FEBRUARY 2023

ASSIGNMENT 1

Psychoanalytic Theory

SUBJECT COUNSELLING & GUIDANCE CODE ECG20103

NO NAME MATRIC NO SIGNATURE

1. Priya Elizabeth Aruldass Henry 012022020463 Priya

Lecturer:  Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ooi Boon Keat (K.B.,P.A.)

DATE OF SUBMISSION: 18.03.2023

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 CONTENTS

No. Description Page

I Issue and focus of literature 3

II Psychoanalytical theory 4

III Critical discussion of the findings 5

IV Implications 7

V Suggestions and Recommendations 8

VI CONCLUSION 9

VII REFERENCES 10

VIII APPENDIX 11

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Title: Critical review of the Psychoanalytic theory and its
applications in a diverse society

I. ISSUES AND FOCUS OF LITERATURE

The paper focusses on how psychoanalysts have analysed internal

representations of gender, race, culture and sexual orientation and social class using
object relations theory and relational psychoanalysis. Literature also reports how
therapists confront their feelings in relation to race in order to help others effectively
deal with cross-racial and similar-racial interactions (Tummala-Narra, 2013).

Therapists can use insight into psychotherapy and their perspectives to

interact therapeutically with the client to deal with issues of ambivalence, anxiety,
sadness, guilt and shame. They use the perspectives of attachment, separation, and
related mourning to change the views of client by relating to one another (Tummala-
Narra, 2013).

Intrapsychic and interpersonal changes in the context of immigration,

challenges of the mourning process of immigrants, including regression into earlier
stages of development, culture shock and discontinuity of identity, discontinuity of
identity are explored. Aspects like culturally and racially based transference in the
therapeutic relationship with an emphasis on the role of power, privilege, social
hierarchies, issues of spirituality, sexual orientation/identity, gender identity are also
explored (Tummala-Narra, 2013).

The article focuses on experiences of several psychoanalytic practitioners.

Two case examples are discussed. One case example is about Reena, a Hindu,
Indian American women who has considerable anxiety due to her ethnicity and
experiences of racial discrimination. Another example is one where two colleagues
can connect with one another to bring ways of community intervention for an
afterschool program for students exposed to violence in their neighbourhood
(Tummala-Narra, 2013).

The article highlights how potential application and integration of psychoanalytical

concepts can be used to address racial and cultural dynamics and its implications for
practice and community consultation with racial and ethnic minority clients.

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II. PSYCHOALAYTIC THEORY

Psychoanalytic theory, originally founded by Sigmund Freud, has undergone

many refinements to understand the personality and its development of the
person and to treat psychopathology. According to Freud, the conscious mind is
aware of the present perceptions, memories, thoughts, and feelings and is
carried on to the available memory which can be retrieved. Emphasis is placed
on the primitive wishes and impulses are part of the unconscious mind. The
psychoanalytic theory emphasises the importance of the unconscious mind on
the behaviour to the greatest degree in persons (Sibi, 2020).

According to Freud’s theory, the compartmentalised parts of the human

personality are id, ego, and superego. id, operating at the unconscious level
consists of Eros and Thanatos. Eros, the life instinct controls the life sustaining
activities and Thanatos, a set of destructive forces, can be directed at others in a
violent form. Freud believed in the ability of Eros to help people to thrive as
opposed to Thanatos (Sibi, 2020).

Ego, operates both consciously and sub-consciously develops from the id in

individuals and tries to satisfy the demands of id in a very safe and socially
acceptable way. Superego operates on the moral principles and motivates them
to behave in socially acceptable ways and is responsible for ensuring moral
standards in individuals (Sibi, 2020).

Ego synchronises the demands of id, superego and the external world,
regulates and transforms the primitive instincts of the self. Processes like denial,
compensation, projection, displacement, sublimation, reaction formation,
regression and repression intend to meet the needs of the outside world but may
lead to abnormality if not maintained within limits (Sibi, 2020).

Freud’s theory identifies defence mechanisms like fantasy, identification,

sublimation and displacement and dreams as unconscious activities of the mind.
One such dynamic defence process is dreams by which the ego maintains its
strength and plays a crucial role in the psychoanalytic theory as the means of
revealing the unconscious. Repressed experiences and unconscious conflicts are
exhibited as hallucinations or delusions. Dreams and thoughts need to be
interpreted to understand the unconscious mind (Freud, 1949).

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 Freud’s theory also gives significance to the death or ego instinct which aims
to reinstate lifelessness. Birth is recognised as the primary realisation of the
death instinct. Life, therefore, is a balance of birth and death (Freud, 1991).

Two disciples of Freud criticised the psychoanalytic theory and later

established their independent schools of psychology.

III. CRITICAL DISCUSSION OF THE FINDINGS

A. Case Example 1; Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy with “Reena”

“Reena” a Hindu, Indian American women seeks psychotherapy to cope with

anxiety issues. Growing up as an immigrant in the United States, Reena faces
separation from her parents as they work most of the time and witness domestic
violence between her uncle and aunt. Reena experiences feelings of “being different”
due to her Hindu background, her brown skin colour, wearing her in a braid and a
bindi and tries to hide her Indian identity and found partial success of being accepted
in school. Rina is encouraged to excel academically and completes her graduate
education. Although, she maintains frequent contact with her parents, she keeps the
men she dates a secret from them. She begins to date a white American man and is
taken aback when his father makes derogatory statements about African Americans.
This makes her worried about being accepted for her racial background. She also
begins to have concerns when her co-workers find her exotic and considered those
comments derogatory (Tummala-Narra, 2013).

The strength of psychanalysis is understanding Reena’s anxiety which stems with

her anxiety from both within and outside of her relationships and is used key
component of her therapy. The therapist has an insight into the clients’ anxieties due
to her own anxieties with interactions based on race and skin colour and parent child
relationships. Awareness of the conscious and unconscious meanings of race and
ethnicity, being aware that ambivalence towards cultural identifications and
separation from parents were used as insights to help Reena deal with her racial and
cultural identity. Reena’s health and behavioural problems are attributed to early
childhood which is a main strength of the psychoanalysis theory (Tummala-Narra,
2013).

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 B. Case Example 2: Community Intervention

This case is based on preparation for community intervention for students of

African American and Latino or multiracial backgrounds who are exposed to violence
in their neighbourhoods. To be able to assist these students, this case study looks at
experiences that the professionals should have to be able to collaborate among
themselves to develop an adequate intervention. Cultural mistrust exists between
professionals due to their race, where one feels white guilt and another feeling of
invisibility. There were apparent insider-outsider dynamics which conflicted when it
came to being accepted as a credible professional so that students exposed to
violence can be helped (Tummala-Narra, 2013).

The colleague wanted to help the students regarding the stress on the
body due to their exposure to violence. One strategy was to improve their physical
health by providing handouts about healthy meals and discussing healthy eating.
This approach, however, was not received well among the school staff as the social
contextual implications were not thought through. The staff suggested that providing
handouts may not be useful as it was not relevant, and this indirectly questioned our
credibility (Tummala-Narra, 2013).

From the experience, it is evident that cultural divide can create

feelings of alienation and disempowerment in predominantly white institutions.
However, sharing of these experiences among staff improved the staff’s ability to
connect with the student’s experiences with community violence. Intervention
methods progressed due to the effective and interpersonal processes in the staff and
student group meetings. Community psychology perspective is used to develop a
framework for consultation through its questioning of power, privilege and expert
knowledge and understanding of social location (race and immigration) (Tummala-
Narra, 2013).

The case studies show the relevancy and usefulness of the psychoanalytic
theory when applied to treatment and consultant settings and how community
psychology and multi-cultural psychology to address sociocultural context with
individuals and community. The practitioner helps to foster emotional insight by

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uncovering conscious and unconscious feelings and suggesting strategies to
overcome them (Tummala-Narra, 2013).

It is evident that attending to effective experiences was necessary for self-

understanding and collaboration among various parties. Effective experiences are
from the past and present lives of both the practitioner and the client. The
psychoanalytic framework validates the individual’s distress under experiences of
trauma and cruelty and emphasises the in-depth understanding of individual and
collective meanings of experience (Tummala-Narra, 2013).

The psychoanalytic theory also emphasises the importance of examining of

one’s values, biases, and social location in context of community collaboration,
influence, and use of countertransference and intersubjectivity. Power differentials in
the treatment-consultation relationship are to be understood so that personal spaces
are created to facilitate authentic discussions about race and ethnicity (Tummala-
Narra, 2013).

IV. IMPLICATIONS

There is a huge potential of connecting psychoanalytic, community and multi-cultural

perspectives and the integration of such practices have a great deal of implications
on psychoanalytic practitioners who work across clinical and community settings.

-Different theoretical perspectives can advantage certain contexts of individual and

social change.

A study by Albee (1990) argued that individual psychotherapy in less effective than
community psychotherapy to bring about social change. Another study by Kaufmann
(2003) and King & Shelley (2008) agued that community level interventions
produced superficial or no deep internal change.

-According to Sue (2001), multicultural theory does not recognise the use of classical
psychoanalytical theory’s ability to integrate an understanding of sociocultural
context.

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-Later studies do recognise the importance of using the strengths of theoretical
assumptions to work across diverse context and with clients of diverse racial and
cultural backgrounds.

- Psychoanalytic theory also recognises the ability and competence of treatment and
consultation to individuals and communities who face social marginalisation and
denied access to basic resources.

-Social justice is a key component of psychoanalytic theory but disconnects

with complete integration of social context (Tummala-Narra, 2013).

V. SUGGESTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The are a diverse number of psychoanalytic practitioners, researchers and educators

and knowledge about specific racial and cultural context can transfer this knowledge
to different practice settings and communities.

-Interpretation, a psychoanalytic technique can benefit from a deeper knowledge of

both sociocultural and individual’s conscious and unconscious identifications.

-Knowledge on impact of racial trauma on an individual and community’s daily

routine can be incorporated into the psychoanalytical theory.

-The influence of practice, research and teaching, like ‘social mirroring’ ‘social
location’ and ‘microaggressions’ on socially marginalised communities need to be
examined.

-A broadening of psychoanalytic theory and technique is required to allow for a more

active exploration of interaction between social contexts, communities and
individuals.

-It is also recommended that psychoanalysis collaborate more with other disciplines
to expand its relevance to a broader society.

-Acceptance of multiple theoretical perspectives and a commitment to developing

relationships with individuals and communities is recommended to reduce tensions
and enhance creativity in practice.

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-Modifications to training which includes broadening skills within and outside the
psychotherapy setting and educating communities and settings about the benefits of
psychotherapy will be an advantage.

- Psychoanalytic educators must be encouraged to learn more about experiences of

minority trainees and therapists.

-A closer look at systemic issues within the psychoanalytic profession can be

achieved through increased dialogue from both within and outside psychoanalytic
circles (Tummala-Narra, 2013).

VI. CONCLUSION

Psychoanalysts are worthy to be considered as agents of social change and

expand discourse on how psychoanalytic practitioners, consultants, researchers and
educators by integrating diverse perspectives from minority individuals and
communities. So, the key change is based on psychoanalysis being applied to
diverse context (Tummala-Narra, 2013).

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VII. REFERENCES

Freud, S (1949) An Outline of Psychoanalysis. London: The Hogarth Press, 1949.

Freud, S (1991) New Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis. Trans. James

Strachy. London: Penguin Books.

Sibi, K. J (2020) Sigmund Freud and Psychoanalytic Theory, Langlit, accessed at <
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/342610778_SIGMUND_FREUD_AND_PS
YCHOANALYTIC_THEORY>

Tummala-Narra, P (2013) Psychoanalytic applications in a diverse society, Psychoanalytic

Psychology, 30 (3) 471-487

Albee, G. W. (1990). The futility of psychotherapy. Journal of Mind and Behavior, 11, 369–
384.

Kaufmann, W. (2003). Freud, Adler, and Jung: Discovering the mind (Vol. 3). London, UK:
Transaction Publishers.

King, R. A., & Shelley, C. A. (2008). Community feeling and social interest: Adlerian
parallels, synergy and differences with the field of community psychology. Journal of
Community & Applied Social Psychology, 18, 96–107.

Sue, D. W. (2001). Multidimensional facets of cultural competence. The Counseling

Psychologist, 29, 790–821.

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VIII. APPENDIX

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