Psychoanalytic Approach to Therapy

Psychology

Name

Institutional Affiliation

Psychology

Question 1.

Relational psychoanalysis is a school of thought that insists on the obligation of imagined and real associations amongst individual in psychotherapy and mental disorder. The notion is relatively novel, and evolving psychoanalytic school of thought viewed to represent a psychoanalysis paradigm shift. As a counselor, I would consider a clients’ relations with other individuals as the foundation of their mental life. From a relationship point of view, individual’s encounter and the internal mental structures are transformations derived from their affiliation with the significant other. The therapeutic relationship would play a superordinate obligation in the handling a psychological client. I would give serious consideration to individual involvement, my subjectivity, as well as, partial blinding entanglements. Further, language, culture, race, class, and gender would also be significant factors to analyze a client’s relations (Prochaska & Norcross, 2018). Applying those above would help in attaining a comprehensive rational method to handle psychological issues that are linked to relations.

However, the relational psychoanalytic approach would require me to have a proper understanding of the three-comprehensive themes especially in handling couples’ psychotherapy. Firstly, I would walk the client through a process of actualizing of their encounters in their relationships. Secondly, I would assess the partner’s ability to mutual appreciation against mutual negation. Lastly, I would encourage the client to allow an individual mind for the relationship. The implementation of the above three themes would guide me in linking practice and theory. This way, I would have the opportunity to assess my progress throughout the treatment process concerning the course material (Capuzzi & Stauffer, 2016). The steps will guide me in addressing my attunement to the disparate subjectivities of the client’s partner inclusive of the critical importance of every party’s viewpoint in on real issues they co-habit.

Question 2.

I am engrossed in the model for it is very in-depth. Psychoanalytic therapy involves the entire past of a client. Also, the model thoroughly explores childhood encounters that may be limiting the individual from achieving their adulthood potential. However, I strongly feel that the model takes away the control of the client. This happens as the psychologist makes all the interpretation of the meaning concerning behaviors, feelings, thoughts, and events. Consequently, the client lacks the chance to make their discoveries regarding the encounters. As a counselor, I would actively want to work closely with the client to discuss present and past events (Capuzzi & Stauffer, 2016). This way, I would offer the clients a chance to interpret their historical encounters, listen to their views, as well as, start new ways of behaving, feeling and thinking.

Psychoanalytic therapy has been critical in analyzing the progress of my life. I have understood that, if I am yet to meet the challenge of a given stage, I may never develop to encounter the challenge of the following level. Psychoanalysis model offers a chance to discover the time in life when I got stuck. Consequently, I can work on the unresolved issues and move forward in life. Further, the therapy process may employ Erikson’s psychosocial and Freud’s psychosexual levels as the starting grounds in understanding where my developmental issues arise (Prochaska & Norcross, 2018). Carrying out the therapy requires a period which offers the opportunity for an in-depth assessment of past encounters. Conclusively, the model has offered me the best therapy results on a long-term basis. In other words, I employ the model continuously out of which I have reaped substantial result in impacting my life.

Question 3.

In counseling, transference can be employed in both groups and individual sessions. It is, however, important to highlight the values one would place in exploring the technique with the client(s). As a counselor, I will employ leadership values when exploring transference strategies with clients. I will think psychoanalytically without applying most of the psychoanalysis strategies. I will also work with the client as a team through which I will re-create situations from their history that is still impacting their lives. I will help the client(s) understand that they may encounter a common range of emotions and feelings in the counseling sessions that the original situations from historical events prompted in them (Capuzzi & Stauffer, 2016). I will offer the clients a chance to act on the emotions and feelings of an individual symbolizing someone from the history (either a sibling, father, mother among others) during the sessions. This implies that group sessions maybe involved in psychoanalytical therapies. I will engage the clients practically both on an individual basis of groups. I will guide the individuals to virtually seek attention from the counselor of group facilitator like they did in the past when vying for their siblings’ or parents’ attention. This way, I will enhance the clients’ abilities to work in groups. The approach will offer insight on the means in which individuals work when away from facilitators and groups. Individual’s behavior acts as pending conflicts in the clients’ life (Levy & Scala, 2012). Consequently, the pending issues will be discussed upon recognition by the counselor and clients following which we will work on them therapeutically in group sessions.

Question 4.

Different sources refer to brief intervention as “short-term counseling,” “brief counseling,” “minimal interventions” and “simple advice.” The counseling may include suggests by a professional (such as a physician assistant, drug counselor, nurse or a social worker) to stop or reduce substance use or a sequence of interventions within a treatment program. On the other hand, psychoanalytic approach concentrates on unconscious progressions as they are evident in the current behavior of the clients (Capuzzi & Stauffer, 2016). However, I think that some aspects of psychoanalytic methods should be applied in brief therapy.

The primary aim of the psychoanalytic strategy is to enhance self-understanding and awareness of the influence of the current and past actions. Brief interventions employment, like in the case of substance abuse, is founded on principles to impact and transform the clients’ behaviors. As a result, psychoanalysis approaches can be employed through which the individual’s history is analyzed to determine the causes and solutions of current events. Psychoanalysis can help in tracking the primary purpose of an individual behavior following which a brief solution can be offered. According to Prochaska & Norcross (2018), time-framed counseling has flexible objectives which offer a chance and allows individuals to select abstinence. Transference approaches can assist the clients in transforming their behaviors instead of assigning self-blame.

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