Clinical: Psychodynamic Therapies

Clinical Psychology

The specialty concerned with the study, diagnosis, and treatment of psychological and behavioral disorders.

Psychodynamic Psychotherapies

A group of psychotherapies that assume 1) Human behavior is motivated largely by unconscious processes, 2) Early development has a profound effect on adult functioning, 3) Universal principles explain personality development and behavior, 4) Insight into unconscious processes is a key component of psychotherapy.

Psychoanalysis

Posits that human beings are determined by irrational forces, unconscious motivations, biological and instinctual needs and drives, and psychosexual events that occurred in the first five years of life.

Id

This consists of life and death instincts; it seeks immediate gratification to avoid tension

Birth

This is when the id forms

Pleasure

This id operates on this principle

Ego

This defers gratification of id’s needs until appropriate object is available; it employs secondary process thinking (realistic and rational); it mediates demands of id and reality, and eventually, the superego

6 months

This is when the ego develops

Reality

The ego operates on this principle.

Superego

This is the internalization of society’s values and standards via parents’ responses; it attempts to permanently block the id’s socially unacceptable impulses

4-5 years

This is when the superego develops

Oral, Anal, Phallic, Latency, and Genital

These are Freud’s 5 psychosexual stages

Anxiety

According to Freud, this alerts the ego to an impending internal or external threat (e.g., conflict between the id’s impulses and the superego or reality)

Rational processes or defense mechanisms

According to Freud, anxiety is alleviated through…

Defense Mechanisms

These serve to deny or distort reality; they operate on an unconscious level; they can be adaptive and/or maladaptive

Repression

The most “basic” defense mechanism that underlies all others. Occurs when the id’s needs and drives are kept unconscious.

Reaction Formation

The defense mechanism characterized by avoiding anxiety-evoking impulses by doing the opposite

Projection

The defense mechanism characterized by attributing a threatening impulse to another person or source

Confrontation

A technique in psychoanalysis that involves making statements that help clients to see their behavior in a new way; it typically targets _ material

Clarification

A technique in psychoanalysis that involves understanding the client’s feelings and restating them in clearer terms; it typically targets _ material

Interpretation

A technique in psychoanalysis that involves explicitly connecting current behavior to unconscious processes; it typically targets _ material

Psychic determinism

The belief that all behaviors are meaningful and serve some psychological function (e.g., parapraxes or ‘slips of the tongue’)

Catharsis

In psychoanalysis, the emotional release resulting from the recall of unconscious material; it paves the way to insight into relationships between current behavior and unconscious processes

Working Through

The final and longest stage in psychoanalysis; allows clients to assimilate new insights into their personality

Brief Psychodynamic Therapies

These therapies are time-limited, target a specific problem, use interpretation early, emphasize a strong working alliance, and view positive countertransference as more important than negative

Libido

Jung defined this as general psychic energy

Carl Jung

This theorist believed that behavior is determined by both past events and future goals and aspirations

Conscious

According to Jung, this aspect of a person’s experience is oriented towards the external world; governed by the ego; and represents the individual’s thoughts, ideas, feelings, sensory perceptions, and memories

Personal Unconscious

According to Jung, this aspect of a person’s experience contains things that were unconsciously perceived or are now repressed or forgotten

Collective Unconscious

According to Jung, this is the repository of latent memory traces that have been passed down from previous generations

Archetypes

According to Jung, these are “primordial images” that cause people to experience and understand certain phenomena in a universal way

The Self

According to Jung, this archetype represents a striving for unity of the different parts of the personality

Persona

According to Jung, this archetype is the “public mask”

Shadow

According to Jung, this archetype is the “dark side” of the personality

Anima

According to Jung, this archetype is the feminine aspect of personality

Animus

According to Jung, this archetype is the masculine aspect of personality

Introversion and Extraversion

According to Jung, these are the two attitudes that make up personality

Thinking, Feeling, Sensing, and Intuiting

According to Jung, these are the four psychological functions of personality; they all operate unconsciously, with one often dominating the conscious

Individuation

According to Jung, this is an integration of the conscious and unconscious aspects of the psyche that lead to the development of a unique identity

Mid-30s

Jung was interested in growth and development throughout the lifespan, particularly after this period

Wisdom

According to Jung, this is an important outcome of individuation; occurs in later years when a person’s interests turn spiritual and philosophical

Object-Seeking

Object Relations theorists consider this to be a basic inborn drive

Normal Infantile Autism

Mahler’s first stage of personality development; occurs in the first month of life; characterized by the child being self-absorbed and oblivious to the external environment

Normal Symbiotic

Mahler’s second stage of personality development; the child is unable to differentiate between “me” and “not me”

Separation-Individuation

Mahler’s third stage of personality development; occurs around age 4-5 months; involves four overlapping subphases (i.e., differentiation, practicing, rapprochement, and object constancy)

Differentiation

The first phase of Mahler’s separation-individuation; sometimes called “hatching”; characterized by “checking back” and comparing

Practicing

The second phase of Mahler’s separation-individuation; characterized by walking away to explore, then returning to secure base

Rapprochement

The third phase of Mahler’s separation-individuation; characterized by clinging, ambivalence, and separation anxiety

Object Constancy

The fourth phase of Mahler’s separation-individuation; characterized by security even when a caregiver is out of sight; typically by 2-3 years old

Object Relations

Melanie Klein, Ronald Fairburn, Margaret Mahler, and Otto Kernberg are all…

Splitting

According to Kernberg, Borderline Personality Disorder is due to inadequate resolution of ____ objects and object relations into “good” or “bad” components.

Psychoanalysis

This therapy is often summarized as being pessimistic, deterministic, mechanistic, and reductionistic.

Psychoanalysis

This therapy consists of both a structural (drive) theory and a developmental theory

Libido

According to Freud, this is the id’s sexual energy

Psychoanalysis

This therapy views maladaptive behavior as stemming from an unconscious, unresolved conflict that occurred in childhood

Psychoanalysis

Techniques of this therapy include analysis of free associations, dreams, resistances, and transferences

Psychoanalysis

The goal of this therapy is to reduce or eliminate psychological symptoms by bringing the unconscious into conscious awareness and integrating previously repressed material into the personality

Jung’s Analytical Psychotherapy

This therapy views maladaptive behavior as unconscious messages to the individual that something is awry with them and that present a task that demands to be fulfilled

Jung’s Analytic Psychotherapy

Techniques of this therapy include interpretations, dreamwork, analysis of transference and countertransference, and emphasis on the here-and-now and optimism/ healthy aspects of the personality

Object Relations Theory

This theory views maladaptive behavior as the result of abnormalities in early relationships with significant others (e.g., caregivers)

Object Relations Therapy

The goal of this therapy is to restore a person’s ability to relate in meaningful, realistic ways by bringing unconscious maladaptive relationship dynamics into consciousness

Object Relations Therapy

Techniques of this therapy include focus on splitting, projective identification, and other defense mechanisms that maintain pathological relationship dynamics

Orphan Annie is a Pretty Little Girl

This acronym helps to remember Freud’s psychosexual stages

True

True or False: Psychodynamic psychotherapies assume that human behavior is motivated largely by unconscious processes

False

True or False: Psychodynamic psychotherapies dismiss the role of early development on adult functioning

True

True or False: Psychodynamic psychotherapists believe that universal principles explain personality development and behavior

False

True or False: Psychodynamic psychotherapists do not believe that insight into unconscious processes is a key component of psychotherapy

Ego

This develops as the result of the id not being able to satisfy all needs

Id

According to Freud, this is the source of all psychic energy

Displacement

This is an unconscious psychological defense mechanism where a person redirects a negative emotion (like anger or fear) from the original, threatening source onto a safer, less threatening recipient

Denial

This defense mechanism involves refusing to accept the reality of a traumatic or anxiety-provoking event

Rationalization

This defense mechanism involves creating logical, socially acceptable excuses for behaviors that are driven by unacceptable unconscious impulses

Regression

This defense mechanism involves reverting to an earlier, more childlike stage of development when faced with overwhelming stress

Sublimation

This defense mechanism involves channeling unacceptable urges or emotions into productive, socially acceptable activities

Individuation

According to Jung, this is a key task of the second half of life and involves developing a unique, integrated identity

Jung’s Analytic Psychotherapy

The goal of this therapy is to bridge the gap between the conscious and the personal and collective unconscious

Adlerian

This therapy is considered a blend of psychodynamic and humanistic therapies

Adler

This theorist believed that behavior is motivated primarily by future goals