Psychodynamic and Humanistic Perspectives - Essay Example

Comparing and Evaluating Psychodynamic and Humanistic Perspectives. Psychological theories have been conceptualized for so many reasons. Most of itis to explain human behavior, and are used for counseling, education, organizational management, etc. Two prominent psychologists have been pillars in psychological counseling: Sigmund Freud, who founded the Psychoanalytic or Psychodynamic Theory, and Carl Rogers, who founded the Person-Centered or Humanistic Theory. These two theories are the points of comparison and evaluation of this paper. The Psychoanalytic or Psychodynamic theory is premised on the belief that human nature is greatly affected by a person’s early childhood experiences and conflicts between impulses and prohibitions (Myers,1995). Its founder, Sigmund Freud’s idea of the three systems of personality, the id, ego and superego being in constant battle within a person is likened to a person’s continual debate of what is right and wrong, and then behaves according to his moral decisions. Such decisions are affected by what society dictates as well as what the person truly desires for himself (Corey, 2005). Freud views human behavior as determined by irrational forces, unconscious motivations and biological and instinctual drives evolving in the first six years of life (Pervin, Cervone & John, 2005). Although the Freudian view of psychosexual stages of development coincides with other contemporary theories on human growth and development, this writer opines that it is degrading to the human spirit. It demeans a person’s capacity to make sound judgments because he is viewed as enslaved by his biological fixations and primal needs. It is as if it implies that a person is imprisoned by his past experiences and that his horrible past determines his woeful future. To survive living with negative experiences that may have marred a person’s personality or life views, he develops “defense mechanisms” that aim to keep those traumatic experiences repressed in the unconscious (Myers, 1995). These defense mechanisms are usually practiced by everyone in their daily life not knowing that they are applications of Freudian thought. An example of a defense mechanism commonly used is ‘rationalization’. If a person has strived hard to reach a goal like applying for a certain job position and does not get it, he would rationalize to his family that he was not so interested in it after all. It is much like the fabled fox “sour-graping”. This is an attempt to mask his utter disappointment and maintain an “unaffected” façade to the people around him. Defense mechanisms is one aspect of the Psychoanalytic theory that this writer thinks would find useful counseling, as the patterned use of whichever kind already says a lot about the coping style and personality of the client. The goals of Psychodynamic therapy are settling unresolved conflicts in a person’s past that deeply affect his current patterns of behavior and personality. It may involve bringing repressed painful memories to resurface to be dealt with consciously through the techniques of free association, dream analysis, hypnosis, transference, and analysis of resistance handled by a skilled psychoanalyst (Pervin, Cervone & John, 2005). This tedious process intends for the client to reach a level of self-understanding for him to be able to move on with his life without the heavy emotional baggage he has been carrying all his life. This understanding is necessary for an eventual change in views, personality and character. The psychodynamic therapist should be adept and very patient in coaxing the client to unearth his repressions. The ability to listen and be alert and sensitive to what the client tries to communicate (verbally or non-verbally) is crucial to her valid interpretations about the client. She must also possess maturity and maintain her professional objectivity especially when the client undergoes “transference” of remembered feelings towards a significant person in his life to the therapist. A deep level of trust must have been established between the therapist and the client to be able to achieve this feat (Corey, 2005). In order for the therapy to be successful, the client must be committed to being cooperative and ready to discover truths about himself, no matter how ugly it may be. In the course of the therapy, the client is expected not to make any drastic life changes that may affect the analysis of his problems. Psychodynamic therapy ends when both client and therapist mutually agree that they have reached the goals of therapy, that of the client reaching self-understanding, and being able to use uncovered information in confronting present conflicts and future possibilities of repetition of patterns of unwanted behavior. Person-centered therapy stems from the theories of Carl Rogers, a noted psychologist who espoused humanistic views in therapy. His non-directive approaches to the therapeutic process raised a lot of eyebrows when it was introduced because it seemed to have thrown scientific techniques out the window and instead focused on the inherent needs of the client as a human being instead of a mere subject of therapy. This approach has great respect for a client’s subjective views and potential for self-actualization. It offers a fresh and hopeful perspective on its views on human nature. The main ingredient to successful therapy is a warm and caring therapist imbued with attributes such as congruence, unconditional positive regard and accurate empathic understanding (Huffman, Vernoy. & Williams, 1987). Such qualities are hard to come by in therapists nowadays. Rogers believe that possession of such qualities in addition to a high level of maturity qualifies a person to practice as a person-centered therapist, as it does not require a specialized training. Being a sensitive and tactful listener who exudes total acceptance of the client can compensate for the lack of formal counseling techniques (Corey, 2005). Being congruent means being real and authentic – no discrepancy between one’s perceptions and one’s being. A therapist needs to be congruent himself before he can decipher incongruence in his clients (Pervin, Cervone & John, 2005). His wisdom enables him to spot clients whose ideal self-concept is far from the truth, (i.e. the mistaken perception of one’s greatness in a skill when in reality, he is very poor at it). His goals include helping his clients have an openness to experience, a trust in themselves, an internal source of evaluation and a willingness to continue growing. The ability of a therapist to accurately empathize with a client’s subjective experiences on an interpersonal, cognitive and affective level is essential in fully unlocking the client’s perceptions, feelings and motivations for his behavior. The therapist’s enormous capacity to understand and accept the client no matter what communicates to the client that he is a worthy person. However, the therapist must caution against being swayed by emotions of his clients to justify excuses for wrong decisions, as he must always have a firm grasp of what is right and wrong. As the saying goes, “Love the sinner but not the sin”. This is not to say that the therapist holds the moral compass in the therapy sessions, but he is in a position to influence the “awakened” client to come up with his own appropriate decisions from the therapy point forward. A client comes to a counselor with a feeling of helplessness, powerlessness and an inability to make decisions or effectively direct his own life. He finds refuge in therapy with a warm, trustworthy and accepting friend who is there for him in his seemingly lowest point. This may be applied to a lost student who finds comfort in the understanding of his school guidance counselor. He feels safe enough to shed his mask and just be. He finds freedom to express his innermost feelings, be they positive or negative, and is assured that he will remain acceptable. In this kind of relationship, the client finds opportunity to grow and overcome his feelings of failure – and commences his healing by deciding on a positive action towards self-actualization (Corey, 2005). Assessment procedures are not given emphasis in the Person-centered approach. Diagnostic screening, identification of clients’ strengths and weaknesses and several other tests at the outset of therapy may even impede the progress of therapy as the therapist-client relationship is believed to evolve from the clients’ subjective sharing of his life experiences instead of a record of information created before establishing a relationship with the therapist (Huffman, Vernoy & Williams, 1987). The best assessment for this form of therapy is self-assessment by the client. Although sharing deep dark secrets with a close, long-time friend is a survival tactic most people have, the theories of Person-centered therapy may be too good to be true, and more personal than professional as compared to the Psychodynamic approach. The rather “Polyannaic” views that clients must be embraced with unconditional positive regard seems ideal, as if handing would-be therapists rose-colored lenses to see with. However, should there be, a human therapist with such immense patience and understanding while maintaining professional judgment then he can inspire full confidence in the approach. It is heartening to know that psychological theories may be reliable foundations that may explain human behavior and emotions. These greatly help in smoothening out factors that contribute to human problems impeding one to live a normal life. References Corey, G. (2005) Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy, 7th ed. Brooks/Cole, a division of Thomson Learning Inc. Huffman, K., Vernoy, M. & Williams, B. (1987) Psychology in Action. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Myers, D.G. (1995) Psychology, 4th Ed., New York: Worth Publishers Pervin, Cervone & John (2005) Personality: Theory & Research, 9th Edition Wiley Read More