Psychoanalytic Therapy

 

 

Abstract

            Psychoanalytic therapy had been founded by sigmoid Freud. There are other contributors of the therapy like Strachey and Melanie. Freud views human nature as determined by life instincts. There are three personality structures; id, ego and superego. This therapy entails various ego defense mechanisms that enable to suppress anxiety. The early life of a child is a determinant of future life. Transference and counter transference enables use of available materials to help patient resolve conflicts. There are various trends associated with this theory and Jung perceived that individuals with developed personality are responsible to take care of others.

Introduction

            Psychoanalytic therapy is an in-depth relationship between the client and therapist, directed at bringing out the buried feelings and thoughts to consciousness to bring the repressed emotions to the surface for examination. This therapy had been invented by sigmoid Freud together with other collaborators. It explains aspects like how childhood affects the perception of things in future, the personality structures, ego defense mechanisms and the Jung’s perception on personality development, some trends in psychoanalytic therapy and the deterministic of human nature by Freud. The analytic therapy is a wide theory that covers many aspects of human personality.

Founders and Contributors of Psychoanalytic Therapy

            Sigmoid Freud is the founder of psychoanalytic theory. He had been expecting that after the patient has managed to get an opportunity to meet with help therapist, they would yearn to cooperate as per the advice offered (Goldstein & Goldberg, 2006). There are other contributors of psychoanalytic therapy like Melanie Klein who had been claiming that the early mental processes of the infant relates with the object relations. James Strachey is yet another contributor of the therapy who had been pointing out that people who are neurotic suffer from distortion of memory by fantasy, parental internal imago which had been critical punitive and harsh.

Freudian deterministic view of human nature

            The human behavior is caused by unconscious motivations, irrational forces and instinctual and biological motives. This is because the motives evolve in psychosexual stages of human life at the period of birth to six years. Freud had used the term ‘libido’ with reference to sexual energy and later expounded it to all life instincts’ energy (Corey, 2017). These instincts are directed towards development, growth and creativity. He also includes death instincts. This involves the aggressive motive. People sometimes show the willingness to hurt others or die which is always unconscious wish and this is usually a challenge to human. Freud views these two instincts as great determinants of personal activities.

Id, Ego and Superego

            Sigmoid Freud came up with three systems of psychoanalysis, that is; id, ego and superego. The structure called id is usually the original source of personality and is present at birth. It is selfish and amoral and is the dark part of personality. It is usually a constitution of unconscious psychic energy (Corey, 2017). This energy works to bring about satisfaction of basic needs, desires and urges. It usually works under pressure principle that demands immediate basic needs gratification. It relies on primary process. Ego develops three years after birth. It is the executive and mental component of personality. It serves as a mediator between the demands of reality, id and superego. It prevents individuals from acting on basic urges. It acts on preconscious and conscious part of the brain. It relies on secondary process. Superego is the social component t of personality. It deals with the moral values that children derive from the parents. It focuses on perfection. It serves as a suppressor of the urges of id and enables ego to behave in a moral way. It is made of ego ideal and conscience. Conscience is made of rules under which behaviors are seen to be bad while ego ideal is composed of good deals and behaviors.

Ego Defense Mechanisms

            People always protect themselves unconsciously from pain associated with emotions. They keep away the conflicts out of the conscious part of mind using defense mechanism technique (Hentschel, Smith, Ehlers & Draguns, 2012) Below are various types of defense mechanisms:

Displacement: This involves displacement of energy to on another person or object in cases where the real object is not achievable. It is a way of relieving anxiety where a person exposes their emotions to someone else who had not been part of the establishment of the same.

Sublimation: It is diversion of aggressive or sexual energy into other activities. An individual deals with anger by engaging in an enjoyable activity.

Projection: This is where an individual attributes the unacceptable impulses and desires to others. It is used for self-deception.

Introjections: This is knowledge and understanding of other peoples’ standards and values. An example of positive form is taking the values of parents and therapists. A negative example is where the prisoner accepts the enemy’s values by identifying the aggressor.

Identification: Involves a state where an individual identifies themselves with successful aspects hoping that they would be perceived as important people. This can offer protection from a feeling of failure and improve self-worth.

Compensation: Involves development of positive features with an aim of making up for given limitations. It can enable people to prevent being seen as failures but as ones who have succeeded.

Repression: This is mostly seen in medical set ups where a patient refuses to accept a real internal aspect. It is usually the basis of many defenses and neurotic disorders.  The defense here is that the threatening thoughts are kept away from consciousness.

Denial: The patient refuses to accept a real external aspect by assuming that it is not in existence. The real emotions are distorted.

Regression: It is attempting to go back to earlier life where demands had been few.  An individual relieves the anxiety by behaving in childish behaviors like insisting to be given more attention by relatives.

Rationalization: it involves explanation of a bruised ego through coming up with nice reasons. An individual distorts perception of a given event so that the results may seem positive rather than negative.

Reaction formation: this involves expression of positive impulse when confronted with negative ones. This enables individuals to avoid any anxieties. One might show love when inside is filled with hate or mask kindness while they have cruelty.

How Childhood Determines the Present Individual’s Current Problems

            During early life when the child is strongly attached to the mother, all the mental processes are associated with the object relations. The distress associated with people in present lives is usually associated with the early life, especially if there had been extreme difficulties (Goldstein& Goldberg, 2006). The ways in which individuals perceive and respond to reality are greatly determined by situations of past unresolved conflicts which originated from childhood. The relationship between the child and parents determines the goodness or badness of an individual in future. Through the prohibitions of the parents, the child gets into a position of resolving conflicts which they experience in life.

Rationale for the Analyst Maintaining an Anonymous Role in Classical Psychoanalysis

            It enables to create self-awareness, exploration and self-understanding. The analysts offer comments on the therapeutic relationship and come out with its interpretation. (Corey, 2017).

Role of Transference and Counter-Transference

            These two aspects are very relevant in clinical work as they enable the clinicians to organize the available material into manageable and useful forms which enables to offer information concerning the care and management of the patients (Goldstein & Goldberg, 2006). Sometimes counter transference provides ideas to traumas being clarified in the treatment. The aspect can provide means in which a patient is able to come up with a translation of actions of an awful story into narrative.

Techniques in Psychoanalytic Practices

There are various techniques used in psychoanalytic practices (Corey, 2017). They are discussed below:

Maintaining the Analytic Framework: This is the whole of range of stylistic and procedural factors like; the maintenance of objectivity and neutrality, consistency and regularity of meetings and beginning and ending of sessions on time. 

Free Association: it plays an essential role in maintenance of analytical framework. The patient is usually encouraged to bring whatever that comes in their mind regardless of whether it is irrational or painful.

Dream Analysis: According to Freud, this is interpretation of the procession of unconscious thoughts when the mind is asleep.

Analysis and Interpretation of Resistance: Refers to working of things in a different direction with therapy progress and hinders the patient from getting unconscious material.

Dream Interpretation: It is used in psychoanalysis bring revelation of the unconscious thoughts.
Analysis and Interpretation of Transference: Transference involves repetition of past activities in the present. It reflects the old patterns of activities relationship as they develop in current life. The clients express negative and positive emotions and feelings to the therapist. Later, the clients get into a positron of resolving the past. In the process, the clients demonstrate emotional regression. Transference occurs when the client is in the position to resurrect the past conflicts relating to sexuality, love, anxiety, hostility and resentment.

Contemporary Trends in Psychoanalytically Oriented Therapy

Self Psychology: This involves the relations between an individual who is in a victim of emotional attachments (Corey, 2017). The emotions might appear in the residues of the past or in the world of reality.

Relational Psychoanalysis: It emphasizes the imagined and real relationships in mental disorders and psychotherapy (Corey, 2017).

Strengths and Shortcomings of Psychoanalysis from a Multicultural Perspective

Strengths from a Diversity Perspective

         If the techniques of psychoanalytic therapy could fit the practice setting of the therapist through some modification, it can be created to be appropriate for a great population (Corey, 2017). The clients can be helped by the therapists to make reviews on their situations that had affected them in good or bad ways. There is the need for the therapists to identify the barriers within themselves and how to convey counter transference via their steps.

Shortcomings from a Diversity Perspective

         The approaches of psychoanalysis are usually expensive. It is just few patients who share the values and there is prohibition of costs to many. There is also ambiguity of inherence (Corey, 2017). The intrapersonal analysis may appear as conflict against the environmental perspective and social framework of the client. Another short-coming is that psychoanalysis is much concerned with reconstruction of long-term personality than short-term.

Jung’s Perspective on the Development of Personality

            According to Jung, personality development involves element exchange between psyche functions.  There is the likelihood of the exchanges establishing reconciliation between inner desires and demands of the environment. He also perceived that the individuals with developed personality had duties to themselves and others. There are various themes in the theory of personality established by Jung which include alchemy, religion and archetypes (Clare, 2014). These themes have been centered in self-development and individualism. Jung had introduced an intrapersonal organization account at every life stage, engaging both spiritual and moral development. He assumed that there are moral aspects and tasks to being an individual, having the sense to meet the personal duties and also those of family, profession and society. Constitutional elements are greatly emphasized in Jung’s theory and even though they are usually modified by experience, the personality development is guided by archetypes which have been inherited. These archetypes are usually within personality.

Contemporary Trends in Psychoanalytic Therapy

            The first one is trend is movement towards innovations which are much technical and are in the position of making treatment more friendly. This trend emphasizes on a painful awareness and relieving suffering and pain experienced in the process of knowing the deeper personality (Henn, Sartorius, Helmchen & Lauter, 2013). Movement towards a sharper goals’ definition is the second trend. In the modern life, there has been the believe that an individual should try to reconstruct the life they had been living earlier, resolve all the conflicts that affects one psychologically or have better understanding of all transference dimensions. The third trend is scope widening of the theories related to mental aspects that entail psychoanalytic psychotherapy content matter of actual focus on various motives.

Conclusion

            The psychoanalytic therapy has been in use by many therapists to revive the buried emotions in order to examine them. According to Freud, this therapy covers aspects including how childhood affects the perception of things in future, the personality structures, ego defense mechanisms and Jung’s perception on personality development, some trends in psychoanalytic therapy and the deterministic of human nature by Freud. All these aspects have great relationship with an individual as discussed above. The analytic therapy is a wide theory that covers many aspects of human personality.

 

 

 

 

                 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reference

Clare C. (2014) Jung’s Theory of Personality: A Modern Reappraisal. Research in Analytical      Psychology and Jungian Studies. Routledge.

Corey, G. (2017). Theory and practice of counseling and psychotherapy. Australia: Thomson.

Top of Form

Goldstein, W. N., & Goldberg, S. T. (2006). Using the transference in psychotherapy. Lanham,   Md: Jason Aronson.

Hentschel, U., Smith, G. J., Ehlers, W., & Draguns, J. G. (Eds.). (2012). The concept of defense   mechanisms             in contemporary psychology: Theoretical, research, and clinical     perspectives. Springer Science &             Business Media.

Henn, F., Sartorius, N., Helmchen, H., & Lauter, H. (2013). Contemporary Psychiatry. Berlin,     Heidelberg: Springer Berlin / Heidelberg.