The client will be
encouraged to
express anything
that comes to his
mind
With each incident the client will
share, wihich may then, through
free association of ideas, lead to
other thoughts and memories
perhaps extending back to their
childhood
The client must not leave out
the material at all and in his
freewill way ego defences may
be lowered and repressed
material accessed.
The therapist will
intervene as specific times
or set the themes for
discussion that can be
analysed further during
the therapeutic process
Freud introduced free
association to try and get
around the defences put
up by the ego and so
bring the surface material
from the unconcious.
Dream Analysis
Freud referred
to dreams as -
'The royal way
to the
unconcious'
During dreams
the normal
barriers to
unconcious
material were
lifted and the
symbolic imagery
of dreams was a
reflection of this
unconcious
material
By analysing
the contents of
dreams the
therapist might
be able to
identify
significant
conflicts
repressed into
the uncoincious
Freuds understanding of dreams
Dreams have an
obvious content that
the client can recall.
This is referred to as
the manifest content
Beneath the manifest
content lies the actual
meaning of the dream
that could only be
revealed through the
therapists interpretation.
This is referred to as the
latent content
The dream work
was the process by
which the latent
content was
distorted into the
manifest content.
This can happen
through various
processes.
Projective
Tests
Used in a variety of
Psychodynamic
approaches. In these
tests the client are
required to project or
impose their own
thoughts and
associations on some
particular stimulus
material
Rorschach ink blot
test - The client is
presented with a
series of ink blot
shapes and are asked
what the shapes
mean to them, and
by repeating this with
a sequence of
different blots
particular themed
and anxieties may
emerge
Evaluation of
Psychodynamic
Treatments
Strengths
These therapies accept that
human beings are
complicated and that many
adult disorders may have
their roots in childhood and
in repressed material. TRUE
Length of treatment –
More than 450 patients
showed that longer
psychotherapeutic
treatments took, the better
outcomes were.
Effectiveness –
805 benefited from
psychoanalysis
compared t0 65%
from eclectic
therapies.
Limitations
As their is a need to access
the roots of psychopathology,
psychodynamic thereapy can
be very time consuming
(months-years) and thus means
more expensive. Brief sessions
have become available
Session depend on the
capability of the client being
able to develop insights into
their own condition. If this can
not be managed the sessions
will not be able to run.
Not
suitable
for all
disorders
Ethical issues
may occur when
the person opens
up, may become
traumatic or
stressed