Rencel Mendoza (T/Th 2:00- 3:30)

45613

Psychodynamic Techniques

1. Psychodynamic Diagnostic Manual (PDM)

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual or DSM is often referred to as the

clinical psychologist’s Bible. The DSM serves as a framework for understanding and
evaluating behavior within a therapeutic context.1

2. Rorschach Inkblots

The Rorschach inkblot test is a type of projective psychological test created

in 1921 by a Swiss psychologist named Hermann Rorschach. It is often utilized to
assess personality and emotional functioning.

In Rorschach inkblot test, respondents are asked to look at ambiguous

inkblot images and then describe what they see. The test often appears in popular
culture and is frequently portrayed as a way of revealing a person’s unconscious
thoughts, motives, or desires.2

I: The test involves psychological assessment of a person based on the

images that he/she sees or identifies in the pattern of ambiguous inkblots. The
perception and interpretation of the blots is a projection of a person’s mind thus it
would help sketch personality’s profile and also it would help to compare and
contrast different personalities however it may be deceit for the client might cite
other responses instead of their real perceptions. With this it may result in an
inaccurate assessment.

3. Freudian Slip (Parapraxis)

A Freudian slip is a verbal or memory mistake that is believed to be linked to

the unconscious mind. These slips supposedly reveal the real secret thoughts and
feelings that people hold.3

I: According to the field of psychodynamics, our behaviors, including our

words are never an accident even if we did not mean to say it. Everything we say is
not a simple mistake, but an unimpeded insight into our deepest desires because
everything we do and say reveals something what is going on inside for our
unconscious thoughts and feelings can transfer to the conscious mind in the form of
parapraxis.

1
Ackerman, C. (2017, October 8). What is Psychodynamic Therapy? 5 Tools & Techniques. Retrieved from
https://positivepsychology.com/psychodynamic-therapy/

2
Cherry, K. (2019, April 22). Rorschach Inkblot Psychological Test. Retrieved from https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-the-
rorschach-inkblot-test-2795806

3
Cherry, K. (2019, June 28). Retrieved from https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-a-freudian-slip-2795851
4. Free Association

Free Association involves letting a patient express anything that comes to

their mind during a session. The point is to do away with filters or judgment on
what they think and share with the therapist. It involves therapist reading a list of
words where client will immediately respond with the first word that comes to their
mind. And so it is hope that fragments of repressed memories will emerge in the
progress of free association.

Free association has a theoretical basis, a specific way to do it, and specific
goals. It’s a fundamental part of psychoanalysis, but people also use it as a
technique for certain projective tests, like the Rorschach test and the Thematic
Apperception Test (TAT).4

I: Patient talks to whatever comes to their mind. They are free to share
anything that they want especially those emotionally intense or traumatic events
that happened to them from the past. Through the free association the therapist
may help the client to forget their problem and past emotional and traumatic
experiences.

5. Dream Analysis

Dream analysis is undertaken by discussing the client’s dreams in detail. The

therapist will guide the client through this discussion, asking questions and
prodding the client to remember and describe the dream in as much detail as
possible.5

I:

https://www.simplypsychology.org/psychoanalysis.html

4
N.A. (2018, May 20). What exactly is Free Association? Retrieved from https://exploringyourmind.com/what-exactly-is-free-
association/

5
Ackerman, C. (2017, October 8). What is Psychodynamic Therapy? 5 Tools & Techniques. Retrieved from
https://positivepsychology.com/psychodynamic-therapy/