New Wave Psychology: The Psychodynamic Approach

New Wave Psychology is a branch of Psychology that formed out of the urge for many to break from the strictly sexual side of the Psychoanalytic approach according to Freud. Also known as the Psychodynamic approach, this view placed more importance on the conscious mind as opposed to the subconscious thoughts that Freud was interested in studying. The Psychodynamic approach focused more on interpersonal relationships, and how they can shape a person’s psychological development. Some of the concepts that came out of this view were the Psychosocial of development, the Neurotic Coping Strategies, and Self-perception theory according to Harry Stack Sullivan. Where Sigmund Freud focused on how a child’s mental development is formed from the Psychosexual stages, (where the sensational fixations of one’s childhood can affect the habitual fixations later

These perceptions are broken down into three views: “Bad-Me”, “Good-Me”, and “Not Me”. The “Bad-Me” view is the one that the child understands as the version of their self that is not approved by adults. The “Good-Me” view is the one that the child understands is approved by the adults in their lives and is the version of them that will most likely be rewarded for. Lastly the “Not-Me” view is the one where the child considers certain features or aspects of them self as not a part of their perception of them self. In my personal life this is similar to how I was raised. This view reminds me of the expectations that either I or my parents places on me and my struggle trying to suppress aspects of myself that I felt didn’t match that perception of my life. An example of this is in school I dreaded making a bad grade in class because it did not line up with the “Good-Me” perception of