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PSYCHOANALYTIC APPROACHES TO COUNSELING:View of Human Nature

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Theory and Practice of Counseling - PSY632
VU
Lesson 23
PSYCHOANALYTIC APPROACHES TO COUNSELING
Counseling Approaches
Most counseling approaches, other than eclecticism fall within four broad theoretical categories as
mentioned below:
·  Psychoanalytic
·  Affective
·  Cognitive
·  Behavioral
We will examine the following aspects of each theory to facilitate comparisons:
o  View of human nature
o  Role of the counselor
o  Goals
o  Techniques
o  Evaluation of uniqueness and limitations
o  Case approach
The impact of psychoanalysis on the field of counseling is profound, and its theories have provided an
insight into human behavior more than any other approach. Other approaches are divided according to
their emphasis on feelings and behavior. Each approach recognizes both aspects, feeling and thinking, but
places a primary emphasis on one of the two.
Classical Psychoanalytic Approach
Many prominent theories if counseling (for example, Alfred Adler, Albert Ellis, Rollo May, and Fritz Perls)
were directly influenced by Freud's concepts, either through association with Freud himself or because they
were taught his ideas. Some theorists (including Carl Rogers, B.F. Skinner, Alfred Adler, Perls) developed
theories in direct opposition to Freud's principles. Still others (such as Carl Jung, Anna Freud, Erik Erikson,
Harry Stack Sullivan, Karen Horney, and Heinz Kohut) modified Freudian concepts in developing their
own ideas and concepts.
Sigmund Freud
Freud was born at Feiburg, Austria, in 1856 and obtained medical degree in 1881. Without question,
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psychoanalytic theory represents one of the most sweeping contributions to the field of personality. Almost
every form of therapy that relies on verbal transactions between therapist and patient owes some debt to
psychoanalysis.
Jean Charcot
He mastered in France under the famous neurologist Jean Charcot. He was fascinated by Joseph Breurer's
work. With a young hysterical patient called Anna. Breurer used hypnosis after which her symptoms were
relieved.
Joseph Breuer
Freud was not good hypnotist himself. However, he soon discovered that much of his success depended on
the relationship he developed during the treatment process rather than on the hypnosis itself. Freud added a
new twist to it by pressing his hand on patient' foreheads whenever they began to block out materials
verbally. Freud called this method free association. He used it to explore the unconscious minds of his
patients, and the material uncovered in the process became the stuff of interpretation and analysis. Thus,
psychoanalysis was born.
Despite controversial concepts, his ideas attracted a number of followers. Many of Freud's colleagues, and
later the general public, were outraged by his emphasis on the importance of sexually and aggression in the
etiology of personality. Nevertheless, his ideas attracted a number of followers, and in 1902 he formally
organized in his home what became known in 1908 as the Viennese Psychoanalytic Society. This group
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acquired international prominence when Freud was invited in 1908 to lecture at Clark University. Freud
died in London in 1939.
View of Human Nature
Many of his main tenets were set down in his books: "The Interpretation of Dreams", "New introductory Lectures
on psycho-analysis", and "The Ego and the Id".
The Interpretation of Dreams
The Freudian view of human nature is dynamic as he believed in the transformation and exchange of energy
within the personality. For Freud, human nature could be explained in terms of a conscious mind, a
preconscious mind and an unconscious mind:
·  Conscious--In Freudian terms, thoughts or motives that a person is currently aware of or is
remembering
·  Preconscious--Freud's term for thoughts or motives that one can become aware of easily
·  Unconscious--Freud's term for thoughts or motives that lie beyond a person's normal awareness
but that can be made available through psychoanalysis.
He uses the metaphor of an iceberg as an analogy to unconscious. According to him, the 10% of an iceberg
are visible (conscious), 90% are beneath the water (preconscious and unconscious), whereas the
unconscious is allotted overwhelming 75-80%.
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Evidence for the Unconscious
·  Dreams: symbolic of needs, wishes, anxieties, conflicts.
·  Slips of the tongue: Freudian slips, what you really wanted to say are shown in slips of tongue.
Posthypnotic suggestions: After hypnosis people obey the commands given by the hypnotist during
the hypnosis. It shows that posthypnotic suggestions stay somewhere, i.e., unconscious
Material from free association: Why would I think of what is revealed during free association?
Material from projective tests: Things revealed through projective tests come from unconscious.
The Structure of Personality
According to Freud, the personality consists of three parts:
Id
Ego
Superego
The Id
The id and the superego are confined to the unconscious; the ego operates primarily in the conscious, but
also in the preconscious and unconscious. Id is the demanding child which never matures and remains the
spoiled brat. It does not think only wishes or acts. It is illogical, amoral, and driven to satisfy instinctual
drives. The id operates through drivers, instincts, and images (such as dreaming, hallucinating, and
fantasizing) ­ a thought process known as primary process. If empowered and left on its own, the id would
probably destroy a person or cause trouble by acting on the primitive, aggressive, and sexual drives it
harbors. The id contains basic life energy, collectively known as eros and basic death instints, known as
thanatos. At first Freud associated eros with sexuality, but later he modified this idea, describing all life-
preserving instincts as eros and the psychic energy that accompanies them as libido. Any acts of aggression,
as well as foolishly dangerous behaviors such as taking unnecessary risks, were displays of thanatos.
The Ego
The Ego is the traffic cop or executive of the personality. It has contact with external world of reality. The
executive who controls and regulates the personality:
o  Mediates between instincts and the environment
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o  Controls consciousness and exercises censorship
o  Ruled by the reality principle
The Superego
The superego is the judge of human personality.
o  Ruled by moral principle
o  Judicial branch of personality
The main concern of superego is whether something is bad or good, right or wrong. It represents the ideal.
It functions to inhibit the Id and to persuade the ego and strive for perfectionism. It acts as a parent and
society in relation to rewards and punishments:
o  Rewards create feelings of pride/self-love.
o  Punishments create feelings of guilt/inferiority.
Psychosexual Stages of Development
Freud describes five developmental periods during which particular kinds of pleasures must be gratified if
personality development is to proceed normally. Each is marked by the involvement of a particular
erogenous zone of the body.
Oral stage:
·  0-18 months--infant receives satisfaction through sucking, eating, biting, etc. Erogenous zone is
the mouth.
·  Overindulgent--gullible, dependent, and passive
·  Underindulgent--aggressive, sadistic person
·  Oral fixated adults orient their life around their mouth by overeating, alcoholism, smoking, talking
too much
Anal stage:
·  18 months-3 years--the child receives satisfaction by having and retaining bowel movements.
Erogenous zone is the anus.
·  Fixation results in retentive or explosive personality
·  Anal-retentive--highly controlled, compulsively neat
·  Anal-explosive--messy, disorderly, rebellious, and destructive
Phallic Stage:
·  3-6 years--center of pleasure is the genitals, typically a time of exploration of pleasure through
masturbation and "playing doctor"
·  Child resolves the Oedipus Complex--(the period of conflict during the phallic stage when
children are sexually attracted to the opposite-sex parent and hostile toward the same-sex parent
·  Castration anxiety in males and penis envy in girls
Latency period:
After the phallic stage, between ages 6 and 12, is a quit period known as latency. At this time there is little
manifest interest in sexually. Instead, energy is focused on peer activities and personal mastery of cognitive
learning and physical skills.
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Genital stage:
Around puberty, the last of the psychosexual phases occurs, the genital stage. If all has gone well previously,
each gender takes more interest in the other and normal heterosexual patterns of interaction appear.
Frustration or overindulgence:
Freud believed that two difficulties could arise in the pregenital stages; excessive frustration or
overindulgence. In such cases, the person become fixated (or arrested) at the level of development and
overly dependent on the use of defense mechanisms.
Erik Erikson's (1963,1982) psychosocial theory extends Freuds developmental emphasis over the life span,
focusing on the achievement on specific life-enhancing tasks. The stages of development and their
accompanying ages are presented in the following table.
Freud (Psychosexual) vs. Erikson (Psychosocial stages of developm ent
Stage
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Stage
Basic T rust
Oral
Vs.Mistrust
Infancy
Anal
Autonomy
Vs.Shame,D
Early
oubt
Childhood
Phallic
Initiative
Vs.Guilt
Pre-School
Latency
Industry
Age
Vs.Inferior
ity
Genital
Identity
School Age
Vs.Confu
sion
Adolescence
Adulthood
Intimacy
Vs.Isolati
on
Young
Adulthood
Generati vit
y
Vs.Stagnati
Middle Age
on
Integrity
Vs.Desp
Later Life
air
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Table of Contents:
  1. INTRODUCTION:Counseling Journals, Definitions of Counseling
  2. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND COUNSELING & PSYCHOTHERAPY
  3. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND 1900-1909:Frank Parson, Psychopathic Hospitals
  4. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:Recent Trends in Counseling
  5. GOALS & ACTIVITIES GOALS OF COUNSELING:Facilitating Behavior Change
  6. ETHICAL & LEGAL ISSUES IN COUNSELING:Development of Codes
  7. ETHICAL & LEGAL ISSUES IN COUNSELING:Keeping Relationships Professional
  8. EFFECTIVE COUNSELOR:Personal Characteristics Model
  9. EFFECTIVE COUNSELOR:Humanism, People Orientation, Intellectual Curiosity
  10. EFFECTIVE COUNSELOR:Cultural Bias in Theory and Practice, Stress and Burnout
  11. COUNSELING SKILLS:Microskills, Body Language & Movement, Paralinguistics
  12. COUNSELING SKILLS COUNSELOR’S NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION:Use of Space
  13. COUNSELING SKILLS HINTS TO MAINTAIN CONGRUENCE:
  14. LISTENING & UNDERSTANDING SKILLS:Barriers to an Accepting Attitude
  15. LISTENING & UNDERSTANDING SKILLS:Suggestive Questions,
  16. LISTENING & UNDERSTANDING SKILLS:Tips for Paraphrasing, Summarizing Skills
  17. INFLUENCING SKILLS:Basic Listening Sequence (BLS), Interpretation/ Reframing
  18. FOCUSING & CHALLENGING SKILLS:Focused and Selective Attention, Family focus
  19. COUNSELING PROCESS:Link to the Previous Lecture
  20. COUNSELING PROCESS:The Initial Session, Counselor-initiated, Advice Giving
  21. COUNSELING PROCESS:Transference & Counter-transference
  22. THEORY IN THE PRACTICE OF COUNSELING:Timing of Termination
  23. PSYCHOANALYTIC APPROACHES TO COUNSELING:View of Human Nature
  24. CLASSICAL PSYCHOANALYTIC APPROACH:Psychic Determination, Anxiety
  25. NEO-FREUDIANS:Strengths, Weaknesses, NEO-FREUDIANS, Family Constellation
  26. NEO-FREUDIANS:Task setting, Composition of Personality, The Shadow
  27. NEO-FREUDIANS:Ten Neurotic Needs, Modes of Experiencing
  28. CLIENT-CENTERED APPROACH:Background of his approach, Techniques
  29. GESTALT THERAPY:Fritz Perls, Causes of Human Difficulties
  30. GESTALT THERAPY:Role of the Counselor, Assessment
  31. EXISTENTIAL THERAPY:Rollo May, Role of Counselor, Logotherapy
  32. COGNITIVE APPROACHES TO COUNSELING:Stress-Inoculation Therapy
  33. COGNITIVE APPROACHES TO COUNSELING:Role of the Counselor
  34. TRANSACTIONAL ANALYSIS:Eric Berne, The child ego state, Transactional Analysis
  35. BEHAVIORAL APPROACHES:Respondent Learning, Social Learning Theory
  36. BEHAVIORAL APPROACHES:Use of reinforcers, Maintenance, Extinction
  37. REALITY THERAPY:Role of the Counselor, Strengths, Limitations
  38. GROUPS IN COUNSELING:Major benefits, Traditional & Historical Groups
  39. GROUPS IN COUNSELING:Humanistic Groups, Gestalt Groups
  40. MARRIAGE & FAMILY COUNSELING:Systems Theory, Postwar changes
  41. MARRIAGE & FAMILY COUNSELING:Concepts Related to Circular Causality
  42. CAREER COUNSELING:Situational Approaches, Decision Theory
  43. COMMUNITY COUNSELING & CONSULTING:Community Counseling
  44. DIAGNOSIS & ASSESSMENT:Assessment Techniques, Observation
  45. FINAL OVERVIEW:Ethical issues, Influencing skills, Counseling Approaches