Psychoanalytic Therapy

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Psychoanalytic Therapy

• a.k.a. Freudian Therapy

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Psychsexual Stages of Development

• In Freudian theory, five developmental periods
  during which particular kinds of pleasures must
  be gratified if personality development is to
  proceed normally

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The Development of Personality

• ORAL STAGE First year
• Related to later mistrust and rejection issues
• ANAL STAGE Ages 1-3
• Related to later personal power issues
• PHALLIC STAGE Ages 3-6
• Related to later sexual attitudes
• LATENCY STAGE Ages 6-12
• A time of socialization
• GENITAL STAGE Ages 12-60
• Sexual energies are invested in life

Theory and Practice of Counseling and
Psychotherapy - Chapter 4 (1)
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Oral Stage

• 0-18 monthsinfant receives satisfaction through
  sucking, eating, biting, etc. Erogenous zone is
  the mouth.
• Overindulgentgullible, dependent, and passive
• Underindulgentaggressive, sadistic person
• Oral fixated adults orient their life around
  their mouth by overeating, alcoholism, smoking,
  talking too much

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Anal Stage

• 18 months-3 yearsthe child receives satisfaction
  by having and retaining bowel movements.
  Erogenous zone is the anus.
• Fixation results in retentive or explosive
  personality
• Anal-retentivehighly controlled, compulsively
  neat
• Anal-explosivemessy, disorderly, rebellious, and
  destructive

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Phallic Stage

• 3-6 yearscenter of pleasure is the genitals,
  typically a time of exploration of pleasure
  through masturbation and playing doctor
• Child resolves the Oedipus Complex(the period of
  conflict during the phallic stage when children
  are sexually attracted to the opposite-sex parent
  and hostile toward the same-sex parent
• Castration anxiety in males and penis envy in
  girls

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Latency Stage

• Age 6 to pubertychildren repress sexual thoughts
  and engage in nonsexual activities such as
  developing social and intellectual skills
• Task is to develop successful interactions with
  same-sex peers and refine appropriate gender roles

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Genital Stage

• Adolescence ongenitals are again the erogenous
  zones.
• Individual seeks to fulfill his or her sexual
  desires through emotional attachment to members
  of the opposite sex.
• Unsuccessful outcomes lead to sexual
  relationships based on lustful desires rather
  than respect and commitment.

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The Structure of Personality

• THE ID The Demanding Child
• Ruled by the pleasure principle
• THE EGO The Traffic Cop
• Ruled by the reality principle
• THE SUPEREGO The Judge
• Ruled by the moral principle

Theory and Practice of Counseling and
Psychotherapy - Chapter 4 (2)
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Freuds Personality Structure

• IdAccording to Freud, the source of instinctual
  energy, which works on the pleasure principle
  (seeking immediate pleasure) and is concerned
  with immediate gratification.
• EgoIn Freuds theory, the rational part of the
  psyche that deals with reality by controlling the
  id while also satisfying the superego (from the
  Latin ego meaning I)

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Freuds Personality Structure

• Reality principleAccording to Freud, the
  principle on which the conscious ego operates as
  it tries to meet the demands of the id and the
  superego and the realities of the environment.
• SuperegoIn Freuds theory, the part of the
  personality that incorporates parental and
  societal standards of morality

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Psychoanalytic/Psychodynamic Theories

• Levels of consciousness
• ConsciousIn Freudian terms, thoughts or motives
  that a person is currently aware of or is
  remembering
• PreconsciousFreuds term for thoughts or motives
  that one can become aware of easily
• UnconsciousFreuds term for thoughts or motives
  that lie beyond a persons normal awareness but
  that can be made available through psychoanalysis.

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The Unconscious

• Clinical evidence for postulating the
  unconscious
• Dreams
• Slips of the tongue
• Posthypnotic suggestions
• Material derived from free-association
• Material derived from projective techniques
• Symbolic content of psychotic symptoms
• NOTE consciousness is only a thin slice of the
  total mind

Theory and Practice of Counseling and
Psychotherapy - Chapter 4 (3)
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Ego-Defense Mechanisms

• Ego-defense mechanisms
• Are normal behaviors which operate on an
  unconscious level and tend to deny or distort
  reality
• Help the individual cope with anxiety and prevent
  the ego from being overwhelmed
• Have adaptive value if they do not become a style
  of life to avoid facing reality

Theory and Practice of Counseling and
Psychotherapy - Chapter 4 (4)
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Ego Defense Mechanisms

• When the ego fails to satisfy both the id and the
  superego, anxiety occurs. In order to avoid the
  discomfort of anxiety, the ego distorts reality
  by the use of defense mechanisms.

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Ego Defense Mechanisms

• Repressionpreventing painful or dangerous
  thoughts from entering consciousness
• SublimationWorking off unmet desires or
  unacceptable impulses in activities
• DenialProtecting oneself from an unpleasant
  reality by refusing to perceive it
• RationalizationSubstituting socially acceptable
  reasons

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Ego Defense Mechanisms

• IntellectualizationIgnoring the emotional
  aspects of a painful experience by focusing on
  abstract thoughts, words or ideas
• ProjectionTransferring unacceptable motives or
  impulses to others
• Reaction formationRefusing to acknowledge
  unacceptable urges, thoughts or feelings by
  exaggerating the opposite state

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Ego Defense Mechanisms

• RegressionResponding to a threatening situation
  in a way appropriate to an earlier age or level
  of development
• DisplacementSubstituting a less threatening
  object for the original object or impulse

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Psychoanalytic Techniques

• Free Association
• Client reports immediately without censoring any
  feelings or thoughts
• Interpretation
• Therapist points out, explains, and teaches the
  meanings of whatever is revealed
• Dream Analysis
• Therapist uses the royal road to the
  unconscious to bring unconscious material to
  light

Theory and Practice of Counseling and
Psychotherapy - Chapter 4 (5)
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Transference and Countertransference

• Transference
• The client reacts to the therapist as he did to
  an earlier significant other
• This allows the client to experience feelings
  that would otherwise be inaccessible
• ANALYSIS OF TRANSFERENCE allows the client to
  achieve insight into the influence of the past
• Countertransference
• The reaction of the therapist toward the client
  that may interfere with objectivity

Theory and Practice of Counseling and
Psychotherapy - Chapter 4 (6)
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Resistance

• Resistance
• Anything that works against the progress of
  therapy and prevents the production of
  unconscious material
• Analysis of Resistance
• Helps the client to see that canceling
  appointments, fleeing from therapy prematurely,
  etc., are ways of defending against anxiety
• These acts interfere with the ability to accept
  changes which could lead to a more satisfying
  life

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Psychotherapy - Chapter 4 (7)
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Assumptions that drive Psychoanalytic Theory

• Access to unconscious functioning comes through
  the associative process
• Later mental structures have to be explained by
  earlier experiences, by turning back to the past
• Psychic continuity is a lifelong process
• Mental life has meaning

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Assumptions that drive Psychoanalytic Theory

• Determinism, the conviction that nothing that
  happens is accidental is an accepted principle
• Instinct, that is, as the source of motivation in
  bodily processes, is an accepted concept
• The assumption of the concept of the unconscious
  is necessary because conscious experiences leave
  gaps in mental life that unconscious processes
  bridge