Theoretical Models of Counseling and Psychotherapy, 3rd Edition Chapter 2: Psychoanalysis Mario De La Garza, M.Ed. University of North Texas adapted from Janice Miner Holden, Ed.D.

Historical Context Age of Enlightenment/Age of Reason Perfection through science and education Age of Anxiety after WWI Victorian value of sexual restraint Anti-Semitism

Sigmund Freud (1856 – 1939) First-born and favored by his mother Before anything else, a scientist Interested in archaeology Interested in military language and imagery Memories of jealousy and sexual arousal

3 Phases of Development of Psychoanalysis Phase I (1880s – 1905) Used free association for cathartic release Phase II (1905 – 1910) Abandoned seduction theory Theorized that seduction fantasies led to neurosis Developed drive/structure model Vienna Psychoanalytical Society Phase III (1911 – 1939) Developed ideas concerning biological drives and their influence on relationships

Philosophical Underpinnings Newtonian view Conservation of energy Forces Cause and effect Positivism Empiricism Scientific method

Personality Development: Nature of Humans Function of the Psyche Energy Drives to satisfy innate biological needs Pleasure principle Primary and secondary process Cathexis and anticathexis

Personality Development: Nature of Humans Structure of the Psyche Topographical Model Conscious Preconscious Unconscious Structural Model Id Ego Superego

Personality Development: Nature of Humans

Personality Development: Nature of Humans Dreams Ego distorts and transforms id’s wishes into symbols Manifest content: what one remembers Latent content: original wish(es) Single best source for understanding unconscious mind and its primary process

Personality Development: Nature of Humans Defense mechanisms Two characteristics Deny or distort reality Operate unconsciously Three categories Avoidance Developmental Substitution Always leave a residual of anxiety

Personality Development: Role of the Environment Infantile determinism Three forms of environmental assault Privation Deprivation Trauma Familial influence Extrafamilial influence

Personality Development: Interaction of Human Nature and the Environment Nature: Drives Environmental Frustration Psychosexual Development Oral stage Anal stage Phallic stage Latent stage Genital stage

Personality Development: View of Functioning Healthy Normal cognitive abilities Absence of propensity for excessive anxiety Moderate gratification and frustration Minimal use of defense mechanisms Unhealthy Weakened/underdeveloped ego Excessive indulgence Extreme privation, deprivation, or abuse

Personality Change: Basic Principles Key process: insight (making the unconscious conscious) Where that key process is likely Not to occur To occur …and why

Personality Change: Change Through Counseling Client’s role Free association Counselor’s role Empathy Intuition Introspection Detached and objective Stages Opening Transference Working through Resolution

Personality Change: Change Through Counseling Techniques Free association Interpretation Dreamwork Addressing resistance Acknowledge and analyze Discontinue and restate at different time

Contributions and Limitations: Interface With Recent Developments Nature/nurture question Genetics research putting more emphasis on biological forces Genetics research also causing revision of blaming parents DSM 5 diagnosis Freud trained as a physician Diagnosis was part of that training

Contributions and Limitations: Interface With Recent Developments Pharmacotherapy Freud trained as a physician He wrote about possibilities Managed care and brief therapy Antithetical Technical eclecticism Techniques used by virtually every other approach to counseling

Contributions and Limitations: Interface With Recent Developments Diversity issues Theory lacks diversity Freud considered chauvinistic and heterosexist Spirituality Religion resulted from wish to regress Religion assuaged unconscious guilt Research on personality development and function Some ideas have been supported and other ideas negated by more recent research Effectiveness of psychotherapy Lack of research on efficacy

Contributions and Limitations: Summary Topics Weaknesses of theory/therapy Questionable efficacy Unavailable to many people Culture-bound Contradicts recent research Fails to account for a genuine spiritual domain Disempowering to clients

Contributions and Limitations: Summary Topics Distinguishing additions Founding theory of counseling and psychotherapy “Psychologized” Western culture Current status Some analysts are moving from a position of objectivity in relation to clients to one of intersubjectivity

References Fall, K. A., Holden, J. M., & Marquis, A. (2016). Theoretical models of counseling and psychotherapy (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Routledge.