Psychodynamic Model - Essay Example

? The Comparative Theoretical Models By of 2643 Words Introduction The first that comes to mind whenone encounters the subject of psychology and psychodynamics is Sigmund Freud, a psychologist of a great renown who founded the psychodynamic model among other elements, concepts and principles of psychology. Psychodynamics, as presented by Freud, is a stark contrast to behavioural psychology since it pays little if any attention to the accouterments of science. On the contrary, psychodynamics emphasises the need to access an individual’s inner world to create meanings of their perceptions of the world, relationships and their experiences (Sundberg, 2001). The core psychological theories encompassed by the psychodynamic model are those that regard human beings’ functions, interactions and perceptions as based on the interrelationships between personal forces and drives, especially the unconscious interactions among the different structures of one’s personality. Among theories, the central one to psychodynamics is Freud’s psychoanalysis and later theories postulated by other psychologists who based their works on Freud’s ideas. As a result of the central role and influence of psychoanalysis on psychodynamics, the two terms are often confused and even used interchangeably by some learners and researchers. In this regard, it is worth noting that a distinction exists between the terms. That is, while psychoanalysis refers to Freud’s theories, the word psychodynamic is used in references to Freud’s theories as well as those of his followers (Jacobs, 2004). In addition, it is important to remember that Freud’s psychoanalysis is both a theory and a therapy. In fact, it is Freud’s theories (most of which were clinically derived) that were developed between the 1890s and the 1930s that formed the basis of the psychodynamic approach to psychotherapy. This paper explores the psychodynamic model of psychology with respect to its history, influential figures, personal applicability, principles, validity, relevance and its use in counseling clients. The History of the Psychodynamic Model The origin of psychodynamics could be traced to the works of Doctor Joseph Breuer and his assistant Sigmund Freud, who used to treat patients with conditions such as hysteria. Among the books in which these gentlemen described their perceptions and theories of psychology, one was entitled Studies on Hysteria. In their explanations, Sigmund and Breuer stated that every case of hysteria is caused by a traumatic experience, which cannot be fitted into a person’s understanding or perceptions of the world or/and life. From this work, it may be asserted without fear of contradiction that he (Sigmund) is the father of psychoanalysis and the psychodynamic model. Freud would publish his first major work ‘The Interpretation of Dreams’ in 1900 after finding the key to his theories, which he named psychoanalysis, replacing hypnosis with ‘free association.’ In this book, Freud established and explained the importance of the psychoanalytical movement. He would later found the Psychological Wednesday Society in 1902 and later change it to the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society. With the growth of the Society, there arose the need to form the Committee, an inner circle of devotees, who included Otto Rank, Max Eitingon, Ernest Jones, Karl Abraham, Sandor Ferenczi, and Hanns Sachs. When he travelled to Massachusetts in 1909 to give a lecture on the new approaches to understanding and dealing with mental illnesses, Sigmund would address some of the most renowned U.S intellectuals of that period including Franz Boas, William James, and Adolf Meyer. As a result of Freud’s visit to the U.S., the International Psychoanalytic Association was founded, with Carl Jung leading the group. One factor that endeared Carl Jung to Freud’s movement was the former’s work and study on schizophrenia. In fact, the two gentlemen collaborated until 1913 after Jung became excessively critical of Freud’s entirely sexual characterization of libido and incest. Later Jung would work on and publish his theories on psychology under the title Analytical Psychology. Following regular meetings and conferences elsewhere in the world, the Association established chapters all over Europe and other regions. These chapters spearheaded the organisation of regular conferences, meetings and/or congresses to discuss the theory, therapy, and clinical/cultural applications psychoanalysis. The other influential figure in the history and development of the psychodynamic model is Sigmund’s daughter, Anna Freud, who specialized in psychoanalysis of children on which she did works such as the The Ego and the Mechanism of Defense, published in 1936. Key Features of the Psychodynamic Model By being described as clinically derived, Freud’s theories were based on the information he gathered from his patients’ stories as he treated them for depression and anxiety-related conditions. There are several assumptions concerning what the psychodynamic approach to psychology is based on. Firstly, psychodynamic is based on the assumption that one’s unconscious motives play rather crucial roles in determining his/her behaviour and feelings (Jacobs, 2006). Secondly, adults’ behaviour, feelings and psychological problems have their origin in their childhood experiences. The third postulation is that every model of behaviour and feeling has an unconscious cause and is thus determined. Fourthly, the psychodynamic model is based on the assumption that personality is tripartite and is made up of the ego, super-ego and the id (Jacobs, 2006). The fifth postulate is that one’s behaviour is motivated by instinctual drives referred to as the Eros and the Thanatos. While the Eros includes the sex drive and the life instinct, the Thanatos includes the aggressive drive and the death instinct. According to the psychodynamic model, both Eros and Thanatos come from the id. The other postulate of the psychodynamic model is that parts of the unconscious mind of an individual, composed of the id and the superego, are in a constant conflict with the conscious part of the mind, which is the ego (Jacobs, 2006). Finally, the psychodynamic model postulates that personality takes the shape of the drives that are modified by different conflicts experienced at different times during childhood, especially during psychosexual development. There are certain apparent features that differentiate the psychodynamic model from other psychological models. These features may be broadly categorised under ideas/founders, methodologies, applications, assumptions, weaknesses and strengths. The key ideas and founders with which the psychodynamic model is identified include the collective unconscious by Carl Jung, psychosexual development, unconscious mind, psyche and defense mechanisms by Freud and the idea of psychosocial development. With regards to methodology, psychodynamic may be identified with techniques such as case study, dream analysis, free association, projective tests, slips of the tongue and hypnosis. Assumptions are the other key features with which psychodynamic stands distinguished from other approaches to psychology. These assumptions, as mentioned earlier, include the unconscious as the main cause of behaviour and feelings and psychic determinism in which all models of behaviour are found to have reasons or causes (Sundberg, 2001). The other key assumptions are that various parts of the unconscious mind are constantly at conflict and that adult behaviour and feelings are caused by childhood experiences. The other manner in which psychodynamics is distinguished from other models of psychology is in areas of application. The areas in which psychodynamics is applied include moral development (super-ego), aggression, attachment, therapy (psychoanalysis), gender role development, personality, importance of the unconscious mind and dream analysis (Holmes, 2001). The other key and unique features of psychodynamics are its strengths and weaknesses. The strengths of the model include its effect of popularizing case study in psychology and promotion of free association. The others are defense mechanisms, projective tests and the model’s effect of highlighting the importance of childhood. The weaknesses include the subjectivity of case studies that make it difficult to generalise results and the non-scientific nature of the model. Third, the approach is rather deterministic, implying little freewill (Holmes, 2001). Additionally, the model is unfalsifiable and ignores meditational processes such as thinking and memory. The Validity and Relevance of the Psychodynamic Model Like many other psychological models and theories, the psychodynamic model has not escaped criticism from several quarters, more so with respect to its assumptions, key concepts, relevance, validity and non-scientific nature. In fact, some critics have even described the theory as ridiculous, terming Freud’s ideas as those that cannot be scientifically approved. Many a critic has also lambasted Freud for being obsessed with sex. One effect of these criticisms is that people have been made to ignore the many good, valid and relevant points and assumptions that Freud’s theories presented (Johnson & Whiffen, 2003). Among these good points, which people would have fathomed were it not for Freud’s theories, is the concept of the unconscious mind, the Freudian slips and the interpretation of dreams. Although some of these concepts may not be that useful in contemporary society, they should not be ignored but ought to be read and researched to help people understand themselves and life by helping in the development of critical and analytical minds (Leahy & Holland, 2000). For instance, after reading Freud’s theories, one may decide on the approach to psychoanalysis to be taken in case a visit to a therapist is imminent. There are quite a number of application areas that have proved the validity and relevance of the psychodynamic model to psychology. Group settings such as families and workplaces have particularly applied the psychodynamic model for personal as well as collective improvement on practices, behaviour and feelings, as illustrated in the following sections. Leadership as a Group Setting for Psychodynamic Leadership is one such areas in which the psychodynamic model has proved relevant. In particular, the psychodynamic approach to leadership offers methods of dealing with emotionally disturbed people using the psychological theories of personality development. The psychodynamic approach to leadership has its origins in Sigmund Freud’s work. In addition to Freud, Carl Jung, Abraham Zalenic and Manfred Kets de Vries have also contributed significantly to psychodynamic leadership. According to the psychodynamic leadership principles, leaders obtain insight into own personality traits and seek to understand their response to their subordinates on the basis of these personality features. In addition, leaders are required to encourage their teams to appreciate the importance of gaining insight into own personalities to control and understand their reactions to their leaders and to each other. Among the core aspects of the psychodynamic model to leadership are regression, shadow self, family origins, individuation, dependence and independence. Unfortunately, these concepts of the psychodynamic approach to leadership could be obscure, thus difficult to understand, making the psychodynamic theory less accessible. The basics of the psychodynamic approach to leadership include the assertion that having insight into own psychological makeup creates more effective leaders. Second, understanding the psychological makeup of one’s subordinates also makes better leaders. The personality traits that a leader should have insight into include emotional responses and habitual behaviour patterns. For instance, by understanding the origin of aggressive behaviour as past influences and understanding the consequences of his/her actions, an authoritarian leader could become quite effective. The key in this regard is to accept one’s personality traits and quirks in addition to understanding and accepting the features and quirks of subordinates and colleagues. Validity and Relevance in Family Setting There are other numerous concepts of the psychodynamic approach, which makes it valid and relevant in contemporary society. Firstly, the model emphasises the importance of the family of origin in an individual’s personality. That is, one’s family of origin is believed to underlie his/her understanding of adulthood and childhood feelings and behaviour. For instance, being born in a family of one or more children or in a single parent home greatly influences one’s childhood and adulthood feelings and behaviour. The model thus highlights the role of parents in early infancy to ensure the needs of children and families are met. The second concept of the psychodynamic model deals with individualisation and maturation, which are quite critical in current society. For instance, currently, as was the case in the past, children become less dependent on their parents as they grow older. However, even as a child grows and becomes dependent, he/she still feels the presence of the parent and the continuation of parental supervisory, analysis and judgment role. On the other hand, individualisation refers to the uniqueness that a person develops as he/she enters adolescence. The process of individualisation ,as envisaged in the psychodynamic model, is characterised by relationship to authority figures, intimacy and openness (Feltham & Horton, 2006). For an illustration, a rather authoritarian parent could induce a resistant or submissive attitude in a child while hands-off behabour of a parent can result in a confused child with difficulties in defining boundaries and limits. The parental traits that affect a child’s openness and intimacy include tenderness, kindness and nurturance. That is, a child may continue with or rebel against the habits and traits of a parent if no sound nurturing that produces feelings of warmth and love is established. The core problem areas in which the psychodynamic model is applied include anxiety, work-life imbalances, workplace stress and relationship issues such as inappropriate partners, break-up, divorce, affairs, life adjustments, loneliness, marital problems, arguments, jealousy, and wedding (Busch et al., 2007). Others are obsessive-compulsive disorder, eating problems, trauma, negative body image, depressions such as suicidal thoughts, low mood, social withdrawal, phobias and fears, addiction, low-self esteem and confidence, abuse, bereavement, grief and loss. Psychodynamic versus Person-Centred Counseling Since historical times, the psychodynamic model has been used by many professionals as a counseling tool to effect positive behaviour and feeling changes in clients. However, due to criticisms and the emergence of other models of psychoanalysis, a lot of comparison has been done between the psychodynamic approach and other models (Corsini & Wedding, 2008). One model to which the psychodynamic model has been compared and contrasted is the person-centred/humanistic model. This comparison has often been done with regards to psychological counseling. The first similarity of both models is their widespread acceptance and use as therapeutic procedures to give clients clearer and better insight into and understanding of their lives, behaviors and feelings (Busch et al., 2007). Second, both approaches are competent therapeutic tools if applied with efficacy. Additionally, both approaches base their practices on training and beliefs. The models’ differences are also easily discernible. For instance, the psychodynamic model is characterised by being the traditional way of counseling based on Sigmund Freud’s ideas, and it emphasises conscience and rationality instead of unconscious forces, focuses on the theory of psychoanalysis, and seeks to make clients feel valued, loved and accepted (Dryden, 1990). Meanwhile, a psychodynamic counselor focuses on searching for unconscious memories and fantasies of a client, which are the perceived origin of a person’s difficulties; a person-centred counselor focuses on the present time experiences of a client (Dryden, 1990). That is, the person-centred approach emphasises the connection between the present and the future and works with the conscious of the client rather than the unconscious (Russon, 2003). Moreover, the person-centred approach also establishes a warm and friendly atmosphere between the client and the counselor thus allowing for the practice of self-disclosure (Russon, 2003). Consequently, there is a strong interconnectedness and relationship between the client and the counselor. The self-centred approach thus depends largely on the established relationship. The benefits of this relationship include understanding, encouragement, acceptance and empathy (Kirk, 2001). Conclusion The psychodynamic model, founded by Freud Sigmund and other renowned psychologists, is an as insight-oriented form of psychological therapy, which emphasises the effect of the unconscious mind and processes therein on a person’s present feelings, behaviour and perception of life. It thus contrasts with the humanistic/person-centred approach, which focuses on the present and the future in seeking behavioural and feeling problems in people. Among the objectives of both models is the creation of self-awareness and understanding in a client, especially with regards to the present situation. Through both models, clients have been enabled to examine, understand and resolve conflicts and symptoms caused by their past and present. Though founded almost a century ago, the psychodynamic model continues to be valid, relevant and applicable in current society, which is marred by a myriad of psychological problems, caused by peoples’ past and present experiences and perceptions. In fact, these models have proved effective for both group and individual clients. Bibliography Busch, F., Milrod, B., Leon, A., Rudden, M., Singer, M., Turchin, W., Klass, E., Graf, E., Teres, J., and Shear, M. (2007). A Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial of Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy for Panic Disorder. American Journal of Psychiatry, 164, p.272. Corsini, R. J., and Wedding, D. (2008). Current psychotherapies, eighth edition. Brooks/Cole. Dryden, W. (1990). Individual therapy. Open University Press. Feltham, C., and Horton, I. (2006). The Sage handbook of counseling and psychotherapy. Sage. Holmes, J. (2001). The search for the secure base: Attachment theory and psychotherapy. Brunner Routledge. Jacobs, M. (2004). Psychodynamic counseling in action. SAGE Publications. Jacobs, M. (2006). The presenting past: the core of psychodynamic counseling and therapy. Open University Press. Johnson, S. M., and Whiffen, V. E. (2003). Attachment processes in couple and family therapy. 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