```dataview list without id file.inlinks where file.name = this.file.name ``` --- creation date: 2024-09-19 18:30 modification date: Thursday 19th September 2024 18:30:48 --- Understanding Freud’s Psychoanalytic approach - some theories reject freud’s ideas - whilst others adopt or revise As counselors its important to know why some counselors follow / revise / reject Freudian concepts. First person to really see clients and create a theoretical framework # Whats the difference between? #### Psychoanalysis - one to one, counselor to therapist, is the form of therapy #### Psychoanalytic theory - built from his clinical experience of clients, typically well off upper class females. very large body of theory, expanded, and revised throughout his life #### Psychodynamic - Rooted in Freudian roots, but modified, with new interpretations, a broader term that encompasses a lot of different theories. eg. Erik Erikson 8 stages of development theory, is built on top of Freudian’s psycho sexual stages, but with additional. Object relations / ego psychology, also part of the psycho dynamic theories. # Freud’s history - grew up jewish in czech republic - not a very peaceful atmosphere: dark and unstable own family dynamic: - second marriage - father old enough to be his grandfather - lots of half siblings old enough to be uncles - mom was very young (19-20 gave birth) - star of his father’s eye. - excellent grade - had to privilege to be exempt from family meals to study - very good relationship with his mom - bad relationship with his father - saw his father acting like a coward - despised his father for being weak - moved to vienna in a short age to study to be a doctor ## His view of human nature: not a very happy theory, dark and gloomy - deterministic - doesn’t really believe in free will - people’s behavior determined by: - unconscious motivations - biological and instinctual drives - certian psychosexual events during first 5-6 years of development # Psychoanalytics Theoretical approach: - Freud’s theories cut into smaller pieces ## Dynamic Approach - Drive Theory or - Psyche - similar to “soul” That things dont happen by chance in the physical world, so similarly there should be some unconscious motives or underlying psychological for every emotion, thought, behavior, and impulse. *nothing happens by chance* ie. forgetting to set an alarm, causing you to sleep in: there should be some unconscious reason as why you forgot (nervously for a meeting, etc.) - two main instincts that affect us ### Eros: Life instincts / Generally seen as good - serve the purpose of individual and human race survival - hunger, thirst, sexual energy - growth, development, creativity - Eros related energy is referred to as libido - libido sexual drive and energy ### Thanatos: Death Instinct - tendency towards self-destruction, harm, annihilation - turned outward towards others in self-preservation - accounting for aggressive drive *Freud’s conclusion from his clinical experience: Within the psyche these two forces are always in tension. ## Topographical Approach Freud: Our human mind consists of three parts ### Conscious Something that is observable, consciously trying to do ### Preconscious Referring to materials that we are currently not aware of, but if we make an effort, we can retrieve this information. ie. long term memory ### Unconscious According to Freud, there are two categories. One part is inaccessible, too mysterious. second part: that contains parts which once was conscious, but our brain has covered or repressed into the unconscious. ie. traumatic materials if in the future: the client brings said materials, preconscious materials, etc, into a counselling setting, for the counselor to explore. the point isnt to do psychoanalysis, but to explore and understand a little bit more about the client # Case Example Mandy came for treatment, fainted a few times at work, starting to affect her mood, increase her anxiety, worried to faint more at work. referred to see a psychiatrist and counselor. psychiatrist provided psychotropic medication, but didnt work, and shes still fainting, additional checkups show no medical issues. then subsequently referred to counselor counselor: did some intake to family history, background, etc. very interstingly, the counselor found that mandy didn’t really recall much about her childhood, family, especially her parents drew a blank. counselor tried to take a psychodynamic perspective, explored her childhood relationship with parents, but bit by bit, through sessions eventually able to recall more with her mother. seemed like poor relationship with mother, not favorite child, negative memories, criticized, etc. recalled several episodes of unhappy memories. when her mom died, she refused to goto the funeral, and blamed by other family members for not going. the more she recalled, the fainting episodes at work decreased. after mandy vented a lot of negative memories, some more positive memories with the mom also started to surface, and eventually she stopped fainting. according to freudian theory: the client used a lot of psychic energy to repress this, but sometimes it can be too much, at the end, her mind or body is giving some signal, so as to release the psychic tension. ## Developmental Stage Approach - 5 stages of psychosexual development - source of pleasure is different at different time - Oral / anal / phallic According to freud oral: - if child is hungry and fed in timely manner - safe, secure, trusted - if child was not being fulfilled or handled properly - personality wise: oral fixation, smoking, drinking, eating, argumentative Anal: - first tension - kid has to learn to hold the tension to the constraints of reality - hold / release tension - if not handled correctly - stingy with money, overspending - poor sense of executive control, emotional, financial Phallic: - sexual curiousity - interested in the physical differences between sexes and individuals - start to have sexual feelings towards opposite sex parent - But they also realize that its impossible to compete with the same sex parent - so the child has to learn to resolve these issues - and deify the same sex parent oedipus complex: refers to boys suffering from castration anxiety electra complex girls: penile envy ## The Structural Approach Id: Biological component - Based on the pleasure principle and primary process thought - ie. when child is born - cries when it wants attention - eats when it wants to eat - laughs when it wants to laugh - very impulsive - driven by its primitive pleasure Ego: Psychological component - based on the reality principle and secondary thought process - some awareness of self - when toddlers learn to say no. Superego: Social component - contains conscience and the ego-ideal - moral component - sense of guilt, internalized values - someone or something who has very high moral values that you want to model or imitate - developed in two ways - carrot / stick - beat you up / shame - positive motivation ![[IMG_0811-20240930.png]] # Defense Mechanisms * Developed to ward off unacceptable id impulses that are at odds with superego standards or that would result in problems within the real world. *In other words, defense mechanisms help to combat anxiety* - **Repression** - is the involuntary / unconscious removal of memory from conscious to unconscious - **Denial** - refusal to believe reality, unconscious - **Reaction formation**- unconscious thoughts or feelings that are too painful or unacceptable, that are changed to opposite form. ie. affectionate feelings that are not societally accepted switched to hateful rejection. - **Projection** - unacceptable qualities in oneself are seen in others. ie. saying others are aggressive when the self is aggressive. Frequently seen in counseling settings. - **Displacement** - taking frustrations out on an innocent or a safer target. Ie. boss yells at you, you cant yell back, so you hit a dog. Frequently seen in family dynamics. - **Sublimation** - Redirecting unacceptable impulses to more socially acceptable channels. Ie. Violence / hyperactivity into sports - **Regression** - Using less sophisticated methods to deal with things. Ie. 9-10 year olds crawling in the therapy room. Moving back to a sense of safety. First of all: a lot of clients are not fully aware of their struggles, they don’t know know they are affected by the psychosexual stages, but they are still affected, ie. smoking, substance abuse. Second: the unconscious memories, are acted out. Rather than directly recalled. May surface as anxiety, defense mechanisms, etc. Third: Client will bring in a lot of these developmental baggages into therapy and project it onto counselors. At the same time, as counselors, we also have our developmental baggages, and bring them into the counselling setting and project it into the clients. *Corey Transferrence: client projected feelings countertransferrence: counselor projected feeling* # Therapeutic Process ## Goals: - To make the unconscious conscious - to help the client develop greater ego-control or self-control over unhealthy or maladaptive impulses - when you are unaware of how impulses are affecting you, the first thing to do is to be made aware so you can take action ## Techniques: - Maintain analytic framework - very reliable and consistent appearance, from clothing, furniture, blank and similar clothing like a stranger / white paper, so the client can project a lot - Free association - ie. giving a word: White, and then letting the client describe their feelings towards that word. whats interesting isn’t the actual content, but where the client gets stuck. *unconscious resistance* - Dream analysis - according to Freud - dreams are the roads to the unconscious, when its our sleep that our defense mechanisms slow down, and unconscious materials can sneak into the conscious. Dreams have a lot of symbolic meaning. - Analysis and interpretation of resistance - sometimes clients missing appointments, unwilling to engage in certain topics. hints to struggles and unconscious forces. ie. willing to talk about father, but unwilling to talk about mom. - Analysis and interpretation of transference - what the client projects into the counselor. # Notes: Very few counselors go through this route: long and harsh training. often not fully covered from the client / insurance side due to its intensity. Time limited versions of psychodynamic therapy is the trend.