Lecture 5: Psychoanalytic therapy Flashcards
(31 cards)
What are the basic principles of psychoanalytic therapy?
- All human beings are partially motivated by unconscious desires
- There is an interest in making the individual aware of their unconscious which helps increase choice
- There is an emphasis on exploring the ways people avoid painful and threatening feelings, fantasies, and thoughts
- Changing oneself is encountered with ambivalence
- The therapeutic relationship is an arena for exploring clients’ self-defeating psychological processes and actions
- The therapeutic relationship is an important vehicle of change
- There is an emphasis on helping clients understand how their perception of past and present perpetuates self-defeating patterns
What does the unconscious consist of?
- area of functioning where certain impulses, wishes and memories outside of awareness. But some ignore the ego as a mediator and actions are compromises between underlying desires and fear of consequences of the desire
What is fantasy in the context of psychoanalytic therapy?
Fantasies can regulate self esteem and affect, and the need for safety and mastering trauma
What is the role of primary and secondary processes?
Primary processes are a primitive form of psychic functioning, no distinction between timeframes, feelings and experiences. Primary process in dreams and fantasy
Secondary process is linked to consciousness-> more logical and sequential
What is the role of defences?
These avoid emotional pain by pushing thoughts, wishes, feelings, fantasies out of awareness like: intelluctionalization (talking about threats but with emotional distance), projection (attributing a threatening feeling or motive to another), reaction formation (deny a threatening feeling but claiming to feel the opposite), splitting (unable to integrate ambivalent feelings into 2 separate representations)
Transference
Transferring a template of a significant figure from childhood to another person. Initially seen as impediment but seen as crucial later
How has psychanalysis shifted?
From one-person psychology (objective and neutral observer) to two person psychology ( cooperation between therapist and client to deeper understanding)
Other systems of psychoanalysis
First system of psychotherapy and extends to social theory and cultural critique. Stemmed from intensive formal training and socially conservative view, viewed critically due to: increasing biology, rise of CBT, arrogance of psychoanalysts, ignoring criticism. Biases like intolerance of ambiguity and instrumental utility marginalize them
How has psychoanalysis developed?
- Started due to Charcot’s work on hypnosis and hysteria (due to splitting of consciousness). Talking about painful experiences to help Breuer and her symptoms of hysteria
- development of free association, counterindoctrination through confronting people with uncomfortable truths, seduction theory (sexual trauma underlies psychological problems), constructive view of memory, influences of libido
- Jung’s word association tests to assess response-time latencies and the delay was due to emotional complexes
- tension between Freud and Jung over theoretical differences
Pleasure principle
Libido can be activated by internal or external stimuli, which creates a state of tension and energy might need to be discharged. Repeating experiences can induce tension reduction (as part of drive theory)
Development of structural theory and ego
Id, ego and superego. This can be harsh and demanding which can lead to self-destructive feelings of guilt and rejection
Object relations theory
Developed by British Independents/ Middle group which did not align with Freud so emphasised more flexibility and spontaneity. It focusses on how people develop internal representations of relationships with others
Technical guidelines from Freud
- Therapists should maintain anonymity to function as a blank screen for uncontaminated transference
- Therapists should remain neutral so their biases would not influence the client
- Therapists should avoid gratifying the client’s immediate wishes, as these are results of unconscious wishes and fantasies
What is the current status of psychoanalysis?
- classical psychoanalysis also ego psychology (psychosexual model, Freud’s drive theory, transference)
- modern conflict theory is conflict between unconscious wishes and defenses against them is the human experience
- Lacanian theory is that ego and sense of self is an illusion from misidentifying ourselves with other’s desires. To found our true self there is a lack which is our subjective experience without language
-interpersonal psychoanalysis is that human relatedness motivates people so understanding needed for therapeutic relationship-> relational psychoanalysis rejected Freud’s drive theory - Kohut looks at processes in cohesive sense of self, vitality and self-esteem
Conflict theory
Argues that intrapsychic conflict and the compromise from wishes and styles of defence to contribute to different personalities like intellectualization to hide threatening emotions, phobic personality to displace intrapsychic conflict to external objects, hysterical personality desires emotional intimacy against emotionality and seductiveness
Internalization
Process of establishing internal objects but can varies
Attachment theory
instinctive need to stay to attachment figures, can develop representations of actions to allow them to stay close in comparison to actions that do not help survival through internal working models. This theory stems from interactions, but object relations theory is a combination of experiences and unconscious wishes and fantasies
What does Klein argue?
Instinctual passions of love and aggression related to unconscious fantasies about relationships. Projective identification is that infants can’t tolerate own aggression and stems from others. Splitting develops and then more emotional maturity
What does Fairbairn argue?
Internal objects form when individual withdraws from external reality due to an unavailable, frustrating, traumatizing caregiver. Fantasized relationships become part of sense of self, and can project old relationships onto others
Developmental arrest models
Psychological problems arise due to caregivers failure to provide an optimal envionment, can lead to developing false sense of self. Optimal disillusionment is frustrating the omnipotence so no problems arise and infant accepts the change. Goal is to mimic this relationship in therapy to make this change
Difference between psychoanalysis and psychodynamic psychotherapy
Psychoanalysis: long-term, intensive, open-ended, Freud’s guidelines
Psychodynamic: short-term, less intensive, pre-planned
Therapeutic alliance
Distinguish between distorted aspects due to transference and the actual alliance based on rational and undistorted thinking. Strength depends on tasks and goals. Therapeutic bond is degree of trust in therapist
Countertransference
Therapist’s feelings and reactions to the client’s transference stemming from unresolved conflicts, as based on Freud’s ideas. Today, countertransference is seen as all the reactions the therapist shows to the client. This can be seen as a useful source of information for the therapist
Resistance
Resists change or undermine, seen as main way for defenses to show themselves. Client should not be blamed for not cooperating, should be seen as intrinsic part of psychic functioning
