Psychodynamic Theories Critical Approaches
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discover in each its essence. They may be things or thoughts, persons or events, categories or states of affairs, or they may be mental constructs such as numbers or
geometrical figures. The central structure of an experience is its intentionality the directedness of
experience toward things in the world, the property of consciousness that it is a consciousness of or about something, which is directed toward something, as it is an
experience of or about some object. The most popular idea comes from Carl R. Rogers who assumes that the best vantage point for understanding behavior is from
the internal frame of reference of the individual itself Rogers, 1951: 494. And behavior depends on how one perceives the world, that behavior is the result of
events as they are perceived and interpreted by the individual. According
to Husserl
http:plato.stanford.eduentriesphenomenology accessed on 22 November 2007, phenomenology studies the structure of various
types of experience ranging from perception, thought, memory, imagination, emotion, desire, and volition to bodily awareness, embodied action, and social activity,
including linguistic activity. In recent philosophy of mind, the term phenomenology is often restricted to the characterization of sensory qualities of seeing, hearing, etc.:
what it is like to have sensations of various kinds. It is addressing the meaning things have in people’s experiences, notably, the significance of objects, events, tools, the
flow of time, the self, and others, as these things arise and are experienced in people’s life-world”. And there is a tendency of people to develop all their capacities in ways
which serve to maintain or enhance themselves Rogers, 1959: 196. Therefore, the
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primary motive in the people’s lives is to actualize, maintain, and enhance their selves through their direct experiences with the environment or society and may also
incorporate their perceptions of others. According to Rogers, actualizing tendency comes from the experiences that
someone perceived from the world around them, in this case is the environment or the society. For example actualizing tendency of a person are wanting to achieve good
status, obtain a good job, enrich and satisfy himself as the ways the person tries to adapt himself in the condition of the society around him. Here the relationship
between the person and his environment or the society is also important. The objective situation in which a person is involved needs to be considered. It means that
a person has to know his society, how the society perceives him as an individual, and how the society responds to his behavior and his self-actualization. Therefore, one
needs to interact to others and build relationship within the society in order to assure that the society perceive and give positive responses.
And the way people actualize themselves can be identified as the way of self- searching in which a person tries to search his identity or personality within the
society where he is involved. Here, phenomenological theory can be used to analyze the external factors such as their relationship and their roles in society affecting the
two main characters searching for their self identity.