Interpersonal Psychoanalysis - Essay Example

? Sigmund Freud’s Psychoanalysis and Harry Stack Sullivan’s Interpersonal Psychoanalysis on case study J. Psychoanalysis, as a theory, is concerned with the human psychology that dwells in the unconscious part of the human mind. It is concerned and affected by the following basic tenets; human behavior, cognition, and experience are largely shaped by irrational drives that are unconscious and attempts at a realization of these drives, into awareness, is met by inert psychological resistance; the resistance being in the form of defense mechanisms. The inherited personality characteristics and traits aside, a person’s development is shaped by early childhood events. The conflictual differences that may arise in view of reality and the unconscious; that is, often repressed, may bring about disorders pertaining to the mind. Disorders arise in the form of mental disturbances through anxiety, neurosis, depression and neurotic traits featuring among them. Liberation, from effects of the conflictual differences, is achievable through skilled guidance of the unconscious material into the conscious. As created and vigorously researched, by Sigmund Freud. It includes the development and strengthening of the ego, the superego and the id. The ideal that human beings possess oedipal desires, coupled with the id, ego and superego became increasingly criticized as more people became aware of this field of study. Among those interested in this, was Harry Stack Sullivan, whose study of interpersonal relationships and object relations, in relation to the functioning and development of a person’s psychological make-up, has significantly impacted on contemporary psychoanalytic therapy programs (HS, 1953, 1956). H. S. Sullivan’s focus on anxiety, as a critical element in the creation of emotional impulses, to a person while he/ she is young was of the view that a person’s perception of whom he/ she is, is but a construction whose objective is the invention of illusions, to dispel the anxiety. The term repression was used by Freud to represent the unconscious mind’s imprisonment. He was of the opinion that repression of thoughts negatively affected the normal functioning of one’s psyche. The goal, therefore, is the location and subsequent release of these powerful emotional energies; that are either caged or rejected by the unconscious mind. The expresssion talking cure, also known as free association, together with other aspects pertaining to Freud’s psychoanalytic theory, such as instinctual drives, transference, the oedipal complex, counter-transference, defense mechanisms and the three psychic agencies of the superego, the id and the ego, all add up to his stature and esteem in the field of psychology. This concept, of free association, was developed so as to aid in the temporary restrain/ suspension of a patient’s defensive mechanisms that are psychological, while simultaneously he/ she expresses their innermost concerns and emotions freely; the defensive mechanisms acting as resistant forces in the mind of a patient (Mitchell, 1995). The concept of free speech during hypnosis, entails a realization that pathogenic feelings and memories are often dissociated not due to their existence in prior altered states of consciousness, but because the actual concept, pertaining to these feelings and memories is either disturbing, in conflict or unacceptable to the rest of the patient’s feelings and/ or ideals. Patient J, who has provisionally been diagnosed with both an Eating Disorder NOS (Binge eating disorder), and an adjustment disorder, may also have Seasonal Affective Disorder. It should be noted that the above three disorders/ symptoms are all connected to her, J’s psychological make-up (Mitchell, 1995). J, an 18 year old Korean lady, is a freshman in college in New York. Her home is in a small community in New Mexico, where she, and her family, are very religious and practicing Catholics. She is fond and full of attachment to her home, where she felt she fitted in quite well. Her comparative popularity attributable to her activeness in the social and political arenas in her school resulted from her having many friends with whom she had various discussions on different interests, especially on social justice. Being single, she reports of never having had any significant intimate relationships. She is thoughtful, intelligent and cooperative, though she is fairly quiet rooted in her guarded nature. Thus, she forthcoming and articulate, but is very restrictive. Her genetic make-up ensures that she naturally possesses a petite physique, with her posture often being stiff. This somewhat adds to her guarded nature. She is alert, well oriented and of good and sound judgment. Her adaptation to the New York culture evidently is not smooth coming from her feelings of being culturally different from not only her room-mates, but a majority of the campus student population. She harbors feelings of alienation that is as a result of overwhelming pressure from the transition from New Mexico to New York, and the resultant cultural shock. It becomes difficult to deal with her roommates. However, J experiences feelings of unpreparedness for the competitive and demanding nature of the campus’s academic environment. The combined effects of social marginalization, homesickness and academic stress began taking their toll on her during her first semester. The second semester, the winter break, coupled with a home visit notwithstanding, did nothing to alleviate her overall feelings. She was pretty much alone in the residence halls. Therefore, she decided not to go home, for the winter break, so as to catch up on work. The resultant outcome was her radical shift in eating behavior where she started binging uncontrollably. She often would recount her experience of feeling uncontrollable urges. The resultant weigh gain shocked her, adding to her anxiety and guilty feeling which drove her to seeking help. She displayed binging behavior, anxiety (in the form of social anxiety, worrisome), disrupted sleep (insomnia) and symptoms of depression (fatigue, loneliness and sadness). Accordingly, Freud would use free association where J’s defense mechanisms would be temporarily suspended. The defense mechanisms actively keep memories in the subconscious part of the mind, most likely due to the fact these memories were either traumatizing or intentionally forgotten. J is displaying feelings of repression; through her storage of stressful and/or traumatic conscious thoughts into her subconscious mind. She, J, views her isolation, weight gain, binge eating, stress and general disorientation as a threat to her sanity and is therefore repressing them. She also displayed intellectualization, when she decided not to go for her winter break so as to catch up on her studies, which had been on the decline (Mitchell, 1995). Sullivan, on his part, would associate J’s eating binge with sublimation, in terms of interpersonal psychoanalysis. Since this is the replacement of partial fulfillment with social acceptance for the quest of direct satisfaction, J indulged in eating habits that were directly satisfying her desires. She wanted to ‘belong’ and aimed at achieving this through an increase in her weight and consequently, her physique (HS, 1953, 1956). Freud’s Oedipus complex is used to explain J’s close attachment especially to her father, and her sister, as exemplified by her disclosure of her relationship with her father, her family and her eating disorder. Freud’s regard of conflict as being central to all clinical problems, would enable him recognize J’s troubled mind. He would be able to observe the present psychological conflicts in her psyche as pertaining to her unconscious mind and not between her conscious and unconscious mind. The three psychic agencies of the id, ego and superego, do simultaneously function in all thoughts, unconscious or conscious, pertaining to a human being and consequently are responsible for the bringing into awareness the various aspects of reality (Mitchell, 1995). Therefore, J’s id, driven primarily by the pleasure principle, and the impulse to self gratify, is responsible for her eating binge this so as to satisfy both her and her room mates image of her physique. J’s ego, which is responsible for regulating and ensuring the id expresses its impulses appropriately; this according to reality, is uncertain as she has mixed feelings due to her petite nature and the need to gain some more mass. At the same time, the cultural norm in New York is that of a lean personality. Her superego, on the other hand that consists of both the ideal ego and conscience, is responsible for her acceptance and latter visit to the therapy sessions so as to get help. Freud would work on boosting her ego strength so as to diminish any eventual conflicts between the id and the superego. Sullivan association of anxiety, with regard to J’s character traits and behavioral characteristics, would be exemplified by his analysis that psychoanalysis is divisible into two; Object Relations and Interpersonal Relationships. He would place importance primarily on J’s history so as to gain exhaustive information on her background and subsequent significant developmental phases. He would be of the view that J’s personality was shaped to fit into her interpersonal relationships exemplified by those relations that existed between her and her roommates. He would, therefore, strive to strengthen J’s self-system equivalent to Freud’s ego strength, so as to enable her become more conscious of her surroundings and the resultant experiences so as to gain control over these experiences. His therapy would include asking J questions, while he encouraged her to self-reflect so as to let J’s personal observations, of her thoughts, enable her to start understanding herself and therefore, begin to alter her surrounding in a positive way (HS, 1953, 1956). Sullivan and Freud had different ways with which they looked at and explained the behavior of human beings. While Sullivan concentrated on hypnosis, Freud concentrated on free association in the explanation of human behavior. It is important to note that Freud did not just assume Hypnosis as a method that could not help solve abnormal behavior in human beings. Hypnosis was important but, to him, it could not offer effective treatment. Freud’s free association could help solve J’s case in the sense that J exhibited an unusual quietness that was understood as timidity. Freud’s free association would help understand J’s case by letting her tell whatever that came into his mind. Freud would allow J to relate things that came into her mind without paying attention to details that seemed embarrassing or unimportant, in that context. Through this method, Freud would make an assumption that J’s problem was located in a single associative network insider her brain. Therefore, by allowing her to say anything that came into her mind, she would stumble across the crucial memory of the things that are important in her case. This is why he established free association. On the other hand, Sullivan, through the use of sublimation would help address her eating problem by helping her gain personal confidence instead of concentrating on social acceptance from her friends, church and societal members. For Sullivan, a person’s history is important in understanding and solving his or her problems. For J’s case, Sullivan would use Object Relations and Interpersonal Relationships to clearly understand the background of J and perhaps the events that may have happened to her, in the past and led to her detrimental situation. After this, Sullivan would make observations and recommendations on the factors that led to J’s condition and offer solutions based on the findings of the study of J’s past. In conclusion, the two would use almost the same methods/ techniques of treatment such as hypnosis so as to encourage Freud’s free speech, with Sullivan’s methodology centered more on interpersonal relationships and object relations. References HS, S. (1953, 1956). The Collected Works of Harry Stack Sullivan, Vol. 1 and 2. New York, NY, USA.: WW Norton. Mitchell, S. A. (1995). Freud and Beyond. New York City, NY: Basic Books. Read More