Psychology Notes on Short Note-Taking

One of the first people to develop psychological treatments for psychological disorders was Sigmund Freud. Freud believed that such disorders were caused by prior experiences, particularly early traumatic experiences. Along with Josef Breuer, he pioneered the method of psychoanalysis. In early form...

One of the first people to develop psychological treatments for psychological disorders was Sigmund Freud. Freud believed that such disorders were caused by prior experiences, particularly early traumatic experiences. Along with Josef Breuer, he pioneered the method of psychoanalysis. In early forms of psychoanalysis, the client would lie on a couch while the therapist sat out of view. This method was meant to reduce the client\'s inhibitions and allow freer access to unconscious thought processes. Treatment involved uncovering unconscious feelings and drives that Freud believed gave rise to maladaptive thoughts and behavior s (FIGURE 15.1). Techniques included free association and dream analysis. In free association, the client would say whatever came to mind and the therapist would look for signs of unconscious conflicts, especially where the client appeared resistant to discussing certain topics. In dream analysis, the therapist would interpret the hidden meaning of the client\'s dreams. The general goal of psychoanalysis is to increase clients\' awareness of their own unconscious psychological processes and how these processes affect their daily functioning. By gaining insight of this kind, the clients are freed from these unconscious influences. According to psychoanalysis, the clients\' symptoms diminish as a result of reducing unconscious conflicts. Traditional psychoanalytic therapy is expensive and time consuming, sometimes continuing for many years. Minimal empirical evidence exists for much of Freudian theorizing, however, and therefore it is not surprising that treatments for psychological disorders based on those theories are largely ineffective. Psychotherapists later reformulated some of Freud\'s ideas, and these adaptations are known collectively as psychodynamic therapy. In using this approach, a therapist aims to help clients examine their needs, defenses, and motives as a way of understanding why they are distressed. Most proponents of the psychodynamic perspective today continue to embrace Freud\'s \"talking therapy.\" They have replaced the couch with a chair, however, and the talking tends to be more conversational. Some features of contemporary psychodynamic therapy include exploring the client\'s avoidance of distressing thoughts; looking for recurring themes and patterns in thoughts and feelings; discussing early traumatic experiences; focusing on interpersonal relations and childhood attachments; emphasizing the relationship with the therapist; and exploring fantasies, dreams, and daydreams (Shedler, 2010). Some of these features, such as focusing on patterns in thoughts and feelings and addressing interpersonal relationships, are common to most forms of psychotherapy, and thus they do not distinguish psychodynamic therapy from other types of treatment (Tryon & Tryon, 2011). During the past few decades, the use of traditional psychoanalytic therapy has become increasingly controversial. A new approach to psychodynamic therapy consists of offering fewer sessions and focusing more on current relationships than on early-childhood experiences. Therapists who use this approach do not necessarily accept all of Freud\'s ideas, but they do believe that people have underlying conflicts that need to be resolved, such as their relations with other people. Proponents argue that this short-term psychodynamic therapy has been shown in research to be potentially useful for treating certain disorders, including depression, eating disorders, and substance abuse (Leichsenring et al., 2004). Other brief forms of psychodynamic therapy, such as those focusing on emotional conflicts that result from defense mechanisms, have also been found to be more effective than no treatment at all (Lilliengren et al., 2016). However, it is not clear whether the psychodynamic aspects are superior to other brief forms of therapy, such as simply talking about personal problems to a caring therapist. The opportunity to talk about one\'s problems to someone who will listen plays a role in all therapeutic relationships.