Assignment Psychoanalysis—Expedition into the Unconscious
Assignment: Psychoanalysis—Expedition into the Unconscious
Gateway Question 15.2: Is Freudian psychoanalysis still used? Isn’t psychoanalysis the therapy for which the patient lies on a couch? Freud’s patients usually reclined on a couch during therapy, while Freud sat out of sight taking notes and offering interpretations. This procedure was supposed to encourage a free flow of thoughts and images from the unconscious. However, it is the least important element of psychoanalysis, and many modern analysts have abandoned it.
How did Freud treat emotional problems? Freud’s theory stressed that “neurosis” and “hysteria” are caused by repressed memories, motives, and conflicts—particularly those stemming from instinctual drives for sex and aggression. Although they are hidden, these forces remain active in the personality and cause some people to develop rigid ego defenses and compulsive, self- defeating behavior. Thus, the main goal of psychoanalysis is to reduce internal conflicts that lead to emotional suffering (Fayek, 2010).
Freud developed four basic techniques to uncover the unconscious roots of neurosis (Freud, 1949). These are free association, dream analysis, analysis of resistance, and analysis of transference.
Free Association The basis for free association is saying whatever comes to mind without worrying whether ideas are painful, embarrassing, or illogical. Thoughts are simply allowed to move freely from one idea to the next, without self-censorship. The purpose of free associa- tion is to lower defenses so that unconscious thoughts and feelings can emerge (Hoffer & Youngren, 2004).
Dream Analysis Freud believed that dreams disguise consciously unacceptable feel- ings and forbidden desires in dream form (Rock, 2004). The psy- choanalyst can use this “royal road to the unconscious” to help the patient work past the obvious, visible meaning of the dream (its manifest content) to uncover the hidden, symbolic meaning (its latent content). This is achieved by analyzing dream symbols (images that have personal or emotional meanings). Psychoanalysis—Expedition into the Unconscious.
Suppose that a young man dreams of pulling a pistol from his waistband and aiming at a target as his wife watches. The pistol repeatedly fails to discharge, and the man’s wife laughs at him. Freud might have seen this as an indication of repressed feelings of sexual impotence, with the gun serving as a disguised image of the penis.
See Chapter 5, pages 178–179 and 198–199, for more information of Freudian dream theory.
BRIDGES
Analysis of Resistance When free associating or describing dreams, patients may resist talking about or thinking about certain topics. Such resistances (blockages in the flow of ideas) reveal particularly important unconscious conflicts. As analysts become aware of resistances, they bring them to the patient’s awareness so the patient can deal with them realistically. Rather than being roadblocks in therapy, resistances can be clues and challenges (Engle & Arkowitz, 2006).
Pioneering psychotherapist Sigmund Freud’s famous couch.
9781285519517, Introduction to Psychology: Gateways to Mind and Behavior with Concept Maps and Reviews, Thirteenth Edition, Coon/Mitterer – © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. No distribution allowed without express authorization.
Chapter 15514
Analysis of Transference Transference is the tendency to “transfer” feelings to a therapist similar to those the patient had for important persons in his or her past. At times, the patient may act as if the analyst is a rejecting father, an unloving or overprotective mother, or a former lover, for example. As the patient re-experiences repressed emotions, the therapist can help the patient recognize and understand them. Troubled persons often provoke anger, rejection, boredom, criticism, and other negative reactions from others. Effective therapists learn to avoid reacting as others do and playing the patient’s habitual resistance and transference “games.” This, too, contributes to therapeutic change (Fayek, 2010). Psychoanalysis—Expedition into the Unconscious.
Assignment Psychoanalysis—Expedition into the Unconscious
Psychoanalysis Today What is the status of psychoanalysis today? Traditional psychoanalysis was open-ended, calling for three to five therapy sessions a week, often for many years. Today, most patients are seen only once or twice per week, but treatment may still go on for years (Friedman et al., 1998). Because of the huge amounts of time and money this requires, psychoanalysts have become relatively rare. Nevertheless, psycho- analysis made a major contribution to modern therapies by highlight- ing the importance of unconscious conflicts (Friedman, 2006).
Many therapists have switched to doing time-limited brief psychodynamic therapy, which uses direct questioning to reveal unconscious conflicts (Binder, 2004). Modern therapists also actively provoke emotional reactions that will lower defenses and provide insights. Interestingly, brief therapy appears to accelerate recovery. Patients seem to realize that they need to get to the heart of their problems quickly (Messer & Kaplan, 2004). Psychoanalysis—Expedition into the Unconscious.
Interpersonal Psychotherapy One example of a brief dynamic therapy is interpersonal psycho- therapy (IPT), which was first developed to help depressed people improve their relationships with others (Teyber & McClure, 2011). Research has confirmed that IPT is effective for depressive disorders, as well as eating disorders, substance abuse, social phobias, and personality disorders (Fiore et al., 2008; Hoffart, 2005; Prochaska & Norcross, 2010; Talbot & Gamble, 2008).
Liona’s therapy is a good example of IPT (Brown & Barlow, 2011). Liona was suffering from depression that a therapist helped her trace to a conflict with her parents. When her father was absent, Liona adopted the role of her mother’s protector and friend. How- ever, when her father was home, she was expected to resume her role as a daughter. She was angry with her father for frequently abandoning her mother and upset about having to switch roles so often. Liona’s IPT sessions (which sometimes included her mother) focused on clarifying Liona’s family roles. Her mood improved a lot after her mother urged her to “stick to being herself.”
Is Traditional Psychoanalysis Effective? The development of newer, more streamlined dynamic therapies is in part due to questions about whether traditional psychoanalysis “works.” In a classic criticism, Hans Eysenck (1994) suggested that
psychoanalysis simply takes so long that patients experience a spontaneous remission of symptoms (improvement due to the mere passage of time).
How seriously should the possibility of spontaneous remission be taken? It’s true that problems ranging from hyperactivity to anxiety do improve with the passage of time. Regardless, researchers have confirmed that psychoanalysis does, in fact, produce improvement in a majority of patients (Doidge, 1997).
The real value of Eysenck’s critique is that it encouraged psychologists to try new ideas and techniques. Researchers began to ask, “When psychoanalysis works, why does it work? Which parts of it are essential and which are unnecessary?” Modern therapists have given surprisingly varied answers to these questions. Let’s move on to survey some of the ways modern therapies differ. Later, we will acquaint you with some of the therapies currently in use.
Important information for writing discussion questions and participation
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Please read through the following information on writing a Discussion question response and participation posts.
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Important information on Writing a Discussion Question
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Participation –replies to your classmates or instructor
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- Here are some helpful links
- Student paper example
- Citing Sources
- The Writing Center is a great resource
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