Psychoanalysis(1).pptx

Psychoanalytic/ Psychodynamic Therapy Dr. Ian Grey UAEU History Psychoanalysis was the first psychotherapy Based on Freud’s theories and then adaptations by later people Psychodynamic therapy is essentially psychoanalysis with some later ideas added into it Psychodyamic Therapy Psychodynamic Psychot...

Psychoanalytic/ Psychodynamic Therapy Dr. Ian Grey UAEU History Psychoanalysis was the first psychotherapy Based on Freud’s theories and then adaptations by later people Psychodynamic therapy is essentially psychoanalysis with some later ideas added into it Psychodyamic Therapy Psychodynamic Psychotherapy is one of the 'talking therapies' designed to help people who are struggling with their mental health. It draws on theories and practices of psychoanalysis. This is based on the idea that what we experience as a conscious difficulty in the present may point to an unconscious problem which has its roots in the past. This last point is very important which we will come back to Implications You need to have some idea of Freud’s original ideas and in particular his theory of ‘mind’ He proposes that parts of the mind interact each other and these interactions are what can cause psychological problems Beware Everybody typically goes ‘ok’ to all of this. Easy to agree because it maps onto our experience Kids clearly want gratification and cant wait We all have a limited consciousness We all have morals So basically all makes sense so far but it simply describes what we all already know. Aim of Psychoanalytic Therapy Key Assumption What you are conscuously experiencing is NOT really the problem The problem is what is unconscious So having a symptom is not really the focus of therapy. The assumption is that it is unconscious Ok but what if you take this to its logical conclusion? Again It makes sense at one level that problems start in childhood. Reasonates with what most people think But the very important issue in psychoanalysis is HOW these problems start This is where things start to fall apart Example: Autism In the 1950’s Bruno Bettleheim who was a psychoanalyst fout forward an idea Autism was a reaction to what he called ‘refridgerator mothers’ This caused a lot of damage to mothers as they blamed themselves Example: Seduction Theory In the traditional account of the development of seduction theory, Freud initially thought that his patients were relating more or less factual stories of sexual mistreatment and that the sexual abuse was responsible for many of his patients’ neuroses and other mental health problems. Within a few years Freud abandoned his theory, concluding that the memories of sexual abuse were imaginary fantasies Goal of Psychodynamic Psychotherapy To make the unconscious conscious Insight—looking inside oneself and noticing something previously unseen Awareness of unconscious processes to control them deliberately, rather than being controlled by them Ok but the question is what are these unconscious processes? Are they specific memories such as trauma that cant be remembered? 22 Remember Unconscious exerts powerful influence on day-to-day and minute-to-minute lives Unconscious processes underlie all forms of psychopathology according to this approach But again what are these processes? Example: Oedipus Complex The Oedipus complex is an idea in psychoanalytic theory. The complex is an ostensibly universal phase in the life of a young boy in which, to try to immediately satisfy basic desires, he unconsciously wishes to have sex with his mother and disdains his father for having sex and being satisfied before him. Ages 36 years……. Sigmund Freud introduced the idea in The Interpretation of Dreams (1899), and coined the term in his paper A Special Type of Choice of Object made by Men (1910) There is More A positive Oedipus complex refers to a child's sexual desire for the opposite-sex parent and hatred for the same-sex parent A negative Oedipus complex refers to the sexual desire for the same-sex parent and hatred for the opposite-sex parent Freud considered that the child's identification with the same-sex parent is the socially acceptable outcome of the complex. Meanwhile, failure to move on from the compulsion to satisfy a basic desire and to reconcile with the same-sex parent leads to neurosis. Implication Depression or neurosis (now) is the result of this unresolved issue from childhood which is unconscious So an resolved oepidus complex is an unconscious process that causes current conscious problems So the issue is not that we have an unconscious but the problem is with types of processes Problem Freud proposed these things on the basis on what he thought He did so without any evidence of these processes actually being real Implication Depression or neurosis (now) is the result of this unresolved issue from childhood which is unconscious So therefore treatment becomes about trying to get this issue resolved But it probably never existed in the first place! Psychoanalysis Freud proposed the existence of a form of childhood sexuality and specifically psycho-sexual stages of development He argued that adult neurosis (functional mental disorder) often is rooted in childhood sexuality, and consequently suggested that neurotic adult behaviors are manifestations of childhood sexual fantasy and desire. Example: OCD Toilet training is the child's key anal-stage experience, occurring at about the age of two years, and results in conflict between the id (demanding immediate gratification) and the ego (demanding delayed gratification) in eliminating bodily wastes, and handling related activities (e.g. manipulating excrement, coping with parental demands). Example: OCD if the parents make immoderate demands of the child, by overemphasizing toilet training, it might lead to the development of a compulsive personality, a person too concerned with neatness and order The research on childhood has never shown that too much toilet training results in a personality disorder Freuds Idea of Evidence In Analysis of a Phobia in a Five-year-old Boy (1909), Freud presented a case study of the boy "Little Hans" (Herbert Graf, 1903–73) who had a fear of horses, as well as fear of his father. Freud posited that these two fears were related, and derived from both external factors such as the birth of his sister, and internal factors like an Oedipal desire to replace father as companion to mother So a 6 year boy has a fear of horses because unconsciously he wants his father dead and the anxiety from this becomes a fear of horses? Huh? You might ask how this theory ever came to be popular? Its due a fundamental problem with psychoanalysis. It’s a lot of theory but not a lot of evidence based thinking An opinion is not a fact and opinions can be dangerous if they have no evidence Psychoanalysis is a form of ‘truth by consensus’…we all believe this so therefor it must be true. Freud Himself There have been some very unusual ideas that have come from Freud’s original work These have been airbrushed out of history (people don’t talk about them and pretend they never happened). Its selective remembering. Think About This He claims that memories of sexual abuse are in fact fantasies which logically suggests that children have sexual fantasies This idea of children having sexual fantasies is reflected in his ideas about the opedus and electra complexes Remember Best of Babies? So these ideas about childhood sexuality persist and sexual conflicts remain a perceived cause of adult problems Yes things in the past can affect your psychological health…all therapies acknowledge this The issue is what psychoanalysts say are some of these causes and the near total lack of evidence for these causes like childhood sexual desire for parents Techniques of Psychoanalysis Many revolve around the idea that what is unconsciuous must become conscious There are several techniques that they say can be used for this Free association, projection, dream analysis Goal of Psychodynamic Psychotherapy Accessing the Unconscious Free Association Freudian Slips Dreams Resistance Defense Mechanisms Pomerantz, Clinical Psychology © SAGE Publishing, 2020. 38 Goal of Psychodynamic Psychotherapy Accessing the Unconscious Free Association Clients say whatever comes to mind without any censoring themselves Different from word association Pomerantz, Clinical Psychology © SAGE Publishing, 2020. 39 Goal of Psychodynamic Psychotherapy Accessing the Unconscious Freudian “Slips” No such thing as a random mistake, accident, or slip Getting something wrong or forgetting something reveals unconscious wishes Could be both verbal and behavioral Pomerantz, Clinical Psychology © SAGE Publishing, 2020. 40 Goal of Psychodynamic Psychotherapy Accessing the Unconscious Dreams Communicate unconscious material Dream work uses symbols to express wishes Interpretations inferential rather than factual Dreams the “royal road” to unconscious material Pomerantz, Clinical Psychology © SAGE Publishing, 2020. 41 Goal of Psychodynamic Psychotherapy Accessing the Unconscious Resistance Anxiety of unconscious thoughts and feelings being laid bare too extensively or quickly Creation of distractions or obstacles that impede exploration of thoughts and feelings Pomerantz, Clinical Psychology © SAGE Publishing, 2020. 44 Goal of Psychodynamic Psychotherapy Accessing the Unconscious Defense Mechanisms Identifying unconscious defense mechanisms and bringing them into the clients’ awareness Three forces of Freud’s structural model of the mind Id Ego Superego Pomerantz, Clinical Psychology © SAGE Publishing, 2020. 45 Goal of Psychodynamic Psychotherapy Accessing the Unconscious Defense Mechanisms Constant battle between an id demanding instant gratification and a superego demanding constant restraint Ego is mediator and compromise maker between the id and the superego Pomerantz, Clinical Psychology © SAGE Publishing, 2020. 46 Goal of Psychodynamic Psychotherapy Accessing the Unconscious Commonly acknowledged defense mechanisms Repression Projection Reaction formation Displacement Sublimation Pomerantz, Clinical Psychology © SAGE Publishing, 2020. 47 Goal of Psychodynamic Psychotherapy Accessing the Unconscious Transference Transfer of feelings, expectations, and assumptions from early relationships to therapist Clients “prejudge” therapist as a person Blank screen role of psychotherapist essential to process Countertransference Pomerantz, Clinical Psychology © SAGE Publishing, 2020. 48