*Psychodynamic Therapies

CH. 17 - Treatment of Psychological Disorders

PSYCHODYNAMIC THERAPIES

Core Focus of Psychodynamic Therapies

  • Internal Conflict: Central to understanding the individual's psychological struggles, arising from opposing forces within the psyche.

  • Unconscious Drives: Influential yet hidden motivations guiding behavior, stemming from unresolved conflicts or early experiences.

  • Childhood Shaping Adult Personality: The premise that formative experiences during childhood significantly impact personality development in adulthood.

  • Defense Mechanisms: Psychological strategies employed to protect the individual from anxiety or social sanctions, often by distorting reality.

Goal of Psychoanalysis

  • Insight: The primary objective of psychoanalysis is to achieve conscious awareness of unconscious conflicts that generate psychological issues.

When Insight Occurs:

  • Reactions Make Sense: Clients begin to understand the origins of their behaviors and emotions.

  • Patterns Can Be Changed: Recognizing maladaptive patterns allows for the possibility of change.

  • Buried Emotion is Released: Long-repressed feelings can surface and be processed.

  • Behavior Becomes Flexible: Greater emotional understanding fosters adaptability in behavior.

  • Fewer Repeated Survival Mistakes from Childhood: By understanding past conflicts, individuals can avoid repeating the same errors.

  • Warm Idealized Emotion: Development of an emotionally supportive therapeutic environment that nurtures healing.

Core Psychoanalytic Techniques

  • Free Association:

    • A technique where the client speaks freely about any thoughts, memories, or images that come to mind without self-censorship.

    • The therapist observes for various indicators, such as:

    • Emotional Themes: Patterns of emotions that arise during discussion.

    • Contradictions: Conflicting statements that could reveal underlying issues.

    • Buried Memories: Recollections that may be significant yet unacknowledged.

    • Repetition: Recurring behaviors or themes that suggest unresolved issues.

    • Goal: This process aims to bypass the ego to allow unconscious material to surface and be addressed.

  • Dream Interpretation:

    • Dreams serve as a gateway to understanding suppressed impulses, fantasies, and emotions that the ego regards as threatening during waking life.

    • Nature of Dreams: Dreams often disguise these threatening materials to protect the dreamer from anxiety.

    • The analyst's task involves exploring:

    • Symbols: Imagery that represents deeper meanings.

    • Emotional Content: Feelings tied to the dream's narrative.

    • Recurring Themes: Patterns that emerge across multiple dreams.

    • Connections to Waking Life: How dream content relates to everyday experiences and issues.

  • Resistance:

    • Defined as any behavior or avoidance mechanism that inhibits therapeutic progress. Resistance is not an indication of laziness but rather a protective measure against anxiety.

    • Examples of Resistance Include:

    • Forgetting sessions: Intentionally or unintentionally missing appointments.

    • Arriving late: Distraction or avoidance behavior before therapy.

    • Changing subjects: Shifting discussions away from sensitive topics.

    • Joking/Deflecting: Using humor to mask discomfort or evade deeper exploration.

    • Aggression and Emotional Shutdown: Defensive techniques that block engagement with painful emotions or experiences.