as they will be able to determine what the strengths and weakness of this are and find different ways to help her such as finding different ways for her to go back to daycare such as finding a new place which is accessible for her wheelchair so that she can meet new friends and not feel as isolated.
This is relevant to Sandra making choices about her own care as the carers could work through the ABC (DE) model with her and use her rational thoughts to make decisions on the care she wants to receive, this will help to work past feeling as though she is not listened to.
The third psychological theory I am using is the Maslow Hierarchy which is shown below, this was created by Abraham Maslow. The maslow hierarchy has five different stages which you can see in the diagram, you need to work up each stage of needs to achieve your full potential in life. Sandra would be at the safety needs stage as she does not feel secure or safe because of the illnesses she has as it causes her to forget things or not be able to talk properly, to work past this she should receive support from her family and her carers to use things to help her feel safer such as using a notepad or whiteboard to write things down so that she feels listened to rather than others making all her decisions.
The strengths of the maslow hierarchy would be that Sandra would be able to work past each stage by making sure she achieves each need and then can achieve her full potential, this can be done by her carers and family ensuring she works on this by using different activities such as using flashcards to remind her who certain people if her dementia has caused her to forget. Another strength would be that the hierarchy will ensure she has her mind on something that she needs to work on therefore helping her depression get better as it focuses her mind on stages she needs to achieve in life. The weaknesses of the maslow hierarchy would be that Sandra may not be able to reach her full potential as she may not be able to go past the other stages because of her dementia or the affects of her stroke. Another weakness of the maslow hierarchy would be that Sandra could go back down the hierarchy rather than up as she could lose her physiological needs which are the most important basic needs.
This is relevant to Sandra making choices about her own care as the carers could work through each stage with her and ensure she reaches and achieves her full potential in life, this can be done by her making her own choices about her care to ensure she feels confident and happy with where she is in life.