THE

PSYCHOANALYTIC
THEORY OF
COUNSELING
DRDR

DR. BLAX ODUOR NELSON

 DR. SUGMUND FREUD
  Freud’S Psychoanalytic theory is more
than a theory of psychotherapy it is a
theory of personality development, a
philosophy of human nature, a worldview!
IMPORTANCE OF  Freud was the first person to formalize a
method of talk therapy. All other theories
DR. FREUD of psychotherapy can be viewed as
building upon or
reacting against Freud's theories.
 A Little History. . .
 Freud earned a medical degree and, by 1885, was
working with a psychiatrist named Charcot, who
was using hypnotherapy to treat hysteria.

 Freud developed many of the important concepts of

psychoanalysis between 1895 and 1900. He found
that free association could be as effective as
hypnosis in unlocking the secrets of the
unconscious.
 Freud attracted many followers, and the
Psychoanalytic Society was founded in 1910.
 Freud was forced to leave Vienna as the Nazis
gained power in Austria, and he died in London in
1939. World War I and the rise of Nazism
profoundly influenced Freud's view of humanity.
 The Freudian Worldview

 Freud believed that human nature is largely deterministic, meaning that our
behavior is determined by our biological and instinctual drives, as well as by
our powerful unconscious motivations.
 Insight and awareness can increase the level of choice and control that one
has over these drives and motivations.
 THE ROLE OF INSTINCT
 Freud believed that instincts are central to
understanding the behavior of humans.
 Libido or Eros originally referred to sexual
energy, but was later revised to mean the life
instinct and the drive toward pleasure and away
from pain.
 Thanatos refers to the death instinct, which is
the aggressive drive.
 The Structure of Personality

 Id - ruled by the pleasure principle driven to

satisfy basic needs, the id remains immature,
illogical, largely unconscious. It is the
earliest part of our personality, present at
birth.
 Ego - ruled by the reality principle serves as a
mediator between the id and the external world.
Also works to mediate between the id and the
superego.
 Superego - ruled by the perfection principle
represents the ideal, a moral code.
The Unconscious

 Freud postulated that the unconscious forms the

largest part of the mind the conscious portion
is much smaller.
 The unconscious cannot be seen or proven, but
must be inferred from certain mental processes.
Evidence for the Unconscious

 Dreams - symbolic of needs, wishes, anxieties,

conflicts.
 Slips of the tongue Freudian slips, what you
really wanted to say.
 Posthypnotic suggestions.
 Material from free association why would I think
of that?
 Material from projective tests making meaning.
 Symbolic content of psychotic processes often wish fulfilment.
 Anxiety

 Anxiety (state of tension) motivates us.

 Reality anxiety is fear caused by external world,
and is in proportion with the actual threat.
 Neurotic anxiety is the tension between an
unconscious wish and the prohibition against that
wish fear of being overcome by instincts.
 Moral anxiety is the fear of ones own super-ego
guilt reaction.
 The ego works to control anxiety, and will resort
to defense mechanisms if necessary.
 Defense mechanisms serve to deny or distort
reality, and operate out of the conscious
awareness.
 Defense mechanisms are normal and adaptive as
long as they are not a constant way of life.
Ego-Defense Mechanisms

 Repression excluded from awareness

 Denial not acknowledged
 Reaction formation opposite of what is true
 Projection attribute your feelings to others
 Displacement shift to safer target
 Rationalization justify behaviours
 Sublimation divert sexual energy to other
channels
 Regression revert to earlier stage of development
 Introjection take on values of others
 Undoing taking it back
Personality Development
 Freud believed that the first six years of life
laid the foundation upon which personality is
built.
 There are key developmental tasks at the
various stages of development.
 In discussing psychosexual development in
children, remember that we aren't talking about
adult sexuality. Its more about the drive
toward pleasure!
Stages of Psychosexual Development
 Oral stage (first year)feeding satisfies need for food and pleasure basic
nurturing.
 Anal stage (ages 1-3)toilet-training leads , fosters sense of control
learn to
accept angry feelings.
 Phallic stage (ages 3-6)desire to join with opposite-sex parent and
remove competition of same-sex parent castration anxiety (boys) and
penis envy (girls) are part of this stage.
 Latency stage (ages 6-12)time of socialization and forming
relationships with others outside family, developing interests, etc.
 Genital stage (ages 12-adult)sexual energy re-emerges, interest in
sexual relationships begins and must be appropriately expressed.
 Goals of Psychoanalytic Therapy
 To make the unconscious conscious.

 To strengthen the ego so that it is better able

to keep a lid on the id, and also able to keep
the superego from totally taking over.
Therapists Role

 Classical analytic stance is blank-screen.

 Therapist takes a neutral stance, says very
little, cautiously makes interpretations as
relationship develops.
 This allows for projection.
 Process of Therapy
 Therapy is often long (can be 3-5 years), and
often takes place more than once a week.
 Client is first assessed to see if they are appropriate for psychoanalytic therapy must have
some level of ego strength, not floridly psychotic, etc.
 Maintaining the frame Free association
 Dream analysis clients must agree to remember and report their dreams
 Interpretation listening for patterns, themes
 Analysis and interpretation of resistance
 Analysis and interpretation of transference
 Transference

 Much of the work of analysis is looking at transference. Transference

is the process of transferring unresolved feelings or issues onto
the therapist and the therapeutic relationship the client reacts not to
the therapist, but to their own unresolved feelings.
 Transference is an important part of the therapy,not a mistake or
problem.
Counter-transference

 Therapists can also be guilty of transference, but then it is

called countertransference a reaction to the client based on
therapists own issues.
 Countertransference can damage the therapists objectivity, so
therapist must have an awareness of when it occurs so that it
can be dealt with, minimized.
 Criticisms and Limitations

 Not appropriate for every client or every type of

problem.
 Feminist perspective argues that psychoanalytic therapy places
too much emphasis on penis envy, mothers responsibility for
patients problems.
 Closed system Freud could always prove himself right.
 Long term and lots of commitment, cost.
Psychodynamic Therapists

 Believe in the unconscious, that people do things

for reasons that are not always available to
them.
 Attend closely to clients language, the words
they choose important.
 There would be a reason why. . .
 Respond to latent meaning in clients messages.
 Attend carefully to own reactions, feelings.
Thank you…
Any questions…