The Psychoanalytic Therapy

THE PSYCHOANALYTICTHERAPY : 

THE PSYCHOANALYTICTHERAPY Reported By: Maria Reji Grace Magos ABPSY 3

Sigmund Freud : 

Sigmund Freud Born from a Viennese family of 3 boys and 5 girls His father was very authoritarian Earned his medical degree from Univ. of Vienna

Slide 3: 

had psychosomatic disorders, exaggerated fears of dying and other phobias during his early 40’s. had very little tolerance to those who diverged from his doctrines (Jung & Adler) Distinguished himself as an intellectual giant Later diagnosed with jaw cancer and died in London in 1939

Key Concepts : 

Key Concepts

View of Human Nature : 

View of Human Nature Deterministic “ Our behavior is determined by irrational forces, unconscious motivations biological and instinctual drives as these evolve through key psychosexual stages in the first 6 years of life.”

Slide 6: 

Kovel ( 1976) states that: “ Psychoanalysis teaches a person that his behavior is far more complex than had been imagined.” One can free himself from the tyranny of his past experiences through insight. Libido- understood as sexual energy - a source of energy that encompasses sexual energy but goes beyond it

Slide 7: 

Goal of life: gain pleasure and avoid pain Freud also postulated the death instinct which is responsible for aggressive drive. “ People manifest their behavior through an unconscious wish to die or to hurt themselves or others.”

Structure of Personality : 

Structure of Personality “Behaviors are obtained through the psychic energy.”

The ID : 

The ID Biological component Ruled by the Pleasure Principle - reducing tension & avoiding pain illogical, amoral and spoiled brat of personality Doesn’t think, only wishes or acts Largely unconscious

The EGO : 

The EGO Ruled by the Reality Principle the “executive” Does the realistic and logical thinking Controls consciousness and exercises censorship Seat of intelligence & rationality Distinguishes between mental images and things in the external world

The SUPEREGO : 

The SUPEREGO Judicial branch of personality Includes a person’s moral code represents the ideal strives for perfection

Functions: : 

Functions: inhibit the ID impulses Persuade the ego to substitute moralistic goals for realistic ones strives for perfection

Unconscious : 

Unconscious can’t be studied directly inferred from behavior

Clinical Evidence for postulating the unconscious: : 

Clinical Evidence for postulating the unconscious: dreams Slip of the tongue and forgetting posthypnotic suggestions material derived from free- association techniques material derived from projective techniques symbolic content of psychotic symptoms

Anxiety : 

Anxiety State of tension that motivates us to do something develops out of a conflict from the id, ego and superego

3 Kinds of Anxiety: : 

3 Kinds of Anxiety: Reality- fear of danger from the external world Neurotic- fear that the instincts will get out of hand and cause one to do something for which one will be punished Moral- fear of one’s own conscience

Ego- Defense Mechanisms : 

Ego- Defense Mechanisms Help the individual to cope with anxiety Prevent the ego from being overwhelmed Two Characteristics: Deny or distort reality Operate on the unconscious level

Slide 18: 

Repression Means of defense through which threatening and painful thoughts and feelings are excluded from awareness Denial Closing one’s eyes to the existence of threatening reality Reaction Formation Process of actively expressing the opposite impulse

Slide 19: 

Projection Attributing to others one’s own unacceptable desires and impulses Displacement Directing energy toward another object or person when the original object or person is inaccessible

Slide 20: 

Rationalization Involves explaining away failures or losses Sublimation Diverting sexual or aggressive energy into other channels, ones that are usually socially acceptable and sometimes admirable Regression Coping with anxiety by clinging to immature and inappropriate behaviors

Slide 21: 

Introjection Taking and “swallowing” the values and standards of others Identification Enhance self- worth and protect one from a sense of being a failure Compensation Masking perceived weaknesses or developing certain positive traits to make up for limitations

Erikson’s Psychosocial Perspective : 

Erikson’s Psychosocial Perspective Psychosexual and Psychosocial growth takes place together Each stage of life we face the task of establishing an equilibrium between ourselves and our social world.

Slide 23: 

Describes development in terms of the life span, divided by specific crises to be resolved Crisis- equivalent to a turning point on life when we have the potential to move forward or to regress

Comparison of Freud’s Psychosexual Stages and Erikson’s Psychosocial Stages: : 

Comparison of Freud’s Psychosexual Stages and Erikson’s Psychosocial Stages:

Counseling Implications : 

Counseling Implications Combined psychosexual and psychosocial perspective helps counselors have a useful conceptual framework for understanding developmental issues as they appear in therapy.

Slide 33: 

Relevant questions below can give direction to the therapeutic process: What are some major developmental tasks at each stage in life and how are these tasks related to counseling? What are some themes that give continuity to this individual’s life? What are some universal concerns of people at various points in life? How can people be challenged to make life- affirming choices at these points?

Slide 34: 

Relevant questions below can give direction to the therapeutic process: What is the relationship between an individual’s current problems and significant events from earlier years? What influential factors have shaped one’s life? What choices were made at these critical periods, and how did the person deal with these various crises?

Jung’s perspective on the development of personality : 

Jung’s perspective on the development of personality Jung made monumental contributions to our deep understanding of the human personality. His pioneering work sheds light on human development particularly during middle age.

Slide 36: 

Jung places central importance on the psychological changes that are associated with midlife. We need to let go of many of the values and behaviors that guided the first half of our life and confront our unconscious.

Slide 37: 

An excerpt of Freud’s letter to Jung: “ My dear Jung, Promise me never to abandon the sexual theory. This is the most essential thing of all. You see, we must make a dogma of it, an unshakable bulwark.”

Slide 38: 

Jung maintains that humans are not merely shaped by past events but also progress beyond their past. Our present personality is determined both by who and what we have been and also by the person we hope to become. His theory is based on the assumption that humans tend to move toward the fulfillment or realization of all their capabilities.

Slide 39: 

Innate and primary goal: achieving individuation or the harmonious integration of the conscious and unconscious aspects of personality

Collective Unconscious : 

Collective Unconscious All- controlling deposit and ancestral experiences Contains all archetypes

The Archetypes: : 

The Archetypes: Persona - the mask or the public face Animus - the masculine side of women Anima - the feminine side of men Shadow - most dangerous and powerful archetype - represents our dark side

Dreams have two purposes: : 

Dreams have two purposes: Prospective - help people prepare themselves for the experiences and events they anticipate in the near future Compensation function - works to bring about balance between opposites within the person

The Therapeutic Process : 

The Therapeutic Process Two goals of the Freudian Psychoanalytic Therapy: Make the unconscious conscious To strengthen the ego

Therapist’s Function and Role : 

Therapist’s Function and Role “Blank- screen Approach” An approach assuming an anonymous stance by classical analysts Engage in very little self- disclosure and maintain a sense of neutrality

Slide 45: 

“Grist for the Grill” Projections which have their origins unfinished and represented situations Their analysis is the very essence of therapeutic work

Central Function of the Analyst: : 

Central Function of the Analyst: To teach the clients the meaning of these processes so that they are able to achieve insight into their problems, increase their awareness of ways to change, and thus gain more rational control over their lives

Client’s Experience in Therapy : 

Client’s Experience in Therapy Must be willing to commit themselves to an intense long- term therapy process Come to therapy several times weekly for 3- 5 years Verbal productions are the heart of the psychoanalytic therapy

Slide 48: 

Psychoanalytic clients are ready to terminate sessions when they and their analyst agree that they have clarified and accepted their emotional problems, have understood the historical roots of their difficulties, and can integrate their awareness of past problems with their present relationships.

Classical Analysis : 

Classical Analysis Clients lie on the couch and free- associate Report their feelings, experiences, associations, memories and fantasies to the analyst Fundamental Rule - Process of free association

Relationship between the therapist and the client : 

Relationship between the therapist and the client Transference Core of the psychoanalytic approach Client’s unconscious shifting to the analyst of feelings, and fantasies that are reactions to significant others in the client’s past Allows clients to understand and resolve the unfinished business from these past relationships Treatment process involves reconstruction and relieving of the past

Slide 51: 

Takes place when clients resurrect from their early years intense conflicts relating to love, sexuality, hostility, anxiety and resentment, bring them into the present, reexperience them and attach them to the analyst If therapy is to produce change, the transference relationship must be worked through.

Slide 52: 

Working through process Consists of exploration of the unconscious material and defenses, most of which originated in the early childhood. Achieved by repeating interpretations and by exploring forms of resistance There is a constant going back to the raw data of the session in an attempt to gain new understandings of present experience

Slide 53: 

Therapy Process in which clients learn to provide themselves with reassurance rather than seeking confirmation from others in the environment. Focus is on improving self- esteem and repairing original psychological wounds received at an early age

Slide 54: 

Countertransference Reactions therapists have toward their clients that may interfere with their objectivity * Therapists are expected to develop some level of objectivity and not to react irrationally and subjectively in the face of anger, love, adultation, criticism and other intense feelings of their clients.

Therapeutic Techniques and Procedures : 

Therapeutic Techniques and Procedures Features (as opposed to traditional psychoanalysis): The therapy is geared more to limited objectives than to restructuring of one’s personality. The therapist is less likely to use the couch. There are probably fewer sessions. There is more frequent use of supportive interventions such as reassurance, expressions of empathy and support, and suggestions and of self disclosure by the therapist.

The six basic techniques of the Psychoanalytic Therapy: : 

The six basic techniques of the Psychoanalytic Therapy: Maintaining the analytical framework Refers to a whole range of procedural and stylistic factors such as the analyst’s relative anonymity, the regularity and consistency of meeting and starting and ending the sessions on time The consistent framework itself is a therapeutic factor.

Slide 57: 

Free- association Plays a central role in the process of maintaining the analytic framework One of the basic tools used to open the doors to unconscious wishes, fantasies, conflicts, and motivations. Often leads to some recollection of past experiences and at times, a releasing of intense feelings that have been blocked off Therapist’s task is to identify the repressed material that is locked in the unconscious. Blockings or disruptions in association serve as cues to anxiety- arousing materials.

Slide 58: 

Interpretation Consists of the analyst’s pointing out, explaining and even teaching the client the meaning of behavior that is manifested in dreams, fee associations, resistances and the therapeutic relationship itself Function: allow the ego to assimilate new material and to speed up the process of uncovering further unconscious material. Grounded in the therapist’s assessment of the client’s personality and of what factors in the client’s past contributed to his/ her difficulties Includes: identifying, clarifying, and translating the client’s material

Slide 59: 

General rules: Interpretation should be presented when the phenomenon to be interpreted is close to conscious awareness. Interpretation should always start from the surface and go only as deep as clients are able to go. It is best to point out resistance or defense before interpreting the emotion or conflict that lies beneath it.

Slide 60: 

Dream Analysis An important procedure for uncovering unconscious material and giving the client insight into some areas of unresolved problems Dreams have two levels of content: Latent content- hidden, symbolic and unconscious motives Manifest content- the dream as it appears to the dreamer

Slide 61: 

Dream work Process by which the latent content of a dream is transformed into the less threatening manifest content

Slide 62: 

Analysis and Interpretation of Resistance Anything that works against the progress of therapy and prevents the client from producing previously unconscious material Refers to any idea, attitude, feeling, or action (conscious or unconscious) that fosters the status quo and gets in the way of change. General rule: the therapist points out and interprets the most obvious resistances in order to lessen the possibility of clients’ rejecting the interpretation and to increase the chance that they will begin to look at their resistive behavior

Slide 63: 

Analysis and Interpretation of Transference A central technique in psychoanalysis and psychoanalytically oriented therapy Allows clients to achieve here and now insight into the influence of the past on their present functioning

Limitations and Criticisms of the Psychoanalytic Approach : 

Limitations and Criticisms of the Psychoanalytic Approach Many severely disturbed clients lack the level of ego strength needed for the treatment Anonymous role of the therapist Practical applications of the technique are limited due to time, money, and availability of trained therapists

The Case of Stan : 

The Case of Stan He is working with a female therapist Chose a female therapist to challenge himself Goal: to learn how to become less intimidated in the presence of women and to be more himself around them

Slide 66: 

He is preoccupied with drinking which is a concrete evidence of his oral fixation He never received love and acceptance during his early childhood He is still desperately searching for approval and acceptance from others.

Slide 67: 

His father was weak and was always beaten up while his mother was strong. That is why he developed a fear in women Goal if his therapy: to make the unconscious conscious to explain his behavior towards women