Psychoanalytic Theory

A. Case Background/History
Alan is in his mid 30’s he was married and has three children. He is the only child in his
family and his parents divorced when he was 12 years old. He is seeking help for drug and
alcohol abuse and had been using marijuana, cocaine and methamphetamine since his late
teenage years. He also said that he started drinking alcohol before he was a teenager. Alan
finished high school and began working in retail. He changed jobs was fired every couple years
but was able to work his way up into a managerial position. His drinking had a negative impact
on his family and occasionally he yelled at his wife and kids. Often he spent time by himself at
home watching TV or surfing on the internet. He wasn't very satisfied at work and occasionally
got into arguments with his co workers.
This is Alan’s first time in formal counseling. He reports that he wants to change himself
and is tired living in kind of life he’s been living in. Alan also reports that sometimes he want’s
to kill himself because there are times that he want to stop doing things that is bad to him but
can’t do it anything about it. He seeks counseling because he feels hopeless and is having
difficulty staying focused at work and is generally feeling sad and overwhelmed for his family.
Alan also reports having a lot of anxiety. Alan summarizes his current situation
by saying, “I have realized that I am tired of having this kind of life for years I want to change
for myself and my family”.

B. Approach Applied
Psychoanalytic therapy is one of the most well-known treatment modalities and the goal
of this therapy is to help patients better understand the unconscious forces that can play a role in
their current behaviors, thoughts and emotions. As I applied this therapy to Alan we agreed that
he will undergo session at least once a week and he will remain in therapy for a number of
weeks, months or years unless he withdraw himself to the therapy. Through this process Alan
will gain knowledge and awareness of the unconscious forces that contributes to his current
mental state. And as his therapist I will always guide and help him until he achieves his wellness.
One of the techniques that I have used in my therapy session with Alan is Free Association I
helped him to say whatever comes first to his mind by giving him clues so that he can tell stories
or memories that he remembers. I also used the Dream Interpretation, In the last part of our
session before I let Alan leave the room I asked him to always have a pen and a paper beside him
whenever he sleeps so that he can track and write down the dreams that he can remember
because represents unconscious desires thoughts and motivations.
As a Psychoanalyst I believe that past events and unconscious feelings or emotions have
an effect in the client’s mental illness and behaviors. .The goal of this kind of therapy is to
understand our unconscious mind that can have a significant role in out current behaviors or
emotions.

C. Presenting Problem
Alan is an alcoholic and a drug user, he uses marijuana, cocaine, and methamphetamine.
He have been drinking too much alcohol and using drugs for a long time and it results to him
having issues in his own family and problems in his job. Allan drinks regularly and it can
develops to a condition called alcohol use disorder which can lead to serious complications also
alcoholism can manifest itself in a broad range of psychiatric symptoms and signs if not treated.
By his many addictions he displays many negative behaviors like shouting to his wife in front of
their kids, having negative attitude towards his kids that result to him having a bad relationship
to his family and not just that he also have a problem in his workplace. He often fights with his
workmates and bosses for him to get fired several times. He also want to be alone most of the
time and he is also having thoughts like killing himself.
Combining drugs and/or using them with alcohol can be extremely dangerous. When
you're addicted, you may continue using the drug despite the harm it causes. He is using cocaine
and it is extremely addictive and is considered one of the most powerful reinforcing drugs. He
also uses marijuana, tolerance of marijuana develops rapidly. Physical and psychological
withdrawal symptoms from marijuana include irritability, restlessness, insomnia, nausea and
intense dreams. To inhibit the behavior of Allan there are many reasons may want to actively
avoid alcohol abuse and drug abuse. Whatever the reason, there are preventative measures that
Allan can put in place to help his avoid addiction and the risk of developing alcohol and drug
addiction.

D. Rationale
As a therapist who is using a Psychoanalytic approach past experiences of a client is
really important to determine the problem and go to the healing process. I asked Alan about his
experiences in his childhood and what he feels when his parents got divorced when he was 12
years old.

“When I was 10 years old I clearly remember wanting to play with my cousin’s but they refuse
to play with me because I have no toys that they have, one of my cousin said that I have to get
one of those first to play with them and I felt so bad that day. I remember being mad at them but
I never really showed them that I was frustrated”, Alan said.

“When my parents got divorced I felt really sad and mad because at that time we were having
money issues and the divorce really worsened our problems. I was angry at them. I don't really
want to feel those things again”, He continued.

I listened to Alan with the goal of wanting him to connect to what really is the foundation
of his strong emotions. As a psychoanalytic therapist, I believe that the basis of psychological
problems are rooted in the unconscious mind. Issues that they tell into session often stem from
unresolved childhood conflicts and trauma. Childhood pain and suffering is not necessarily
rooted in an extreme or horrific event; children may repress memories of any negative emotional
event. My goal for Alan is to see how his early experiences or trauma is affecting his current
habits and behaviors. Once Alan can bring his unconscious into conscious level he can better
understand his triggers and recurrent emotional conflicts. In making unconscious material
conscious, Alan must recognize the origins of his behavior, explore some of these patterns, work
through early experiences, release dysfunctional behaviors, and begin relating to life from a
position of greater clarity and strength.
As I’ve said that he must recall all the memories that he has from the past Alan continues
discussing his frustrations from his early experiences. I helped him achieve a more relaxed state
so he can bypass the conscious mind and find out what is happening at an unconscious level. My
intervention is not the typical free association of traditional psychoanalysis but rather guided
association based on familiar emotions.
Therapist: Sit and you must relax yourself. Calm down. Go back to the time when you have these
feeling of frustration. Go back there, back to when you were a boy and you had these feeling that
nothing was going right and that things were starting to fall apart.

I watch Alan and his facial expression is starting to change and after a minute he began to
speak.

Client: I am 12 and I remember going home with a dirty clothes because I helped one of my
classmates to clean his father’s truck in exchange for a money so that I can buy a snack for
tomorrow when I go to school because that time we were having money issues. When I got home
my mom just started to yell at me because of my clothes. I remember her slapping me in the face
I got no chance to explain to told her what happened. And later that evening my father came
home late and they started yelling at each other and after the fighting the first words that I’ve
heard is my father saying that he wants a divorce and then my mother started to throw things at
him. I ran back at my room and get to bed and then I put a pillow in my face and then I started to
cry.

Therapist: So in that incident, what do you think you need in those situations?

Client: I feel alone. At that time I need someone whom I can tell all my problems to get away
from that kind of life I’m in. I met boys at school I go with them they offer me drinks and while
were drinking they started to talk to each other, they asked me a lot of questions. That’s the first
time that I felt that I’m not alone. I began to go with them regularly, I started to do all the things
that they do to fit in.

I asked him to reflect on the things he have made at that time. Alan pauses and then
replies.

Client: I just need somebody to talk to or something that I can do to forget all my feelings and
my problems. I think that I have to be open to my family if I have problems instead of facing it
on my own
 I asked Alan to reflect on how often this early decision affects his life now. He sits
quietly for a while and then replies that he feels that those habits of him are the only ones that
can make him forget all the problems that he has. He is surprised that he now recognized what is
the main root of his behavior now.

Client: I don’t know what to say I now know that those past experiences and the feelings that I
have repressed and the habits that I’m used to do whenever I feel the same kind of problem is the
cause of my burden now.

Alan now understand the importance of bringing the unconscious mind into conscious to
be able to understand why we have these kinds of feelings. He believes that knowing the causes
of ones behavior can serve as a healing force in our lives. I told Alan that life is full of problems
and we must know the right solution for it. As we can look back Alan have problems in his
family and to be able to get away from those he looks for someone/something that he can run
away with. His then found friends makes him drink and use drugs and he feels good because he
felt in that moment that he’s not alone, he has somebody. So every time he has problems he uses
this things because he thinks that it is the absolute solution because he is used to doing those
things to forget all his problems. As he leaves my office I told him that every time he feels
something he must write it down so we can keep track of his unconscious mind for the next
therapy session and I also told him to always have a pen and a paper beside him every-time he
sleeps so that he can write down the dreams that he have.

E. Analysis and Interpretation

Alan have many issues in his past that he can’t resolve and it is affecting his current life.
Despite him wanting to stop all his addiction he can’t do it because he thinks that it is his only
way to run away from his problems. Understanding the experiences in his past or his
unconscious mind can help him know why he have these kinds of behaviors because gaining
insights into his feelings, behaviors, and experiences can hep him better understand the
unconscious forces that continue to influence his current actions, his relationship with other
people and family, and own self and aside from that the best thing we can do is to talk to
someone we trust so we do not have to deal with this challenge alone. If he believes that
addiction is his problem, or if he simply would like to cut down on the amount of alcohol and
drugs he consume, Alan should tell someone. Putting those intentions out in the world can help
him be more accountable. Additionally, having the support of those who care about Alan can
also help him maintain his goals. Overall, it is up to him to make the changes he feel should be
made in his own life. Surrounding himself with people who support his changes will help him
stay focused on the life he wants.