Application of Freud’s Psychodynamic approach to Care Settings

Provision for needs to be met in early years settings
/ Provision for needs to be met in
Day care settings
Personal support, supervision, advice, chiropody, aids and adaptations, meals.
/ Provision for needs to be met in
Residential and nursing homes

Freud emphasised that childhood experiences contribute towards the individual’s adult personality. Therefore it is important that the child is protected from any form of distress so that they can develop a healthy state of mind e.g. there must be policies on bullying. / Carers should take into consideration any form of distress shown by the individual e.g. a service user may have a tendency to be aggressive to service providers. The psychodynamic perspective would explain this by saying that the individuals aggressive behaviour is due to experiencing inner turmoil and tensions and conflicts from the person’s past are projected into current situations. Service providers should not take this personally – it will be due to unresolved conflicts with one’s same sex parent. In severe cases help should be provided through the use of psychotherapy. / Freud’s ideas have become most valued in the world of therapy, where an understanding of unconscious desires, family relationships & dreams have proved invaluable to understanding what is going on in the minds of patients. Being able to share past memories helps some people to discover what is the underlying cause of their problem. Carers need to be aware of this and available if a resident wants to talk. If they feel it is ‘out of their depth’ they could refer the service user for psychoanalysis.
Toddlers need to be treated as individuals and should be given the opportunity to do things for themselves, otherwise this will cause them to develop feelings of inadequacy and self-doubt. / The elderly take great comfort in others being interested in their life and what they have experienced. Talking about their past is very therapeutic for them and should be encouraged under this approach. Day care centres are places to socialise and opportunity should be provided for this. / Carers should take into consideration any form of distress shown by the individual e.g. a service user may have a tendency to be aggressive to service providers. The psychodynamic perspective would explain this by saying that the individuals aggressive behaviour is due to experiencing inner turmoil and tensions and conflicts from the person’s past are projected into current situations. Service providers should not take this personally – it will be due to unresolved conflicts with one’s same sex parent. In severe cases help should be provided through the use of psychotherapy.
Children should be praised a lot so that they feel a sense of self-worth. Without this they may feel self doubt which can make life a lot more difficult for them. / This perspective can also be used to explain phobias. This perspective could help us to understand a service user who has a phobia of needles. Freud would say that the phobia is a symbol of an unconscious problem or past experience in childhood e.g. a patient may have been hurt by a needle or had an awful experience – poking around for a vein. Now they are older and may need blood tests, maybe insulin dependent diabetic - they would need psychoanalysis in the day care centre to get over this phobia / This perspective can also be used to explain phobias. This perspective could help us to understand a service user who has a phobia of needles. Freud would say that the phobia is a symbol of an unconscious problem or past experience in childhood e.g. a patient may have been hurt by a needle or had an awful experience – poking around for a vein. Now they are older and may need blood tests, maybe insulin dependent diabetic - they would need psychoanalysis in the residential setting to get over this phobia
Freud suggested that children have undeveloped egos. Therefore they do not have anything to balance out the pressures from the id and the superego. Therefore it is important that early years workers show children what is acceptable behaviour and help them to differentiate between what is right and wrong to develop their ego. Without help in developing this children can grow up to become individuals who do not fit into society / We need to be careful not to make assumptions about services users – their behaviour may be due to earlier childhood experiences. It is important to understand this and not to label them (stereotype them). Instead we should be recognising this and providing a support plan. / We need to be careful not to make assumptions about services users – their behaviour may be due to earlier childhood experiences. It is important to understand this and not to label them (stereotype them). Instead we should be recognising this and providing a support plan.
Freud believed that unresolved issues in the early stages of development could affect a person’s ability to cope with later life. Anyone involved in early years education has an important role to play in a child’s life according to this theory e.g. if a young child is with a practitioner who does not meet their needs adequately then the child may develop a feeling of mistrust which could last throughout their life. / Fixation at any of the psychosexual stages can result in extreme behaviours associated with that stage in adulthood – day care centres may find these behaviours hard to manage, There are now courses in day care centres for staff called ‘managing challenging behaviour’ which staff are advised to go on. / A resident who is anally retentive i.e. hates mess, is obsessively tidy and is punctual will not be able to help this. This will be because of early or harsh potty training in the anal stage (18-36 months). Service providers need to make allowances for this and realise that the resident’s characteristics are a result of their childhood and is something they have to live with or receive therapy for.
At a setting children need to be encouraged to be active and take the initiative otherwise, they find in later life that they will have little sense of purpose. / Service providers may be needed to help some service user’s deal with threatening events. For example, Mary may adopt intellectualism because she has found out she has leukaemia. Service providers will need to help Mary deal with her emotions as this defence mechanism does not help emotional feelings. Day care centres are able to offer this support. / A resident who is messy and disorganised, likewise may not be able to help it. This will be because they have not had strict rules when being potty trained or potty training was introduced too late. According to Freud service providers and users have to put up with this as it is fixed in childhood. It may also explain rebellious behaviour within the home as this type of personality lacks respect.
Psychodynamic theories have also led to childcare practitioners to ‘act out’ and use creative activities to pour out feelings that they might not otherwise be able to express; for example sadness and worry if daddy has to go into hospital for an operation. Books and toys will aid in preparing children for big events in their lives e.g. going into hospital or going on a long distance flight. / Service providers will need to be aware that individuals behave the way they do because of fixation. For example, one service user may be very sarcastic (fixation of oral stage) and service providers should try to understand why this is instead of being offended by it. / Freud would suggest that those residents who settle happily into their new home are not experiencing any inner turmoil. And will have gone through the 5 stages successfully to be content. They will also have learnt how to communicate their need earlier in life and will have had them met to be a content, stable person.
This approach may be used in a setting to explain why a child is behaving in a particular way e.g. childhood experiences before now may be the reason why a child is misbehaving or their personality may not have developed fully. This approach may help personality and behavioural issues to be recognised more efficiently. / The care worker should recognise that the client cannot control their unconscious conflicts or urges and so should not take their behaviour personally. Carers should not make assumptions about people and be aware of the importance of the client’s previous life experiences. / A well – adjusted adult will have a personality that lies between extremes and will not display extreme personality characteristics. If this is the case, a resident will need to be assessed and a care plan put in place as their may be some mental health needs.
Early experiences within first 4 years of family life greatly influence personality development – it is important that the practitioners develop a good working relationship with parents to help resolve a child’s negative early experiences i.e. they may be able to give advice to parents as part of their role. / Carers should encourage clients to express their emotions, to talk through their issues and face them. By confronting their anxiety, the carer can help them deal with their conflict in a healthier way. / Service providers need to be trained in ways of treating different residents. Early life may affect how they behave. For example, residents may love life or have little purpose in life depending on whether they were encouraged to be active as a child.
Suppression or too much focus on a child can be dangerous to healthy development of the personality – practitioners need to be aware of this when caring for children – give them independence! / Carers should encourage clients to express their emotions, to talk through their issues and face them. By confronting their anxiety, the carer can help them deal with their conflict in a healthier way.
When a child’s basic needs are met by a carer, pleasure starts to occur for that child which they build upon to become happy. We therefore need to make sure we meet their basic needs – love, food, shelter, warmth etc…
Fixation at any one stage can affect adult personality. EYPs need to ensure that children pass through each of the stages allowing children to experience their feelings without guilt or excessive pressure to conform to preconceived ideas so to prevent fixation.
Service providers need to prevent any trauma being caused and if trauma is caused, it needs to be solved so it does not affect adult personality. E.g. a child may ask to perform a solo in the school play however after doing the solo other children laugh at them. The child may experience trauma and humiliation from this and EYPs will need to resolve this so as defence mechanisms do not set in and affect adult personality.