Psychodynamics in its broadest sense, is an approach to psychology that emphasises systematic study of the psychological forces that underlie human behaviour, feelings and emotions and how they might relate to early experience. It is especially interested in the dynamic relations between conscious motivation and unconscious motivation.
It is also used by some to refer specifically to the psychoanalytical approach developed by Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) and his followers, although such use becomes confusing, because some of those followers, in particular, John Bowlby opposed the founding principles of Freud's theory, forming opposing factions. Bowlby's attachment theory, still described as 'psychodynamic' in approach, is widely considered to be the basis of most current research, and to have put the field formerly known as psychoanalysis on a more scientifically based, experimentally testable, footing.
Freud himself used the term psychodynamics to describe the processes of the mind as flows of psychological energy (Libido) in an organically complex brain. The idea for this came from his first year adviser, Ernst Brucke at the University of Vienna, who proposed in his published "Lectures on Physiology", that "all living organisms are energy-systems governed by the first law of thermodynamics, which states, in effect, that the total amount of energy in any given physical system is always constant, that energy quanta can be changed but not annihilated, and consequently that when energy is moved from one part of the system it must reappear in another part." This principle is at the very root of Freuds ideas, whereby libido, which is primarily seen as sexual energy, is transformed into other behaviours. Brucke's original statement is now discredited as Pseudoscience without foundation, because the term energy in physics means something quite different from the term energy in relation to mental functioning, making this use of the term psychodynamics particularly confusing.
In the treatment of psychological distress, psychodynamic psychotherapy tends to be a less intensive, once- or twice-weekly modality than the classical Freudian psychoanalysis treatment of 3-5 sessions per week. Psychodynamic therapies depend upon a theory of inner conflict, wherein repressed behaviours and emotions surface into the patient’s consciousness; generally, one conflict is subconscious.
Read more about Psychodynamics: Overview, History, Early French Researchers, William James and Boris Sidis - The Subconscious Mind, Sigmund Freud and Psychoanalytic Theory, Carl Jung and Analytical Psychology, John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth - Attachment Theory, Harry Harlow, Current, See Also