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Block 1 Unit 1 Psychoanalysis, Psychoanalytic/Psychodynamic Therapy

1) What are the main components of psychoanalysis?

Psychoanalysis has three main components: a method of investigation of the mind and the way one thinks, a systematised set of theories about human behaviour, and a method of treatment of psychological or emotional illness.

2) Write about the two basic drives that motivates us according to Freud?

According to Freud, the two basic drives that motivate all thoughts, emotions, and behaviour are sex and aggression. These are also called Eros and Thanatos, or life and death, respectively. Eros, also referred to as the life force, represents the drive to live, prosper, and produce offspring. Thanatos, also called the death force, represents the need to stay alive and stave off threats to existence, power, and prosperity.

3) Name the psychosexual stages of development according to Freud’s theory?

Freud's psychosexual stages of development are: oral, anal, phallic, latency and genital. These stages relate to the mental aspects of sexual phenomena.

4) What are defense mechanisms?

Defence mechanisms are automatic unconscious procedures that regulate affect states. They can also be understood as ways that patients defend themselves against changing in the service of preserving their illness.

5) Write about the different categories of adult attachment?

1. Secure: Characterized by trust, independence, and comfort with intimacy. Securely attached individuals have positive views of themselves and their partners.   
2. Anxious-Preoccupied: Marked by a desire for high intimacy and a fear of rejection. These individuals tend to be overly dependent on their partners and worry about the relationship's stability.   
3. Dismissive-Avoidant: Defined by a strong sense of independence and a suppression of attachment needs. Dismissive individuals prioritize personal space and may struggle with emotional closeness.   
4. Fearful-Avoidant: Characterized by a desire for intimacy but also a fear of it. These individuals often have mixed feelings about relationships, experiencing both a longing for connection and a fear of vulnerability.   

6) What is psychic determinism?

Psychic determinism is the idea that nothing in the mind happens by chance, and that all mental and physical behaviour is determined by prior psychological causes.

7) What is clarification?

Clarification is a request for more information or further elaboration in order to better understand the patient’s subjective experience.

8) Explain the method of Interpretation?

Interpretation is a focus on the unconscious meaning of what has been clarified and confronted, regarding experience in therapy, the relationship between the patient and therapist, or about relationships outside of therapy.

9) What is technical neutrality?

Technical neutrality is a therapeutic strategy in which the therapist avoids communicating any judgment about the patient’s conflicts while they are being discussed. The therapist uses the techniques of clarification, confrontation, and interpretation within this context. Technical neutrality does not mean that the therapist should be passive, but that they should be nonjudgemental.

10) Explain the strategy of self-disclosure?

Self-disclosure may be defined as the revelation of personal rather than professional information about the therapist to the client, only in the context that it should help the client in self-exploration. Self-disclosure of here-and-now countertransference feelings may help patients understand the impact they have on others.

11) Describe in depth the Freud’s theory of personality?

Freud’s theory of personality is complex, and includes multiple components:

• Basic Human Drives: Freud believed that all thoughts, emotions, and behaviors are motivated by two basic drives: sex and aggression. These drives are also referred to as Eros and Thanatos, or life and death, respectively.
• Structural Model: The structural model of personality includes the id, ego and superego. The id is present from birth and is based on the pleasure principle. The ego develops from the id and is the rational part of the personality. The superego is the moral part of the personality.
• Topographical Model: The topographical model of personality consists of the conscious, preconscious, and unconscious. The conscious is everything we are aware of, while the preconscious is information that we can access if prompted. The unconscious is the part of the mind where underlying emotions, beliefs, feelings, and impulses are buried and not available to the conscious level.
• Stages of Psychosexual Development: Freud believed that personality develops through a series of psychosexual stages: oral, anal, phallic, latency and genital. Each stage is associated with a particular erogenous zone. Successful completion of each stage leads to a healthy personality, while failure can lead to an unhealthy personality.

12) Discuss the core ideas of object relations theory?

Object relations theory assumes that the psychological life of the human being is formed in relationship with others.

13) Explain in detail the treatment principles and concepts of psychodynamic therapy?

The main treatment principles and concepts of psychodynamic therapy include:

• The unconscious
• The developmental perspective
• Subjectivity
• Transference
• Resistance
• Countertransference
• Multiple functions of symptoms

14) Write about the techniques used in psychoanalytic/ psychodynamic therapy?

Techniques used in psychoanalytic/psychodynamic therapy include:

• Interpretation: This involves clarification and confrontation. Clarifications are requests for more information or further elaborations in order to better understand the patient’s subjective experience. Confrontation involves pointing out to the patient their behaviours or patterns. Interpretation is a focus on the unconscious meaning of what has been clarified and confronted.
• Analysis of transference: Transference involves patients unconsciously relating to the psychotherapist as though the therapist is someone from their past.
• Technical neutrality: The therapist uses the techniques of clarification, confrontation, and interpretation within the context of technical neutrality. This involves avoiding communicating any judgment about the patient’s conflicts.

15) What are the distinctive features of psychodynamic therapy?

Distinctive features of psychodynamic therapy are:

• Focus on affect and expression of emotion
• Exploration of attempts to avoid distressing thoughts and feelings
• Identification of recurring themes and patterns
• Discussion of past experience (developmental focus)
• Focus on interpersonal relations
• Focus on the therapy relationship
• Exploration of fantasy life