Psychoanalysis theory and person-centred theory - Essay Example

Introduction 1. Psychoanalysis Psychoanalysis is based largely upon the work and investigation of Sigmund Freud who held that unacceptable thoughts of childhood were relegated to the unconscious mind but continue to influence a person’s thoughts, emotional states and hence the behavior. These “repressed” latent memories tend to surface later in the form of more visible phenomenon such as inter-personal and intra-personal conflicts, depression, anxiety, distress etc. This approach encourages the client to openly discourse on any issues in the client’s past experiences that may be attributable to current problems. The resulting therapy is often lengthy and demanding and is only used for clients who are highly distressed. Another aspect of the psychoanalytic theory is that human behavior reflects unconscious motives as well as conflicts. The consequence of irrational forces is dominant and a person is typically motivated by aggressive and sexual impulses. The early development of the personality is significant as problems in later life are grounded in those developmental disparities and childhood conflicts. (Corey, 2008) 1.2. Person Centered Approach On the other hand, the other major approach used for counseling has been derived from the work of Carl Rogers and this approach is better known as the “client centered” or the “Rogerian” approach. This theory bases itself on the assumption that a person in psychological distress can create a relationship with the counselor who allows the client to freely express himself. Using this approach, the client is able to deal with their negative feelings which cause the emotional distress and are hence able to deal with the problems more easily. This approach allows the client introspection on a humanistic scale rather than the client being treated an object. In the words of Gerald Corey, the Rogerian approach allows a therapeutic relationship where the client experiences feelings which were previously denied and this allows the client to actualize their potential so that they can move towards enhanced awareness, spontaneity, trust in self and inner directedness. (Corey, 2008) 2. Historical Development 2.1. Psychoanalysis The technique and the theory behind psychoanalysis were initially developed by Sigmund Freud who was a psychiatrist based in Vienna in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Freud is seen as both the originator and dominating influence in the psychoanalysis. Following Freud’s work on psychoanalysis and his twenty four volume treatise on the subject, his work was expanded upon and criticized by his former students. Notable students of Freud who later worked on psychoanalysis were Wilhelm Reich, Alfred Adler and Carl Gustav Jung. (Webster, 1996)Psychoanalysis was later developed upon by the later neo-Freudians such as Jacques Lacan, Karen Horney, Erich Fromm and Harry Stack Sullivan. (Grim, 1990) Psychoanalysis is derived from the same theoretical foundations that lie in the philosophical trends of interpretive phenomenology. There is little evidence to support the contention that psychoanalysis has any ground or commonality with scientific positivism. In lieu of this, psychoanalysis has been seen as an approach that is not highly compatible with scientific approaches utilized to study the human mind. (Torrey, 1986) 2.2. Person Centered Approach The person centered or Rogerian approach is attributed to Carl Rogers whose work in the forties and fifties laid foundation for this approach. Rogers has a major influence on the approach which has been identified with the humanistic school of thought as well as the human existentialist school of thought. There is however rife debate on what essentially constitutes the major schools and the cross influences on this approach. (Prochaska & Norcross, 2007) Over time Roger’s approach became more and more client centric for both counseling and psychotherapy. The flexibility of this approach allows it to be applied to individuals as well as groups. While later psychotherapy approaches (such as the Gestalt approach using the Rogerian approach as a foundation) have delineated a host of different factors responsible for shaping personality (Hothershall, 2003) but the original Rogerian approach holds only the individual experiences as the standards for both living and therapeutic effect. (Prochaska & Norcross, 2007) 3. Major Ideas 3.1. Psychoanalysis Psychoanalysis is based on some major tenets which are: 1. Irrational drives determine human behavior, experience and cognition to a large degree and these drives are unconscious; 2. If these drives are brought into awareness, the attempts are met with resistance in various forms; 3. A person’s development is influenced largely by early childhood events as well as the inherited constitution of personality; 4. Mental disturbances such as neurosis, anxiety, depression, neurotic traits etc. are produced by conflicts between the conscious view of reality and the unconscious or repressed view; 5. In order to liberate a person from the effects of the unconscious it is necessary to bring such issues to the conscious through skilled guidance. (Fromm, 1992) The basic tenets of Freud delineate that human actions are focused to gain pleasure and avoid pain in life. The psychoanalytic approach is best discussed when considering three major ideas of Freud which are the structure of the personality, the iceberg theory of unconsciousness and the psychosexual personality development. Freud states that human personality is composed of three integral components: Id: The id works on the principle of pleasure and seeks to enhance pleasure at any cost without providing consideration to moral or other logical reasons. Needs are gratified by the id in order to reduce tension and to avoid pain. Ego: The ego works on the reality principle which helps humans to reason in realistic and logical ways. This aids humans to create plans such that needs are satisfied in socially acceptable ways. Superego: The superego is based on learned principles through human experience and help human beings to differentiate between right and wrong so that instincts can be better controlled and guided. It also houses the ideal moral codes of a person and strives for perfection not pleasure. These moral codes are gained through standards that are imposed by social existence. If a person follows the delineated moral code, he is rewarded while if he does not follow the moral code, he is punished. In case that the three components of personality delineated by Freud come into conflict a person feel anxious. In response to personal anxiety, a person responds through defense mechanisms. (Westen, 1999) 3.1.2. Defense Mechanism The defensive methods of coping with anxiety by humans are known as defense mechanisms. These mechanisms may manifest themselves as ineffective or socially unacceptable behavior. As a result of such behavior a person feels that tension is reduced as well as stress. However such relief is temporary at best and if such mechanisms are used excessively, the person becomes inefficient at dealing with such problems because he finds ready hand excuses to deal with the situation as a scapegoat. The most common defense mechanisms used are denial, intellectualization, regression, rationalization, projection and displacement. 3.1.3. Consciousness and Unconsciousness Another major aspect of Freud’s theory is the concept of consciousness and unconsciousness. Issues that the human mind is aware of compose the consciousness while issues that are not manifest compose the unconsciousness. The unconscious part of the human mind consists of all kinds of instincts, wishes and experiences that are unacceptable for a person to recognize. Even though the human mind is not fully aware of these unconscious (or repressed) motives, their influence on human behavior is at times overwhelming. The basic contention is that most people fail to understand their own behavior due to unconscious motives that need to be identified through guided counseling. (de Maat, Dekker, Schoevers, & de Jonghe, 2006) 3.1.4. Psychosexual Stages of Personal Development Another aspect of the psychoanalytical theory is psychosexual development but it is controversial. Freud has suggested that the sexual urges are a lifelong drive that has its roots in infancy. According to Freud, human beings experience five distinct stages of psychosexual development. The first stage is oral development in which the infant’s sexual needs are met by suckling at the mother’s breasts. The next stage is anal whereby the individual meets their anal needs through either holding or eliminating feces. The next stage is the phallic stage where children develop an awareness of differing gentiles and form associations with parents of the opposite sex. The next stage is latent where the sexual interest of children is relatively quiescent because children are more involved in social activities such as schooling and social circles. The final stage is known as genital that begins with the puberty of an individual and the individual finds greater interest in the other gender. This idea contends that excessive denial or gratification at any given stage tends to produce unresolved conflicts as well as emotional disorders. (Schechter, et al., 2007) 3.2. Person Centered Approach The person centered approach or the Rogerian approach regards human beings as possessing positive goodness as well as realistic expectation and trustworthiness. All human beings are presumed to display a desire for being fully functional and thus to live effective lives. As per Carl Rogers, if human beings are allowed to develop freely and are regarded positively, they will become fully functional. The use of a positive approach towards human beings has also been used to label this approach as the humanistic approach. (Murphy, 2009) The fully functional human being is able to self actualize that is he is able to utilize his full potential. In an ideal world, the person receiving unconditional positive regard would develop into a fully functioning person but practically this is not possible as individuals receive conditional regard from society based on their characteristics and traits. (Moss, 2001) Through the various stages of development, human beings gather awareness that their self and other’s self is different. The self in this regards is composed of all kinds of values, beliefs and perceptions that a person possess about oneself and these are gathered by social interaction. The person develops a real self (based on what actually exists) and an ideal self (based on what a person wants to become). Another concept is the self image which is composed of social perceptions received through social interaction. It is assumed that human beings tend to maintain a balance between the ideal self, the real self and the self image. (Raskin, Rogers, & Witty, 2008) An in-congruency is seen to take place if the person receives information that belies his self image. Such a person tends to be confused and dissatisfied and fails to adapt to circumstances. Similarly incongruence between the ideal self and the real self tends to make a person insecure and maladjusted. 4. Therapeutic Goals 4.1. Psychoanalysis The largest goal behind psychoanalysis is to bring the unconscious part of the human mind into the conscious part and to reconstruct the personality. The eventual goal is to allow clients to develop an awareness of developmental disparities in either the personality or the psychosexual perspectives so that the client can develop in a more healthy fashion. Moreover the client is made aware of their previous responses to stress and anxiety that may be inappropriate so that they can deal with anxiety and stress better in the future. 4.2. Person Centered Approach In contrast, the person centered approach allows clients to develop an understanding of conflicts in the self at any level and how to deal with them. Moreover the client’s trust in their self is enhanced in an effort to promote more trustworthiness, openness and a greater will to become fully functional. The client is allowed more space to allow the self in order to promote self oriented growth and betterment as well as dealing with a greater acceptance of the self at various levels. (Prilleltensky, 1992) 5. Role of Therapist and the Therapeutic Relationship 5.1. Psychoanalysis In the psychoanalysis techniques, the therapist remains an unknown person and aids the client is developing projections to him. The therapist’s focus lies with reducing resistance to transferring the unconscious parts to the conscious parts of the human mind. This is done by encouraging the client to talk more openly in an atmosphere of trust especially in regards to childhood problems and experiences. The therapist is generally seated out of the client’s view on and the client is told to lie down on a couch. Using free talk the therapist allows the client to recollect previous memories from childhood. Using these insights collected from the client, the therapist advises the course of action. Freud also contended that using the resistance encountered in the transfer of ideas, the therapist could effectively make the client realize of such resistance. 5.2. Person Centered Approach The therapist in the person centered approach should ideally encourage the client to face the issues confronting them so that a resolution of problems can be arrived at. Any fears, perceptions or other issues that are worrying a client are explored in detail in the guidance of the therapist so that a course of action can be demarcated. The self and its various forms play an important part. The therapist also needs to provide the client with an environment of trust and confidence so that the client can freely explore problems and issues. While the real world allows only conditional regard, the therapist offers unconditional regard in most aspects so that the client is at greater ease in exploration. (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000) However in this relationship, the therapist does not play a directing role but instead allows exploration of the self so that the client can garner a better understanding of the self. The client is encouraged through the use of encouragement and observation to perform greater introspection. Roger’s stresses the need for three essential elements in the therapist client relationship that are empathy, respect and congruency. Though empathy the therapist is aided in conveying his understanding back to the client and to allow the client to realize that the therapist is fully involved and on board. The use of respect ensures that the client feels at home with the therapist and can share whatever they want to in order to discover problems. Congruency is used by the therapist in order to show genuine appreciation of problems and to avoid pretension. (Rogers, 1989) 6. Techniques and Procedures 6.1. Psychoanalysis A number of techniques are used to undergo psychoanalysis. Free association is used to allow the client to freely relate anything that comes to their mind so that the unconscious self can be explored. On the other hand, dream analysis is used by the therapist in order to understand the client’s unconscious mindset by offering interoperations of the manifest content of the dream as well as the latent content of the dream through symbols. The therapist also analyses the transference of ideas from the unconscious part of the mind to the conscious part in order to interpret the positivity or the negativity of the client’s expressed ideas. The resistance is also brought into the client’s notice so that the client can build upon this to discover more about the unconscious parts of the mind and hence deal with the problem(s) at hand. The therapist provides constant interpretation to the client to aid them in realizing what actually happened in their lives. (Parsons, 1951) 6.2. Person Centered Approach The therapist tends to act as a facilitator only and allows the client to discover his self personally. In order to do so, the therapist uses observation and verbal communication in order to aid self discovery. Active listening is a very important technique used in person centered counseling. The verbal and non-verbal language of the client is analyzed by the therapist in order to discover any tell tale signs of causes for problems. A typical technique is to encourage reflection by rephrasing the client’s input and asking it as a question. This allows the client to reanalyze their stand on a certain aspect and to discover new things about it. The entire experience is kept client centered. The therapeutic relationship is further enhanced by the use of techniques such as silence, immediacy, passive and active listening, clarification, confrontation, acceptance, reflection of feelings, summarization and offering leads. 7. Evidence Base Extent Extensive research has shown that the efficacy of psychoanalysis is dependent on the quality of the therapist rather than the psychoanalytic technique, school or training utilized. (Horvath, 2001) On the other hand, the client centered approach is limited because clients with severe disorders cannot be expected to explain their situation fully to the therapist. As the person centered approach relies on the client’s input exclusively so it finds itself limited except for cases where the client is able to express himself. 8. Strengths, Contributions and Limitations 8.1. Psychoanalysis The effective use of psychoanalysis demands that the therapist be trained extensively and that the client be interacted with at great lengths of time often requiring great expense. Moreover the stress placed on using biological and instinctive factors means that psychoanalysis is not applicable in solving daily problems and may not be appropriate for use with certain cultural groups. Furthermore, psychoanalysis is demanding when it comes to egoistic strength and not all clients can be expected to undergo the tremendous stress placed by psychoanalysis. (Eagle, 2007) 8.2. Person Centered Approach The person centered approach requires a therapist who is actively involved and provides both active and passive responses to the client’s input. If a therapist is inactive, there is danger that the client would not be able to explore themselves deeply enough to warrant a solution. Similarly, certain clients have a great need for direction but certain therapists may not allow this given the non-directive nature of the therapy. Similarly certain cultural or ethnic groups would require greater direction from the therapist. On the other hand, if the person centered approach is used effectively it provides a catalyzed environment for personal change. Moreover the client is placed at the center of the therapeutic process so the efforts of the therapist are more fruitful. 9. Conclusion The psychoanalytic theory has been developed by Sigmund Freud and later by his students and the neo-Freudians. There has been large investigation into psychoanalysis over the decades and this has made it a potent technique for therapeutic procedures. On the other hand, the Rogerian approach has been developed only a few decades ago but is highly effective in treating people with mental disorders. While the psychoanalytic techniques are more focused on the biological and instinctive traits of human beings, the person centered approach relies on client based input. Psychoanalysis requires limited input from the client in comparison to the person centered approach. 10. Bibliography Corey, G. (2008). Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy. Thomson Brooks: Cole. de Maat, S., Dekker, J., Schoevers, R., & de Jonghe, F. (2006). Relative ef?cacy of psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy in the treatment of depression: A meta-analysis. 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