Scenario:
You have trained to be an eclectic counsellor, which means you have an understanding of many
different models and approaches to help you choose the right way of interacting with your clients to
meet their own specific needs. Client A has presented a difficult history of interactions with his
parents which resulted in him leaving home in his late teens. He has had little contact with them since
then and has gradually become more dependent on the use of alcohol to help him cope with his
feelings of loneliness, worthlessness, depression and increasing isolation from his other family
members and friends.
Describe the key elements of psychodynamic theory, including the range of skills you would use
when working in this way. How will this help client A to understand the impact of his past on his
current feelings and behaviour?
Sigmund Freud developed the Psychodynamic Theory between the 1890's and 1930's and the theory
aims to treat mental conditions by exploring the interrelationship between the conscious and
unconscious. Freud suggested that by bringing suppressed thoughts, feelings, fears and emotions
experienced in early childhood to the conscious, we may be able to explain human behaviour and
personality.
The key elements of Psychodynamic Theory and range of skills used when working this way are:
The role of the Unconscious Mind: Psychodynamic Theory focuses on how the unconscious mind
influences a person's behaviours, drives and emotions and the theory suggests the causes for
psychological conditions are held within the unconscious mind. Freud stated the Unconscious can be
probed to bring the unconscious thoughts in to awareness, which would then allow a person to
experience insight in to the causes of their current feelings and emotions. This insight can result in a
strong release of pent up emotions, especially when those problems are resolved, known as
catharsis; this can be the start of important therapeutic work.
The range of skills surrounding the Unconscious Mind are: Free Association, Empathetic
Understanding, Questioning and Active Listening: Encouraging a Client to talk freely about their
thoughts and feelings, particularly relating to childhood, combined with the use of using Active
Listening and Empathetic Understanding will help to fully understand their unconscious thoughts.
Leading Questions regarding early childhood experiences would be crucial to understanding the root
of a Client's issues.
Exploring Childhood Experiences: Exploring childhood experiences would start to reveal the root
cause of unconscious thoughts and through Questioning, Active Listening, Paraphrasing and
Empathetic Understanding it is possible to build a trusting and informative relationship.
Probe the Unconscious: Once a relationship is built and there is better understanding of a Client's
early experiences, it is possible to probe the unconscious to slowly encourage insight, allowing the
Client to release the underlying emotions associated with their past.
2. The Tripartite Personality (id, ego and superego): Freud saw the personality in three systems: the
id, ego and superego, which develop at different stages of a person's life and consist of different
conflicting functions:
Id: The id operates on the pleasure principle where wishful impulses should be acted on immediately
and it consists of inherited personality traits and the sex (life) and aggressive (death) traits, also
known as Eros and Thanatos.
, Ego: The ego acts as mediator between the id and the superego and forms the decision making
element of the personality; it works out realistic ways of satisfying the id, sometimes compromising
on satisfaction in order to avoid negative situations.
Superego: The Superego incorporates morals and society's values which have been inherited from a
person's parents and others, acting much like a conscience.
The range of skills used with the Tripartite Personality:
These skills would be very similar to those used with the Unconscious Mind: Free Association,
Exploring Childhood Experiences and Probing the Unconscious. When exploring a Client's Childhood
Experiences, using Questioning, particularly Leading Questions, would allow further evaluation in to
the balance between the id, ego and superego and the role they played during a Client's
development.
Empathetic Understanding would be key here as if, for example, a Client's id seemed to be more
dominant, they may display behaviours or ideals which are not considered sociably acceptable. As a
result, Genuineness would play and important role to ensure the Client knows these behaviours or
thoughts are not acceptable, which would display Unconditional Positive Regard.
3. Defence Mechanisms: Sigmund Freud noted defence mechanisms are strategies unconsciously
implemented to protect a person from anxieties which arise from intrusive thoughts; these
mechanisms distort a person's reality in order to better cope with a situation. Some forms of defence
mechanisms are:
Repression: A mechanism used by the ego to block disturbing thoughts from entering the conscious.
Denial: The blocking of external intrusions from awareness; a refusal to handle a difficult experience.
Regression: Moving back in to an earlier developmental period when faced with a stressful situation.
Projection: Where a person attaches their own unhealthy thoughts, feelings and emotions on to
others.
Sublimation: Acting on an impulse through and object, but in a socially acceptable way (e.g. Boxing).
Displacement: Acting on an impulse through a less threatening target, instead of an unacceptable
target (e.g. another person).
The range of skills used with Defence Mechanisms would be:
Probing the Unconscious: Gaining insight as to the cause of a person's current emotions and feelings
would be crucial to understanding a Client's defence mechanisms and why they are using them;
understanding the thoughts leading to the defence mechanisms would help determine the route of
the therapy.
Dream Interpretation: Freud believed our dreams represent the wishful desires we cannot
accomplish in our waking life, as well as the repressed memories within our Unconscious, which can
surface or be relived during sleep. Further to probing the Unconscious, interpreting our dreams,
according to Freud, could offer great understanding to the conflicts we face in our waking life.
Questioning and Active Listening: A Client's responses to questions can reveal defence mechanisms
and how they're being used by the Client to help cope with difficult issues.
Reflecting: Identifying the feeling and intensity of a Client's words and phrases as well as listening to
non-verbal behaviour and what is 'really being said' can help understand the underlying emotions of
what is being avoided.
Challenging: Sensitively highlighting inconsistencies in what the Client is saying could be an effective
way to encourage them to understand what Defence Mechanisms they are using and why.
