Clinical Psychology (Theory, Intervention, and Research) Flashcards
Psychodynamic therapies share the following core assumptions: 1. 2. 3. 4.
- Human behavior is motivated by unconscious processes
- Early development has a profound effect on adult functioning
- Universal principles explain personality development and behavior
- Insight into unconscious processes is a key component of psychotherapy
The psychodynamic psychotherapies include: 1. 2. 3. 4.
- Freud’s psychoanalysis
- Adler’s individual psychotherapy
- Jung’s analytical psychotherapy
- Object relations therapy
Freud’s personality theory consists of two separate but inter-related theories:
1.
2.
Structural (drive) theory
Developmental theory (psychosexual development)
Freud’s Structural theory posits that personality is made up of 3 structures:
Id, Ego, SuperEgo
Id:
Developed at ____
Consists of ____
Operates on the basis of the _____ principle, meaning it seeks ____
Present at birth
Consists of person’s life or death instincts, is the source of psychic energy
Operates on the basis of the pleasure principle
Seeks immediate gratification of instinctual drives and needs in order to avoid tension
Ego
Developed at _____
Operates on the _______ principle, meaning:
The primary role is ______
Developed at 6 months old in response to the id’s inability to gratify all its needs
Operates on the REALITY principle, meaning it defers gratification of the id’s instincts until an appropriate object is available in reality, employing secondary process thinking (realistic and rational thinking and planning)
Primary role of the ego is to mediate the often conflicting demands of the Id, reality, and superego (when it later develops)
Superego
Develops at _____
Represents _______
Attempts to ________ the id’s socially unacceptable impulses
Develops at 4-5 years of age
Represents an internalization of society’s values and standards, which are conveyed to the child by his parents rewards and punishments
Attempts to completely block/shut out the id’s unwanted impulses (unlike the ego which delays them)
Freud’s developmental theory emphasizes ___________ and proposes that personality is formed ____________
The sexual drives of the id
Personality is formed during childhood as the result of experiences during five predetermined psychosexual stages of development
During each stage, the id’s libido (sexual energy) is focused on a different part of the body, and over- or under- gratification of needs at each stage results in a different personality outcome
What are Freud’s 5 psychosexual stages?
Oral Anal Phallic Latency Genital
Freud conceptualized anxiety as
An unpleasant sensation from the autonomic nervous system that functions to alert the ego to an impending internal or external threat
Internal threat- conflict between id and superego
External threat- actual threat in the external environment
The ego employs defense mechanisms when:
Defense mechanisms serve to:
The ego is unable to ward of danger through rational/realistic means
They serve to reduce anxiety
Defense mechanisms share two characteristics:
1.
2.
- They operate on an unconscious level
2. They distort or deny reality
What is the most basic defense mechanism?
Repression
This underlies all other defense mechanisms
Occurs when the id’s drives and needs are kept out of conscious awareness and maintained in the unconscious
Freud’s theory understands psychopathology to stem from:
An unconscious, unresolved conflict that occurred during childhood
Examples:
Phobia = the result of displacement of anxiety onto an object/event that is symbolic of an abject/event involved in an unresolved conflict
Depression = object loss coupled with anger toward the object turned inward
Mania = defense mechanism against libidinal or aggressive urges that threaten to overwhelm the ego
What is the goal of Freudian psychoanalytic therapy
Reduce/eliminate psychopathological symptoms by bringing the unconscious into the conscious awareness and integrating previously repressed material into the personality
Psychic determinism (Freud)
Freudian belief that all behaviors are meaningful and serve some psychological function
This principle underlies analysis (e.g., of dreams, free association)
Ex. Slips of the tongue (parapraxes) are not meaningless accidents but are expression of unconscious motives
In psychoanalysis, analysis (of dreams, free association, transference, etc) consists of a combination of these steps: 1. 2. 3. 4.
- Confrontation - making statements that help the client see the behavior in a new way
- Clarification - clarifying the client’s feelings and restating his/her remarks more clearly
- Interpretation - explicitly connecting conscious behavior to unconscious processes
- Working through - gradual assimilation of new insights into personality
Progress in psychoanalysis is attributed to:
1.
2.
3.
- Catharsis- emotional release resulting from the recall of unconscious material
- Insight - gaining understanding between unconscious processes and conscious behavior
- Working through - assimilating insights into personality
Recent modifications to Freudian theory include a __________ view of the therapeutic relationship and reconceptualization of ______________
More collaborative and egalitarian
Transference and countertransference
Recent reconceptualization of transference in psychoanalysis has moved away from _______ and instead conceptualizes transference as _______
Prior conceptualizations of transference as a distortion of reality
Current conceptualization of transference as the patient’s response to the therapist’s actual behavior and an attempt to make meaning of that behavior
In current psychoanalysis, countertransference is considered an important source of information about _______
The patient; can be an important contributor to the curative process when recognized and managed appropriately
Brief psychodynamic therapies have been developed and share the following characteristics:
1.
2.
3.
- They are time limited and target a specific interpersonal problem (usually identified in session 1)
- Begin using interpretation (connect conscious to unconscious) early in the process
- Emphasize the development of a strong working alliance
Adler’s teleological approach views behavior as:
Primarily motivated by a person’s future goals, rather than determined by past events
Adler and Freud agreed that __________
Adler disagreed with Freud about the importance of ____________ in the development of personality
All behavior is meaningful/purposeful
Unconscious instinctual forces (especially sexual drives)