Psychoanalytic Theory, Cognitive Behavioral Theory, Behavioral Theory, or Task-Centered Theory - Essay Example

Psychology Psychoanalytic theory The paper seeks to elaborate on the issues that are involved in the application of the psychoanalytic theory during an interview and counseling clients. The paper also provides relevant details related to the beneficiaries of the theory and the challenges of the theory. The psychoanalytic counseling is also referred to as the Freudian psychology and invokes the client’s imagination through the divulging their personal information. The interview and counseling that is based on this theory rely on the history of the clients and upon an analysis of their thoughts, feelings and behaviors.

According to American Psychoanalytic Association, the theory is based on making the observations of the client’s behaviors in order to recognize the symptoms with the exploration of the factors that contribute substantially to the relationship and the pattern of behaviors. This also involves the provision of assistance to the clients via the diagnosis of the disorder with the efforts of maximum utilizing the therapy talk. Therefore, the clients need the help of a trained counselor in order to manage to go through their issues.

This theory emphasizes on the unconscious influences of the mind and thought with the client’s behaviors. This also involves the exploration of the client’s early childhood experiences. This is aimed at revealing the way these have an effect of shaping the individual with the contribution to the current behaviors. The therapist engages in the interviews that seek to draw the information about the clients’ past experiences (Eysenk, 319-324). The clients that are taking the psychoanalytic therapy have the regularity of meeting their therapist once a week, thus, remain under the therapy for a number of days, weeks, months or even years.

The therapist spends time with the client while talking about their lives, thus, giving the method the name “talk therapy.” This interview is based on talks aimed at establishing a pattern or an event that is significantly playing the role in the client’s current situation. The populations that benefit from psychoanalytic therapy include those who suffer from mental illness or affected by an event that occurred in their lives leaving them with negative emotions. The therapy is also applied to those with substance abuse disorder.

The therapy offers an empathetic environment for the client to have a feeling of safety relating to the feelings revealing and actions that have caused the stress of the tension in their lives. This involves sharing of the burdens with a person with a beneficial influence. The psychoanalytic share some similarities with the solution focused approach in that they both use a form of specialized conversation that is aimed at development and achievement of the client’s vision of the solution. This involves the technique of asking questions in order to clarify the solutions together with the means of their achievement.

However, the psychoanalytic therapy has various challenges that are faced due to the criticism that the approach consumes a lot of time, it is ineffective and that it is expensive. The other challenge to clients is the cost of the psychoanalytic therapy making numerous clients who are in therapy for years to suffer the high expense of the financial and time cost, which is related to this treatment. There are other critics, like Karl Popper, that suggested that the psychoanalytic theory lacks the scientific basis.

Work Cited“About Psychoanalysis”. American Psychoanalytic Association. Web. 9 March 2012 < http://depression.about.com/od/psychotherapy/a/psychoanalytic.htm> Eysenk, H. J. The Effects of Psychotherapy: An Evaluation. Journal of Consulting Psychology, (1952). 16,  19-324. Print.