Psychoanalytic Therapy

self psychology

A theory that emphasizes how we use interpersonal relationships (self objects) to develop our own sense of self.

libido

The instinctual drives of the id and the source of psychic energy; Freudian notion of the life instincts.

life instincts

Instincts oriented toward growth, development, and creativity that serve the purpose of the survival of the individual and the human race.

death instincts

A Freudian concept that refers to a tendency of individuals to harbor an unconscious wish to die or hurt themselves or others; accounts for the aggressive drive.

Freudian psychoanalytic view

the personality consists of three systems: the id, the ego, and the superego

ID

The part of personality, present at birth, that is blind, demanding, and insistent. Its function is to discharge tension and return to homeostasis.

ego

The part of the personality that is the mediator between external reality and inner demands.

superego

That aspect of personality that represents one’s moral training. It strives for perfection, not pleasure.

Clinical evidence for postulating the unconscious includes the following

(1) dreams, which are symbolic representations of unconscious needs, wishes, and conflicts

(2) slips of the tongue and forgetting, for example, a familiar name

(3) posthypnotic suggestions

(4) material derived from free-association techniques

(5) material derived from projective techniques

(6) the symbolic content of psychotic symptoms

unconscious

That aspect of psychological functioning or of personality that houses experiences, wishes, impulses, and memories in an out-of-awareness state as a protection against anxiety.

Anxiety

A feeling of impending doom that results from repressed feelings, memories, desires, and experiences emerging to the surface of awareness. From a psychoanalytic perspective, there are three kinds of anxiety: reality, neurotic, and moral anxiety.

Reality anxiety

The fear of danger from the external world; the level of such anxiety is proportionate to the degree of real threat.

Neurotic anxiety

The fear that the instincts will get out of hand and cause one to do something for which one will be punished.

Moral anxiety

The fear of one’s own conscience; people with a well-developed conscience tend to feel guilty when they do something contrary to their moral code.

Ego-defense mechanisms

Intrapsychic processes that operate unconsciously to protect the person from threatening and, therefore, anxiety-producing thoughts, feelings, and impulses.

Defense mechanisms have two characteristics in common

(1) they either deny or distort reality

(2) they operate on an unconscious level

Common ego defenses

• Repression

• Denial

• Reaction Formation

• Projection

• Displacement

• Rationalization

• Sublime

• Regression

• Introjection

• Identification

• Compensation

Repression

The ego-defense mechanism whereby threatening or painful thoughts or feelings are excluded from awareness.

Denial

In denial there is an effort to suppress unpleasant reality. It consists of coping with anxiety by “closing our eyes” to the existence of anxiety-producing reality.

Reaction formation

A defense against a threatening impulse, involving actively expressing the opposite impulse.

Projection

An ego-defense mechanism that involves attributing our own unacceptable thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and motives to others.

Displacement

An ego-defense mechanism that entails redirection of some emotion from a real source to a substitute person or object.

Rationalization

An ego-defense mechanism whereby we attempt to justify our behavior by imputing logical motives to it.

Sublimation

An ego defense that involves diverting sexual or aggressive energy into other channels that are socially acceptable.

Regression

An ego-defense mechanism whereby an individual reverts to a less mature form of behavior as a way of coping with extreme stress.

Introjection

A process of taking in the values and standards of others.

Identification

As an ego defense, this may involve individuals identifying themselves with successful causes in the hope that they will be seen as worthwhile.

Compensation

An ego-defense mechanism that consists of masking perceived weaknesses or developing certain positive traits to make up for limitations.

psychosexual stages

The Freudian chronological phases of development, beginning in infancy. Each is characterized by a primary way of gaining sensual and sexual gratification.

oral stage

The initial phase of psychosexual development, during which the mouth is the primary source of gratification; a time when the infant is learning to trust or mistrust the world.

Anal stage

The second stage of psychosexual development, when pleasure is derived from retaining and expelling feces.

phallic stage

The third phase of psychosexual development, during which the child gains maximum gratification through direct experience with the genitals.

Psychosocial stages

Erikson’s turning points, from infancy through old age. Each presents psychological and social tasks that must be mastered if maturation is to proceed in a healthy fashion.

crisis

According to Erikson, a turning point in life when we have the potential to move forward or to regress. At these turning points, we can either resolve our conflicts or fail to master the developmental task.

Classical psychoanalysis

The traditional (Freudian) approach to psychoanalysis based on a long-term exploration of past conflicts, many of which are unconscious, and an extensive process of working through early wounds.

id psychology

A theory stating that instincts and intrapsychic conflicts are the basic factors shaping personality development (both normal and abnormal).

Contemporary psychoanalysis

Newer formulations of psychoanalytic theory that share some core characteristics of classical analytic theory, but with different applications of techniques; extensions and adaptations of orthodox psychoanalysis.

ego psychology

The psychosocial approach of Erik Erikson, which emphasizes the development of the ego or self at various stages of life

Latency stage

A period of psychosexual development, following the phallic stage, that is relatively calm before the storm of adolescence.

Genital stage

The final stage of psychosexual development, usually attained at adolescence, in which heterosexual interests and activities are generally predominant.

transference relationship

The transfer of feelings originally experienced in an early relationship to other important people in a person’s present environment.

free association

A primary technique, consisting of spontaneous and uncensored verbalization by the client, which gives clues to the nature of the client’s unconscious conflicts.

“working through”

A process of resolving basic conflicts that are manifested in the client’s relationship with the therapist; achieved by the repetition of interpretations and by exploring forms of resistance.

Psychodynamic Therapy

Psychoanalytically oriented psychotherapy involves a shortening and simplifying of the lengthy process of psychoanalysis.

relational analysis

An analytic model based on the assumption that therapy is an interactive process between client and therapist. The interpersonal analyst assumes that countertransference is a source of information about the client’s character and dynamics.

Transference

The client’s unconscious shifting to the therapist of feelings and fantasies, both positive and negative, that are displacements from reactions to significant others from the client’s past.

Countertransference

The therapist’s unconscious emotional responses to a client that are likely to interfere with objectivity; unresolved conflicts of the therapist that are projected onto the client.

Psychoanalytic or psychodynamic therapy differs from traditional psychoanalysis in these ways:

• The therapy has more to limited objectives than restructuring one’s personality.

• The therapist is less likely to use the couch.

• There are fewer sessions each week.

• There is more frequent use of supportive interventions such as reassurance, expressions of empathy and support, and suggestions.

• There is more emphasis on the here-and-now relationship between therapist and client.

• There is more latitude for therapist self-disclosure without “polluting the transference.”

• Less emphasis is given to the therapist’s neutrality.

• There is a focus on mutual transference and countertransference enactments.

• The focus is more on pressing practical concerns than on working with fantasy material.

6 basic techniques of psychoanalytic therapy

(1) maintaining the analytic framework

(2) free association

(3) interpretation

(4) dream analysis

(5) analysis of resistance
(6) analysis of transference

Maintaining the analytic framework

Refers to a range of procedures, such as an analyst’s anonymity, regularity, and consistency of meetings, as a structure for therapy.

Interpretation

A technique used to explore the meanings of free association, dreams, resistances, and transference feelings.

Dream analysis

A technique for uncovering unconscious material and giving clients insight into some of their unresolved problems. Therapists participate with clients in exploring dreams and in interpreting possible meanings.

Latent content

Our hidden, symbolic, and unconscious motives, wishes, and fears.

Manifest Content

The dream as it appears to the dreamer.

Dream Work

The process by which the latent content of a dream is transformed into the less threatening manifest content.

Resistance

The client’s reluctance to bring to awareness threatening unconscious material that has been repressed.

analytical psychology

An elaborate explanation of human nature that combines ideas from history, mythology, anthropology, and religion.

individuation

The harmonious integration of the conscious and unconscious aspects of personality.

Shadow

A Jungian archetype representing thoughts, feelings, and actions that we tend to disown by projecting them outward.

collective unconscious

From a Jungian perspective, the deepest level of the psyche that contains an accumulation of inherited experiences.

archetypes

The images of universal experiences contained in the collective unconscious.

persona

The mask we wear, or public face we present, as a way to protect ourselves.

animus(anima)

The biological and psychological aspects of masculinity and femininity, which are thought to coexist in both sexes.

Object-relation Theory

A newer version of psychoanalytic thinking, which focuses on predictable developmental sequences in which early experiences of self shift in relation to an expanding awareness of others. It holds that individuals go through phases of autism, normal symbiosis, and separation and individuation, culminating in a state of integration.

Object relations

Interpersonal relationships as they are represented intrapsychically.

relational model

A model that characterizes therapy as an interactive process between client and therapist in which countertransference provides an important source of information about the client’s character and dynamics.

narcissistic personality

Characterized by a grandiose and exaggerated sense of self-importance and an exploitive attitude toward others, which serve the function of masking a frail self-concept.

borderline personality disorder

A disorder characterized by instability, irritability, self-destructive acts, impulsivity, and extreme mood shifts. Such people lack a sense of their own identity and do not have a deep understanding of others.

brief psychodynamic therapy common characteristics

• Work within the framework of time-limited therapy.

• Target a specific interpersonal problem and goals during initial sessions.

• Assume a less neutral therapeutic stance than is true of traditional analytic approaches.

• Establish a rapid and strong working alliance early in the therapy.

• Use interpretation relatively early in the therapy relationship.

• Emphasizing the process of terminating therapy.

Brief psychodynamic therapy (BPT)

An adaptation of the principles of psychoanalytic theory and therapy aimed at treating selective disorders within a preestablished time limit.

time-limited dynamic psychotherapy

Through this form of psychoanalytically oriented therapy, clients gain a sense of what it is like to interact more fully and flexibly within the therapy situation. They are helped to apply to the outside world what they are learning in the office.

blank screen

An anonymous stance assumed by classical psychoanalysts aimed at fostering transference.

dialectical behavior therapy (DBT)

A blend of cognitive behavioral and psychoanalytic techniques that generally involves a minimum of one year of treatment.