13 Flashcards
Psychodynamic therapy
(Psychotherapy)
seeks to bring unresolved past conflicts and unacceptable impulses from the unconscious into the conscious, where patients may deal with the problems more effectively.
Psychodynamic approaches are based on
Freud’s psychoanalytic approach to personality, which holds that individuals employ defense mechanism.
Defense mechanisms
Psychodynamic therapy
are psychological strategies individuals employ to protect themselves from unacceptable, unconscious impulses
repression
Psychodynamic therapy
is the most common defense mechanism
which pushes threatening conflicts and impulses back into the unconscious.
neurotic symptoms
Psychodynamic therapy
Since unacceptable conflicts and impulses can never be completely buried, some of the anxiety associated with them can produce abnormal behaviour in the form of what Freud called neurotic symptoms.
The therapist tries guiding patients to
Psychodynamic therapy
consider and discuss their past experiences, in explicit detail, from the time of their first memories
This process assumes that patients will eventually stumble upon long-hidden
crises, traumas, and conflicts that are producing anxiety in their adult lives, upon which, they will then be able to “work through” (understand and rectify) those difficulties.
Psychodynamic Approaches are all about
Psychodynamic therapy
exploring and understanding the unconscious.
Classic Freudian psychodynamic therapy is called
Psychodynamic therapy
psychoanalysis
Psychoanalysis
Psychodynamic therapy
is Freudian psychotherapy in which the
goal is to release hidden unconscious thoughts and feelings in order to reduce their power in controlling behaviour.
Freud believed that
Psychodynamic therapy
insight into our unconscious conflicts ultimately frees us from their power.
What are the Techniques of Psychoanalysis: Freud’s Therapy
Psychodynamic therapy
Free association & Dream interpretation
Free association:
Psychoanalysis: Freud’s Therapy
Psychodynamic therapy
Telling patients to say aloud whatever comes to mind, regardless of its apparent irrelevance or senselessness, and the analysts attempt to recognize and label the connections between what a patient says and the patient’s unconscious.
Dream interpretation:
Psychoanalysis: Freud’s Therapy
Psychodynamic therapy
Examining dreams to find clues to unconscious conflicts and problems by moving beyond the surface description of a dream (manifest content), seeking its underlying meaning
(the latent content), thereby revealing the true unconscious meaning of the dream.
Contemporary Psychodynamic Approaches
The therapist takes a more active role, controlling the course of therapy and prodding and advising the patient with considerable directness.
The therapist puts less emphasis on a patient’s past history and childhood, concentrating instead on an individual’s current relationships and specific complaints.
Evaluation of Psychodynamic Therapy
Not sure if it works
Psychodynamic treatment techniques have been controversial since Freud introduced them.
Part of the problem is the difficulty in establishing whether patients have improved after psychodynamic therapy
Critiques argue unconscious has not been proven to exist.