psychodynamic approach
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PSYCHODYNAMIC APPROACH TO THERAPY
Psychodynamic Approach focused on unconscious thought processes,
which manifest themselves in an individual's behavior
patient explores unresolved issues and conflicts from the past that are believed to affect them in the present
centered around the concept that some maladaptive functioning is in play, and that this maladaption is, at least in part, unconscious.
Psychodynamic therapies focus on revealing and resolving these unconscious conflicts that are driving their symptoms
Psychodynamic therapy vs. Psychoanalysis
Freud’s theories were psychoanalytic, whereas the term ‘psychodynamic’ refers to both his theories and those of his followers. Freud’s psychoanalysis is both a theory and a therapy.
Psychodynamic therapy does not include all of the different analytical techniques and is not conducted by psychoanalytically trained analysts.
HistorySigmund Freud
• sexual desires and impulses• emotional problems originate in childhood• unconscious thoughts emerge during therapy• Psychoanalysis
Carl Jung• de-emphasis of the importance of sexuality
and aggression as motives• obstacles to prospective striving to be as
important as childhood conflicts• division of the unconscious into the personal
and the collective (the archetypes)
Alfred Adler
• also disagreed with the emphasis Freud put on sexuality as a motive
• the most important motive is the feeling of inferiority, originating in the sense of dependence and helplessness which infants experience
• focus on striving for superiority seems less abstract than Jung's concept of individuation as the goal of growth
Other schools of thought shaping Psychodynamic Therapy:
Ego Psychology (Anna Freud) - enhancing and maintaining ego function according to the demands of reality.
Object Relations Psychology (John Bowlby) - human beings are always shaped in relation to significant others
Self Psychology (Heinz Kohut) – the self as perceived in relation to the establishment of boundaries and the differentiations of self from others.
Criticism
The greatest criticism of the psychodynamic approach is that it is unscientific in its analysis of human behaviour. Psychodynamic perspective is unfalsifiable as the theories cannot be empirically investigated. Freud's theories are subjective and as much impossible to scientifically test. Case studies are based on studying only one person in detail.
major techniques used
free association recognizing resistance and transference working through painful memories and
difficult issues building a strong therapeutic alliance catharsis
features that distinguish Psychodynamic therapy:
Focus on affect and expression of emotion• encourages exploration and discussion of
the full range of a patient’s emotions• recognition that intellectual insight is not
the same as emotional insight
Exploration of attempts to avoid distressing thoughts and feelings
deals with avoidance (defense and resistance)
may take subtle forms that are difficult to recognize, such as: subtle shifts of topic when certain ideas arise focusing on incidental aspects of an experience
rather than on what is psychologically meaningful
attending to facts and events to the exclusion of affect
focusing on external circumstances rather than one’s own role in shaping events
Identification of recurring themes and patterns
recurring themes and patterns in patients’ thoughts, feelings, self-concept, relationships, and life experiences.
a patient may be acutely aware of recurring patterns that are painful or self-defeating but feel unable to escape them
OR the patient may be unaware of the
patterns until the therapist helps him or her recognize and understand them
Discussion of past experience (developmental)
psychodynamic therapists explore early experiences
past and present, and the ways in which the past tends to “live on” in the present.
how the past sheds light on current psychological difficulties.
free patients from the bonds of past experience
Focus on external relations
object relations and attachment aspects of personality and self-concept in
the context of attachment relationships psychological difficulties arise when
problematic interpersonal patterns interfere with a person's emotional needs
Focus on the therapy relationship. greater flexibility in interpersonal
relationships and an enhanced capacity to meet interpersonal needs.
Exploration of fantasy life. encourages patients to speak freely
about whatever is on their minds rich source of information how the person views self and others interprets and makes sense of
experience avoids aspects of experience interferes with a potential capacity to
find meaning in life.
CASE STUDY
D's Personal Background member of Breslow Orthodox Sect (Judaism) grew up in American suburb father is an academic, mother is an artist, has 3
siblings family life is important-go to camping trips
every summer immigrated to Israel and settled in Breslow set up high-level computer companies and
gave jobs to religious colleagues due to his parents’ dismay about what he did,
his mother carried out a mock funeral ceremony for him
D's Traumatic Experiences
a man threw a brick at D's car he was driving home with his children
when two men raised pistols at him and narrowly missed
he was on his way home when there was gunfire. He dove to the floor and saw blood covered bodies around him
Palestinians attacked his car with stones
Effects of Traumatic Experiences
had many nightmares would wake up exhausted did everything to avoid crowds checked and rechecked windows and doors
when in the office, synagogue or friend's house can no longer focus on the most basic computer
activity felt his livelihood was in danger suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder
(PTSD)- sleep difficulties, irritability, reduced physical mobility, phobias, concentration difficulties, hypervigilance
D's Treatment
Series of Psychodynamic sessions Dream Analysis Transference/Countertransference Action and Body oriented interventions Sensory Experiencing Desensitization Creative Self-Soothing activities
Sources:
http://nvpp.nl/JonathanShedlerStudy20100202.pdf http://psychcentral.com/lib/2006/psychodynamic-
therapy/ http://www.helptoheal.co.uk/psychodynamic-
therapy.html http://www.articlesbase.com/mental-health-articles/
the-history-of-psychodynamic-therapy-1382532.html http://www.simplypsychology.org/
psychodynamic.html http://www.jungny.com/carl.jung.13.html http://www.ryerson.ca/~glassman/psychdyn.html
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