Melinda Haley, Ph. D. Counseling and Psychother.docx

Melinda Haley, Ph. D. Counseling and Psychotherapy:
Theories and Interventions
Chapter Five
Adlerian Theory
Roxane Dufrene
Adlerian Theory
Introduction
Alfred Adler founded Individual Psychology, a social theory
widely applied by counselors and educators.
His theory provides a framework for understanding the
individual within his or her environment thus providing
guidance for improving both the individual’s psychological
state and connectedness to the social environment.
Adlerian Theory
Introduction

Individual Psychology is based on three major constructs:
Human behavior is goal oriented.
2. Humans have a drive that is served by abilities directed
toward living cooperatively and contributing to the social
environment.
Adlerian Theory
Introduction
3. The general evaluative attitude that affects choices occurs
within the whole individual (holistic), not a sublevel of the
individual.
Adlerian Theory
Background
Adler was an Austrian physician and psychiatrist born in the
suburbs of Vienna on February 7, 1870.
He was the second son of six children of a Jewish grain
merchant.

Adlerian Theory
Background
After receiving his medical degree from the University of
Vienna in 1895, Adler practiced ophthalmology for a short
period before switching to general medicine then psychiatry.
Adlerian Theory
Background
In 1898, at 28 years old, he wrote one of his first works on the
medical conditions of tailors.
In this work, he described the health and lifestyle of tailors
within their unique environment, describing what was to
become one of the main ideas in Adler’s theory: a view of the
individual as part of an integrated whole within the
environment.
Adlerian Theory
Background
Adler published several works that featured a form of social
theory that ran counter to Freud’s deterministic theory.
Eventually Adler’s direction towards a more social theory of
development caused a rift with Freud.

Adlerian Theory
Background
In 1912, Adler published The Neurotic Constitution, in which
he discussed many of the main constructs of his theory.
Adlerian Theory
Background
The Vienna College of Professors rejected this work as being
more similar to philosophy than medicine.
Eventually, Adler turned to bringing Individual Psychology to
the public through an educational model, not a medical model.
Adlerian Theory
Background
Alder traveled and lectured for nearly 25 years presenting his
ideas on social oriented psychology to large groups of
researchers, practitioners, and lay people.

Adlerian Theory
Background
He sought to overcome the superiority dynamic of a therapist,
moving the theater of analysis from the couch to two chairs,
promoting the idea of equality between the patient and
counselor.
Adlerian Theory
Background
Adler's work was interrupted by World War I; during this time
he was a physician in the war and noted the destructive power
of war on Vienna and its society. His views began to
incorporate the concept of social interest as an approach to
larger societal problems.
Adlerian Theory
Background
In 1918 and 1919, during postwar time, he founded several child
guidance clinics in Vienna and educational clinics in Austria for
teachers, parents, and students.

Adlerian Theory
Background
It was from this work that Adler pioneered another innovative
form of therapy, the group therapy process.
He began to integrate the concept of social interest into larger
systems, such as education (specifically adult education), school
reform, teacher training, and child guidance.
Adlerian Theory
Background
After Adler’s death, his theory of Individual Psychology
continued to flourish and evolve through the further work of
Rudolf Dreikurs in the U.S. and many other enthusiasts
worldwide.
Adlerian Theory
Human Nature
Adler considered the developmental process as the formation of
an individual’s lifestyle.
A lifestyle is unique and composed of a person’s relationships
with the self, others, and the universe.

Adlerian Theory
Human Nature
From the moment of birth, a child begins to construct a lifestyle
out of experiences that occur in the environment.
As a child develops a particular style of fitting in, perceptions
become increasingly selective, and actions and reactions
become habitual. Values are learned from family and become
set within a lifestyle.
Adlerian Theory
Human Nature
A child reacts based on subjective perspectives and those
subjective interpretations may or may not match the actual facts
of the environment.
Adlerian Theory
Human Nature
Many beliefs and perceptions are based on mistaken
interpretations of the environment. Thus, an Alderian counselor
views lifestyle formation as an attempt to reach agreement with
thoughts, feelings, and actions in the social environment.

Adlerian Theory
Human Nature
Adler introduced three concepts as guides to interpret the
patterns of behavior an individual uses to give action to his or
her lifestyle: birth order, family constellation, and early
recollections.
These concepts assist counselors in understanding the factors at
work that impact an individual’s development.
Adlerian Theory
Human Nature
Birth Order
Adler believed that birth order within the family is an important
factor in the developmental process as it provides a template
around which thoughts and behaviors can be understood.
He constructed a framework of birth order characteristics based
on a natural hierarchy created within a family.
Adlerian Theory
Human Nature
Birth Order

The interactions of all the members in the family and
subsequent patterns of communication create a climate of
relationships which Adler termed the family atmosphere.
Adlerian Theory
Human Nature
Birth Order
Family atmosphere is unique to each family system.
The relationship between the parents and a child, or the parents
and their children, is often the clearest signal of what factors
constitute the family system.
Adlerian Theory
Human Nature
Family Constellation
Adler used the term family constellation as a structure to
describe each member’s niche within the family system.
Adler emphasized that birth order in this constellation
influences a person’s lifestyle choices.
Adlerian Theory

Human Nature
Family Constellation
Within the constellation, a child defines self in relation to other
children and how the self is different or the same as others in
the family.
Birth order for children, the gender of siblings, or age
differences between siblings are all variables of the family
constellation.
Adlerian Theory
Human Nature
Birth Order
Adler described five basic birth order positions; the only child,
the oldest child, the second of only two children, the middle
child, and the youngest child.
Adlerian Theory
Human Nature
Birth Order: Only Child
Adler believed that since only children never have to share
attention or feel replaced by another sibling, they may not learn
how to cooperate with other children.
Only children are more inclined to be high achievers and
conscientious. They are very interested in perpetuating family
values.

Adlerian Theory
Human Nature
Birth Order: Oldest Child
Both the only and the oldest child have all of their parents’
attention.
Adler believed that the child would be loved and nurtured in a
certain pattern of behavior by the parents until the second child
arrived.
Adlerian Theory
Human Nature
Birth Order: Oldest Child
Adler found that the oldest may be more likely to become a
problem child due to the change in the family constellation.
Like the only child, the oldest child may tend to be
perfectionistic, hard working, conscientious, and want to do
things at which he or she already knows he or she can succeed.
Adlerian Theory
Human Nature
Birth Order: Second Born Child

While the first child has a period of time when the parent’s
attention is not shared with another child, the second will
always have to share the attention.
Adler believed that the second child may react in a competitive
way seeing the first child as a pace-setter.
Adlerian Theory
Human Nature
Birth Order: Second Born Child
At times the second child is successful in the competition, but
many second children act as if the competition is never done.
This constant competition impacts each child’s lifestyle.
Adlerian Theory
Human Nature
Birth Order: Middle Child
When a third child arrives in the family, a second child becomes
the middle child.
A middle child learns that he or she is caught between an oldest
child who appears to be the focus and the youngest child who
seems to be able to get attention for doing nothing.

Adlerian Theory
Human Nature
Birth Order: Middle Child
To a middle child, life appears unfair, and he or she believes
that the oldest and youngest align together and against him or
her.
The middle child becomes sensitive to criticism and is easily
angered.
Adlerian Theory
Human Nature
Birth Order: Youngest Child
The youngest child is usually the most pampered and
overindulged in a family. The placement in the family as “the
baby” will never change.
The youngest is the second most likely to be a problem,
following the first child.
Adlerian Theory
Human Nature
Birth Order: Youngest Child
Because there can be limited expectations of the youngest, he or
she may go off on his or her own, which leads to egocentric
behaviors.
Typically, the youngest tends to be helpless and depends on the

family, especially wanting parents to do things for him or her.
Adlerian Theory
Human Nature
Early Recollections
Adler proposed that early recollections or remembrances are
important indicators to understanding an individual.
Memories were a key phenomena to Adler, considering the time
and effort an individual uses to store and recollect memories.
Adlerian Theory
Human Nature
Early Recollections
Recollections in and of themselves from childhood are not as
important as to which memories are retrieved and how a
person’s perception is reflected in the choice of recollections.
The subjective interpretation of those memories can be used to
indicate how an individual views self and others in relation to
life.

Adlerian Theory
Human Nature
Early Recollections
Early recollections are found to have a bearing on the central
interests of a person's life.
They provide hints and clues which are valuable when
attempting to find direction in a person's striving. They are
helpful in revealing what a person values and what is dangerous
in life.
Adlerian Theory
Major Constructs
The individual strives to belong.
The self consists of social aspects that begin with feelings of
inferiority that are compensated for and fueled by a “creative
power to interpret experiences, both internal and external,
influenced by both heredity and environment, in an
individualist, subjective manner.”
Adlerian Theory
Major Constructs
Adler stressed that a person is understood as a complete and
integrated individual with the creative power to interpret
experiences and manifest a lifestyle.
Adler emphasized positive growth believing that where a person

is going is more important than where they have come from.
Adlerian Theory
Major Constructs
Adler stressed the importance of choice and responsibility in
life as well as how an individual tends to strive for success and
perfection.
From birth onward, an individual is socially embedded; this
social embeddedness reinforces the responsibilities of society.
Adlerian Theory
Major Constructs
Adler said this social influence is so strong that almost nothing
is more important than a person’s social world.
Within the social world, a person operates from private logic.
Private logic is the evaluation of self and others and how a
person cooperates with others.
Adlerian Theory
Major Constructs
Problems are created socially and occur as a result of the

conflicts that arise as an individual performs the three life tasks
of work, community, and love.
Each individual has a unique private logic; however, a person
must function in the common sense.
Adlerian Theory
Major Constructs
Inferiority feelings are normal and can be used as the source of
striving to overcome the feelings of inferiority.
Adler felt that inferiority feelings, or minus situations, are
normal reactions when a person is aware that he or she is not
able to function in a way that he or she wishes.
Adlerian Theory
Major Constructs
These experiences then motivate an individual to strive toward a
plus situation, or mastery, superiority, and completion.
Adler proposed the direction of motivation is towards the future
rather than trying to escape the conditions in the past. Working
towards goals and purpose in life creates the momentum for
continual striving.

Adlerian Theory
Major Constructs
An individual is proactive and can choose and act in a way that
will lead to a goal.
He or she views the world uniquely from a subjective frame of
reference.
Subjective reality is then defined as a person’s feelings, beliefs,
values, and understandings of the world.
Adlerian Theory
Major Constructs
An individual’s interpretation of the world, what is in it, and
how experiences are viewed are important in determining how
he or she meets social problems.
A person that is connected to others and equipped to meet the
three life tasks of work, community, and love will have a
healthy view of life and will cooperate and contribute to social
interest.
Adlerian Theory
Major Constructs
Adler did not view individuals as specific types because of his
belief in the unique, creative power of the individual.
However, for instructive purposes, he suggested four basic
types: (1) dominant or ruling, (2) getting or dependent, (3)

avoidant, and (4) socially useful.
Adlerian Theory
Major Constructs
The first three types describe people who are at least partly
unprepared to meet life's demands.
At various levels these types do not cooperate with others, do
not contribute to society, and are in some way maladjusted.
Individuals of these types may experience addictions, neurosis,
psychosis, or other issues.
Adlerian Theory
Major Constructs
The fourth type, socially useful, is willing to cooperate,
contribute, and be active in contributing to others and the social
world.
Socially useful people are similar to what other counseling
professionals would see as self-actualized.
Adlerian Theory
Major Constructs

Adler’s Human Personality Theory
Adler developed and refined the premises of his theory over
three distinct phases during his life:
Explanation of inferiority feelingUnderstanding of
inferioritySocial interest
Adlerian Theory
Major Constructs
During the first phase from 1907 to 1912, Adler’s work focused
on organ inferiority as he developed basic concepts upon which
he began to build his theory.
Adlerian Theory
Major Constructs
Applying this idea to a psychological viewpoint, he believed
that a person can compensate for inferiorities by developing
certain skills or personality traits.

Adlerian Theory
Major Constructs
A person may compensate and overcompensate for inferiority;
these feelings are the source of an individual’s striving.
An individual thinks, feels, and acts in relation to goals and is
working towards meeting certain life tasks.
Adlerian Theory
Major Constructs
During the second phase from about 1912 to 1916, Adler
developed a framework for understanding inferiority feelings
and how to interpret those feelings as generators of striving
towards the future.
Adlerian Theory
Major Constructs
Fictional Goals: Fictions are what directs a person in the
present to overcome feelings of inferiority and motivates them
toward the future. An example of a person’s fiction might be
that life is fair. This idea contradicts reality because everything
in life is not fair, bad things happen; yet this fiction has value
in everyday life for a person.

Adlerian Theory
Major Constructs
Adler believed persons develop fictions as a protection to
handle the social world around them.
Reactions are not passive but are active interpretations of life
and, as such, part of the subjective reality.
Adlerian Theory
Major Constructs
The third phase began in 1916 and lasted until Adler’s death in
1937. This phase was when Adler introduced the term
Gemeinschaftsgefühl (in German), called social interest, social
feeling, or community feeling.

Adlerian Theory
Major Constructs
According to Adler, a person strives to overcome inferiority
feelings through social interest.
Adler's theory was a humanistic view of life which included
seeing a person as capable of cooperative social living.
Adlerian Theory
Major Constructs
A person strives for self-improvement, self-completion, and
contribution to others and society.
Thus, a person is inextricably interconnected with others and
the universe.
Adlerian Theory
Major Constructs

Adler believed that social interest is the essential gauge of
mental health which involves a striving toward a healthy and
socially active participation of life.
As social interest builds, feelings of inferiority lessen.
Adlerian Theory
Major Constructs
Social Interest
A person is a social decision-maker who acts in a manner
consistent with the subjective meaning of his or her lifestyle.
In a person’s lifestyle, the goal is to belong to a social group or
community.
Adlerian Theory
Major Constructs
Social Interest
Gemeinshaftsgefühl (social interest) describes the innate drive
of a person to cooperate and contribute with others for the
common good.
Social interest includes factors such as helping, participating,
respect, cooperation, empathy, contributing, and

encouragement.
Adlerian Theory
Major Constructs
Social Interest
Adler’s social interest can be described “in terms of three
different aspects: of its being an aptitude or innate potentiality;
of its being a set of abilities; and of its being a generalized
attitude.”
First, the individual’s innate aptitude influences the direction of
striving toward social interest.
Adlerian Theory
Major Constructs
Social Interest
Next, this innate aptitude must be developed into abilities --
especially cooperating and contributing to others and the larger
universe.
Third, parents, guardians, and teachers should educate and
cultivate social interest in children from an early age by giving
tasks that help them to learn how to cooperate and contribute to
the family or society.

Adlerian Theory
Major Constructs
Social Interest
Adler believed that if social interest is supported and
developed, at the cognitive level a person will acknowledge the
necessary interdependence with others and recognize that the
welfare of all is important .
At the affective level, a person will be empathic and have a
deep belonging to others.
Adlerian Theory
Major Constructs
Social Interest
At the behavioral level, thoughts and feelings will be acted on
resulting in striving towards self-development as well as
cooperating and contributing to others.
Thus, a feeling of community will encompass a person’s full
development resulting in experiences that are fulfilling and
contributing to society.
Adlerian Theory
Major Constructs
Social Interest

Social interest is fundamental to the teachings of Adler, who
taught that a sense of community is key to good mental health
for a person.
With a healthy foundation provided by family and society, a
child is able to handle the three life tasks of work, community,
and love in a positive way.
Adlerian Theory
Major Constructs
Emotions and Feelings
Adler believed that goal orientation includes lifestyle goals as
well as immediate goals. Emotions stir the drive to reach a
goal.
Adler viewed emotions in two types: conjunctive and
disjunctive.
Adlerian Theory
Major Constructs
Conjunctive emotions allow a person to stay connected by
reacting with love, empathy, or joy.
Disjunctive emotions create problems through reactions of
anger, hate, or fear.

Adlerian Theory
Major Constructs
Unity of lifestyle allows a person to choose emotions and
achieve an immediate goal or lifestyle purpose.
Goals are influenced by hereditary and social factors as well as
emotions which evolve from the creative power and subjective
perspectives of an individual.
Adlerian Theory
Applications
Overview
Adler proposed three phases of counseling:
Understanding the client.
Explaining the client’s behavior to him or her in a way that
makes sense.
Strengthening social interest.
Adlerian Theory
Applications
Overview
The process of Adlerian counseling varies widely.

The rationale for variability is based on Adler’s basic
assumption that each client is unique.
Adlerian Theory
Applications
Overview
Because he believed each client was unique Adler did not
propose specific interventions.
Counselor creativity is imperative in his approach and the array
of intervention strategies is its hallmark.
Adlerian Theory
Applications
Overview
His approach is characterized as intuitive and diverse, requiring
experiential learning rather than explicit descriptions of the
process.
Adlerian Theory
Applications
Goals

The overall goal of Adlerian counseling is encouraging a
client’s social interest.
An Adlerian counselor assists a client by distinguishing
between life goals that account for the development of a unique
lifestyle and more immediate goals that account for everyday
behaviors.
Adlerian Theory
Applications
Goals
The central aim of Adlerian counseling is to help a client
identify and understand mistaken beliefs and assumptions about
self, others, and life; make changes in those beliefs; and thus
participate more fully in a social world.
Adlerian Theory
Applications
Goals
The beginning process of goal setting is assisting a client in
developing behaviors and beliefs characterized by actions that
contribute to social interest.

Adlerian Theory
Applications
Goals
A counselor works at educating a client toward the useful side
of life and developing a sense of belonging to the world in
terms of a client’s perceptions of self and others and the basic
beliefs that support his or her lifestyle.
Adlerian Theory
Applications
The Process of Change
Early in the counseling process, the counselor develops a
relationship through empathy and encouragement.
Encouragement is the most powerful intervention a counselor
can provide for helping a client to transform beliefs, inspire
courage, and grow.

Adlerian Theory
Applications
A client grows by gaining insight and using that insight to take
steps that result in healthy relationships with family, friends,
and others.
Growth is not possible unless the client is willing to change his
or her mistaken beliefs.
Adlerian Theory
Applications
Adlerian counseling rests in the counselor-client collaborative
relationship of mutual respect to identify, explore, and evaluate
mistaken goals and faulty assumptions within the client’s
lifestyle.
Adlerian Theory
Applications
Adler sees confrontation as an important part of encouragement
and part of the process of change.
Confrontation is frequently used as a way of holding the

mistaken goals and beliefs up in front of the client, as with a
mirror.
Adlerian Theory
Applications
Confrontation is followed by a reorientation of the client toward
what will work in life and the world.
Rather than a counselor focusing on major problems and
mistakes, the focus of counseling should be on a client’s
strengths while still addressing the mistaken beliefs and
behaviors.
Adlerian Theory
Applications
Traditional Intervention Strategies
Lifestyle Analysis
A key function of the counselor is to make a vigorous,
comprehensive analysis or investigation of the client’s
lifestyle.

Adlerian Theory
Applications
Lifestyle Analysis
Information about the client’s family constellation, life goals,
beliefs, attitudes, birth order, parental relationships, family
values, early recollections, and culture are collected and
evaluated.
Adlerian Theory
Applications
Lifestyle Analysis
The following components are used in a lifestyle analysis:
Family ConstellationThe family constellation represents the
client’s understanding of the family and his or her ordinal place
in the family Family AtmosphereThe family atmosphere is the
coming together of everyone in the family and subsequent
patterns of communication within the family.

Adlerian Theory
Applications
Lifestyle Analysis
Family ValuesThe values chosen by a client depend on the
unique family atmosphere. Gender RolesRole models affect how
a child experiences the world through gender and how
communication and interactions with others occur based on
gender.
Adlerian Theory
Applications
Lifestyle Analysis
Roles in a FamilyFamily dynamics, including parenting styles
and position in the family, create roles in a family. Early
Developmental ExperiencesEarly memories embody a client’s
core beliefs and feelings about self and the world. They contain
recollections of the person's inferiority feelings, life goals, and
lifestyle.

Adlerian Theory
Applications
Lifestyle Analysis
EncouragementEncouragement helps to build rapport and
maximizes the counselor-client relationship. It is used to assist
a client in overcoming inferiority feelings.
Adlerian Theory
Applications
Brief Intervention Strategies
Specific techniques used at any one time depend on the
counseling direction that is beneficial for a client at the time.
Therefore, Adlerian techniques can be flexible.

Adlerian Theory
Applications
As suggested by Watts and Pietrzak (2000), counseling can be
based in solution-focused strategies because a client is
encouraged by an Adlerian counselor to shift from a problem
and failure focus to a focus of strengths, resources, and
potentials.
Adlerian Theory
Applications
The Socratic method of leading a client to insight through a
series of questions is at the heart of Adlerian counseling.
It embodies the relationship of equals searching for knowledge
and insight in an encouraging and respectful style consistent
with Adler's theory.
Adlerian Theory
Applications

Penetrating, leading questions uncover the deeper understanding
of a client’s private logic, feelings, and goals.
Throughout the use of this method, new ideas are generated,
examined, and evaluated to help the client take steps in a
different direction.
Adlerian Theory
Applications
Clients can also be assisted with brief techniques by using
missed developmental experiences, guided and eidetic imagery,
Adlerian play therapy, and by using a six-step model which uses
role-pay, artistic drawings, and cognitive restructuring.
Adlerian Theory
Applications
Clients With Serious Mental Health Issues
Adler preferred the term discouraged as opposed to referring to
an individual as pathological, mentally sick, or using a label of
sickness.
He believed that psychological disturbances or neurosis occur
because of an exaggerated inferiority feeling or an
insufficiently developed feeling of community.

Adlerian Theory
Applications
When an individual is discouraged, he or she first resorts to
fictional means to relieve or mask--rather than overcome--
inferiority feelings, attempting to bolster feelings of self.
Adlerian Theory
Applications
Eventually, private views clash with reality and create
difficulties in work, friendships, or love relationships which
may lead to the development of psychological disturbances and
symptoms.
Adlerian Theory
Applications
From an Adlerian viewpoint, there are three factors that
distinguish mild psychological disorders from severe disorders:
Depth of inferiority feelingsLack of feeling of
communityHeight of final goal

Adlerian Theory
Applications
The role of the counselor is not to treat mental diseases but to
discover the fictions in a lifestyle and, thus, lead a client to
greater growth and social interest.
Therefore, Adlerian counselors assume a nonpathological
perspective.
Adlerian Theory
Applications
Seligman (2004) stated that “Individual Psychology seems most
appropriate for people who are experiencing long-standing
emotional difficulties and who are having difficulty developing
self-confidence, mobilizing themselves, and finding a rewarding
direction”
Adlerian Theory
Applications
Cross-Cultural Considerations

Adler saw an individual’s culture as derived from a person’s
subjective view of life.
Culture, then, is the individual’s interpretation of his or her
social setting and is a very strong indicator of how a person
views self, lifestyle, and interactions within a community.
Adlerian Theory
Applications
Cross-Cultural Considerations
The emphasis on a person's subjective view of his or her world
supports respect for an individual’s values and cultural
perceptions. Adler believed in equality, civil rights, mutual
respect, advancement of social values, and the importance of
nurturing feelings of belonging in everyone.
Adlerian Theory
Applications
Evaluation
Supporting Research
The practical evidence of Adler’s theory is based on his case
studies.
However, empirical research of Adlerian theory began to evolve
in the 1970s.

Adlerian Theory
Applications
Evaluation
Supporting Research
Several assessment instruments have been developed to measure
various Adlerian constructs, including Crandall’s Social Interest
Scale, Eckstein’s Lifestyle Self-Assessment, and Rule’s Early
Recollections Questionnaire.
Adlerian Theory
Applications
Evaluation
Limitations
Some researchers and practitioners frequently criticize Adler’s
theory for its lack of depth.

Adlerian Theory
Applications
Evaluation
Limitations
Some of the more general limitations to Adler’s theory include
being overwhelmed by the number of concepts, believing the
concepts are difficult to define, lacking real meanings in the
concepts, and focusing solely on the individual as the change
agent.
Adlerian Theory
Applications
Evaluation
Limitations
One of the most often cited limitations to Adler’s theory is the
lack of empirical evidence and comparative analysis. With
managed care providers requiring counselors to use techniques
that are measureable, Adler’s theory has limited concepts that
have a history of being measured.

Melinda Haley, Ph.D. Counseling and Psychotherapy:
Chapter Four
Jungian Analytical Theory
Abbe Finn
Associate Dean Graduate Programs
College of Education
Florida Gulf Coast University
*
Background
Founded by Swiss psychiatrist, Carl Gustav Jung.
Jung was a disciple of Sigmund Freud but parted ways with him
in 1913 over Freud’s emphasis on biological drives and sexual
urges as the prime human motivating factors.

Background
Jung came to believe that the role of the psychotherapist is to
analyze dreams and fantasies (sometimes expressed through the
arts), and bring thoughts from the unconscious to conscious
awareness.
Background
He believed that each of us has our own unconscious self as
well as that of the collective unconscious from our ancestors,
our religious background, cultural mythology, and the evolution
of our ancestors.
The collective unconscious is manifest as archetypal personality
characteristics which are universal.
Background
Jung believed personalities can be described by three polar
characteristics such as introversion vs. extroversion, perceiving
versus thinking, and sensing versus intuiting.

Background
Jung read widely and studied diverse subjects such as: religion,
medicine, psychology, psychiatry, parapsychology,
anthropology, philosophy, classic languages, mythology,
alchemy, and the occult. He also traveled widely and studied
cultural anthropology. He drew information from these various
fields in the development of his theories.
Background
Jung’s lasting interest in disowned parts of the self and
dissociation can be traced to his early work with schizophrenic
patients. He hypothesized that their primary problem was that
their personalities were disintegrated into many parts.
Therefore, it is the role of the therapist to help the patient
reintegrate the various parts of his or her personality.
Human Nature
Jung believed that there were four basic stages of development.
Jung placed more importance on middle age than the other
stages.

Human Nature
ChildhoodChildren are ruled by primitive urges and desires. It
is the role of the parents to discipline children and to help them
individuate and develop their personality.Adolescence
Adolescence is a period where individuals are discovering their
personality characteristics, persona, and reconciling it with
parental and societal expectations.
Human Nature
Middle AgeJung believed that this is the stage where people
naturally reexamine their lives, goals, and accomplishments.

Old AgeJung believed that when people enter old age, they
become more reflective of their life experiences and in touch
with their unconscious. He thought this was the time full of end
of life issues such as mortality and the legacy left behind.
Major Constructs
Personality Theory
The psyche represents the integration of the personal conscious,
personal unconscious, and the collective unconscious.
Major Constructs
Personality Theory
Personal Conscious Includes the individual’s spirit, as well as

his or her spirituality, orientation to the outer world (optimism
vs. pessimism, introversion vs. extroversion), beliefs, emotions,
thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Personal Unconscious
Includes thoughts and memories that can be recalled.
Major Constructs
Personality Theory
The Collective Unconscious The collective unconscious is
derived from the universal thoughts, emotions, fears, dreams,
and mythical themes symbolically represented by archetypes.

Major Constructs
Personality Theory
The Personal Conscious
The personal conscious begins at birth and continues to develop
across the lifespan. It is the only part of the individual that is
fully revealed to that person.
Major Constructs
Personality Theory
These conscious thoughts are easily retrieved memories and
current and recalled feelings and emotions.
As the personality develops, the personal conscious becomes
more and more unique.
Major Constructs
Personality Theory

This process allows the person to become more self-aware and
is known as individuation.
The ego is the center of personal consciousness and has the
executive function for organizing thoughts, feelings,
perceptions, and emotions.
Major Constructs
Personality Theory
The ego provides the foundation, stability, and organization for
the personality by selecting which thoughts and emotions, and
memories are recalled or experienced.
Major Constructs
Personality Theory
The personal conscious and personal unconscious balance each
other and are in a constant state of flux with content flowing

back and forth.
There is a self-regulatory function of the psyche which leads to
psychic health.
Major Constructs
Personality Theory
The Personal Unconscious
The thoughts, feelings, memories, experiences, and emotions
that are not permitted by the ego, are maintained in the
unconscious.
Major Constructs
Personality Theory
The personal unconscious may also be composed of behaviors
which are suppressed due to emotions such as fear, shame, or
because it is inconsistent with the imagined self.

Major Constructs
Personality Theory
The unconscious is not content to stay buried and aspects of the
repressed material emerge in dreams, fantasies, or themes for
artistic expressions such as visual art, poetry, or music.
Major Constructs
Personality Theory
When these themes emerge and are paired with charged
emotions, they are known as complexes.
Jung hypothesized that each personal complex also contains
elements of the collective unconscious.
Major Constructs

Personality Theory
There are many different types of complexes. For example, the
puer arternus (the eternal child), father complex, mother
complex, Cassandra Complex, God complex, martyr complex,
Napoleon complex, and superiority complex.
Major Constructs
Personality Theory
The Collective Unconscious
The Jungian concept of the collective unconscious is a feature
that most distinguishes Jung’s theory from others.
Major Constructs
Personality Theory
Jung introduced the concept that humans inherit unconscious
memories from their ancestor’s experiences.

The collective unconscious material is common to all humans.
Major Constructs
Personality Theory
Jung likened the collective unconscious to animal instincts that
cause species to respond in prescribed ways when presented
with triggering “sign stimuli”
Major Constructs
Personality Theory
Jung believed that the archetypal experiences were engraved on
the psyche from the experiences of our ancestors over the
previous millennia.

Major Constructs
Personality Theory
Due to evolution, people are predisposed to interpret
experiences according to archetypes.
Major Constructs
Personality Theory
Archetypes
Within each person there are four basic archetypes that manifest
themselves in our personality at different times and in different
ways. These are the: shadow, anima, animus, and self.
Major Constructs
Personality Theory
Archetypes

The shadow is the part of a person that tends towards chaos.
It may be parts of our personality that we want to suppress and
deny, but still exists.
Major Constructs
Personality Theory
Archetypes
Sometimes in our attempts to deny our shadow self, we project
it onto others.
This explains how the things that a person notices about another
person are commonly his or her own failings.
Major Constructs
Personality Theory
Archetypes
The shadow reveals itself in dreams, nightmares, artistic work,
paranoid delusions, religion, and hallucinations.

Major Constructs
Personality Theory
Archetypes
The anima/animus represents our true self, as opposed to the
masks we wear every day and is the source of our creativity.
Anima is predominant in males and animus dominates in
females.
Major Constructs
Personality Theory
Archetypes
However males have aspects of the female animus in their
personality and females have aspects of anima in their
personality.
When there is a prefect, proportional balance between anima
and animus, it is known as “syzygy”.

Major Constructs
Personality Theory
Archetypes
When there is a prefect, proportional balance between anima
and animus, it is known as “syzygy”.
This is an astronomical term used to describe the perfect
balance between planets so that there is equal gravitational pull.
Applications
Goals of Counseling and Psychotherapy
The goals of Jungian Analysis vary depending on the
developmental stage of the person.
In general, the primary goals are individuation and the
integration of the personal conscious with the personal
unconscious.
Applications
Goals of Counseling and Psychotherapy
Individuation occurs when a person becomes aware of the

unique self by coming to terms with his or her own strengths
and weaknesses and by bringing the unconscious to conscious
awareness while living in the here and now.
Applications
The goal of Jungian Psychotherapy is to achieve an actualized
life, where the person is integrated and living a balanced life,
with congruence of body and mind.
Applications
There are four non-sequential phases of Jungian analytical
psychology.
Applications

Phase OneCatharsisIt is the stage where the client shares
feelings and expresses emotions. Phase TwoThe Analytical
StageThe therapist analyzes dreams, transference and counter
transference, and other assessments such as word association,
projective tests, or type indicators.
Applications
Phase ThreeThe Insight StageThe client and the therapist draw
on information for the client’s history, life experience, and
emotional goals, to bring the unconscious to the
conscious.Phase FourThe Transformational or Individuation
StageThe client utilizes the insight to understand his or her
complexes and to integrate the dissociated parts of their
personality .

Dream Analysis
Jung viewed the dream analysis as the primary means to the
client’s unconscious, creativity, and their psyche.
Dream Analysis
Jung was most interested in the “important dreams” which are
representative of repressed material, are symbolic
representations of traumatic experiences, or contain upsetting
memories.

Dream Analysis
There are four parts to dream narratives.
Phase OneThe client tells the who, what, when, and where of
the dream. Phase TwoThe complexes are exposed and explored.
Feelings associated with the dream are discussed.
Dream Analysis
The goal of the Jungian therapist in dream analysis is to
recognize the symbolic elements from the personal and
collective unconscious and link it with the client’s conscious
experiences.
Phase Three
The turning point within the dream is identified.
Phase Four
Includes the conclusion of the dream.

Word Association
Jung in conjunction with Eugen Bleuler, Europe’s leading
psychiatrist, invented the word association test as a vehicle to
tap into the unconscious and reveal patients’ complexes.
Word Association
The Word Association Test developed by Jung, consisted of a
combination of 100 neutral and emotionally laden words.
He found that unique responses, slow reaction time,
perseveration, refusal to respond, and other unique responses
indicated the presence of complexes.

Word Association
Jung integrated these finding with dream analysis for further
illumination on complexes plaguing his clients.
He was able to demonstrate that the psyche is constructed of
complexes that are measurable and observable.
Psychological Attitudes and Types
Jung came to believe that there are two psychological attitudes:
Introversion and Extroversion

Introversion or extroversion is neither healthy or unhealthy,
positive or negative, in itself.
The intensity of these attitudes fall along a continuum.
Introversion
Extroversion
Each person has a dominant function.
In addition, Jung postulated that these polarities describe four
psychological dominant function types.

The energy and attention of the extrovert is focused outward,
resulting in gregariousness, volubility, and social relationships.
In contrast, persons with an introverted attitude perceive the
energy as constantly flowing towards them and they are
constantly in need of defending themselves from the almost
overwhelming onslaught.
The introvert may appear to be a deep thinker, shy, or timid.
In addition to the introversion, extraversion attitudinal
polarities, there are four functions: thinking versus feeling, and
intuiting versus sensing.

The four functions are the ways libido, or psychic
energy, manifests:
1. Sensation: What is happening now.
2. Intuition: Future leap of ideas.
3. Thinking: Intellect and logic.
4. Feeling: The valuing of a person or thing.
Jung identified eight psychological types which were derived by
combining the two attitudes (introversion and extroversion) and
the four functions (thinking, feeling, sensing, and intuition).

Each attitude can be paired with each function, making eight
psychological combinations in all.
N = Introvert Attitudes
E = Extrovert
S = Sensation
T = Thinking Functions
F = Feeling
I = Intuition NSESNTETNFEFNIEI
Analysis of Transference and Counter-Transference
Transference refers to an ego defense where the client
unconsciously projects his or her own thoughts and fears onto
the therapist.
When the therapist reacts to the client with projection of his or
her own thoughts and feelings, this is counter-transference.

Personal experiences, as well as archetypal projections from the
collective unconscious can become part of the transference.
It is the role of the therapist to analyze personal and archetypal
elements of transference and counter-transference.
The therapist integrates information from the client’s ego,
neurosis, and complexes .
Analysis of transference and counter-transference brings
attitudes and patterns of behavior that interfere with functioning
and full psychological development to conscious awareness.

Jungian psychotherapy is an in-depth approach to life situations.
The length of the process always depends on how extensively
the individual wants to become involved . The interventions
mentioned previously can all be applied to brief therapeutic
work.
Client’s with Serious Mental Health Issues
Jung began his practice working with seriously mentally ill
psychiatric inpatients. Therefore, his theory and the
interventions are designed to work well with them.
Jung believed that the splitting off of two powerful complexes
was at the root of neurosis and mental illness.
The dissociation is a defense to the unbearable psychic pain and
emotional suffering which usually stemmed from traumatic
experiences.

Jung believed that everyone splits his or her personality to a
degree.
It is when the splitting cuts too deep, and interferes with
activities of daily living, that it becomes pathological.
Jung also believed that major psychiatric disorders had their
roots in brain based biochemical disorders.
He believed that psychoanalysis is ineffective without medical
intervention.
Some of the disorders that have been treated successfully with
Jungian Analytical theory include:
Borderline Personality DisorderPsychosisMajor Depression

Borderline Personality Disorder
When clients exhibit symptoms typical of Borderline
personality disorder, the Jungian analyst would interpret these
thoughts, feelings, and behaviors as occurring as a result of
dissociation of their conscious and their collective unconscious.
Some of these characteristics would be interpreted in relation to
archetypes. These would be perceived as archetypes that are
clamoring to be expressed, but are instead, repressed.
The goal of therapy would be to reintegrate the disowned parts
into one functioning personality.

Psychosis
Jung believed that psychosis was a biochemical brain disorder.
From a Jungian perspective, the therapist would explore the
client’s belief systems, case history, conscious and unconscious,
and transference and counter-transference.
Psychosis
The therapist will analyze symbolic meaning of the delusions,
hallucinations, fears, and anxieties; use assessments such as
word association and the TAT to uncover pervasive complexes;
and attend to dreams as they relate to the client and analyze
them to add more information about what the client is
experiencing.
*

Major Depression
Jungians believe that depression is most likely to occur with
perfectionist clients.
Therefore, they would investigate complexes relating to
inferiority and archetypes that are perfect, and heroic, beyond
mortal capacity.
*
Major Depression
Depressed individuals are also likely to be weighed down.
Therefore, special attention would be paid to symbols and
metaphors related to weight and mass.
*

Major Depression
Depressed people also trap their energy and sometimes turn it
on themselves. Therefore, the role of the therapist is to discover
where this energy is trapped and then release it so that it is
directed away from the individual.
*
Major Depression
Because of the increased risk of suicidal behavior, the therapist
must be sensitive to self-injurious threats and communication of
symbols of death.
*

Cross Cultural Considerations
Cultural sensitivity has been a hallmark of Jungian counseling.
Jung was widely traveled and was fascinated by different
cultures.
Jung believed that before one could analyze a person, the
psychotherapist must be familiar with the person’s culture,
religion, social relationships, language, ethnicity, and gender
belief systems.
*
This is grounded in Jung’s wide ranging interest in
anthropology, religion, sociology, linguistics, psychology,
mythology, and mysticism. He was the first to integrate all of
these disciplines to aid in understanding human behavior.
*

However, Jung is criticized for his apparently narrow-minded,
ethnocentric interpretation of people in diverse cultures into
stereotypical patterns of behavior.
*
He is also censured for his apparent sympathy for the Nazis and
is accused of being prejudiced against the Jews.
Because of this history, some repudiate Jungian Psychotherapy
as an appropriate multicultural therapeutic intervention
*
Evaluation
Jungian psychotherapists have contributed to counseling in a

number of ways.
Jungian psychotherapists utilize a number of assessments. These
include both objective and subjective instruments and
techniques.
*
Evaluation
The Jungian theories have impacted the development of t
subjective techniques such as Word Association, projective tests
like the Rorschach Test, the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT),
and objective instruments such as the Myers-Briggs Type
Indicators.
*
Evaluation
These assessments are utilized in career counseling, scholastic
advising, psychological evaluations, workplace conflict
resolution, family, and couples counseling.

*
Evaluation
Supporting Research
There has been recent research in the use of analysis of dreams
when working with traumatized children and adults. Other
research supports the use of dream work for adults and children
experiencing end of life issues. However, there were no
empirical studies documenting the efficacy of psychoanalytic
and Jungian intervention.
*
Evaluation
Supporting Research
In contrast there has been a great deal of research on the
interventions and assessments founded upon Jungian principles.
For example, a literature review of the past 10 years on the
validity of the MBTI reveals 504 peer reviewed articles, and

240 peer reviewed articles on validity of the TAT.
*
Chapter Three
Psychoanalytic Theory
Adrianne L. Johnson
Introduction
Psychoanalytic theory is based on the concept that
individuals are unaware of the many factors that cause their
maladaptive behaviors and discomforting emotions.

Introduction
Psychoanalytic treatment is highly
individualized and seeks to show how early childhood
experiences have impacted the formative aspects of our
personality development.
Introduction
The techniques and strategies used in this approach are
used to illustrate to the client how unconscious thoughts and
defenses formed early in life affect behavior patterns,
relationships, and overall mental health.

Introduction
The general goals of psychodynamic counseling are
client self-awareness and understanding of the influence of
the past on present behavior. and correction of the client's
distortion is often the primary focus of therapeutic treatment.
Introduction
While traditional psychoanalysis has adhered to
conventional techniques to achieve counseling goals,
the theory has evolved to include multicultural considerations
and implications for managed care to enhance the theory’s
effectiveness with a greater number of clients.
Background
Psychoanalytic theory was an enormously influential force
during the first half of the twentieth century, and was based on
the pioneering work of Sigmund Freud (1856 – 1939).

Background
Throughout Freud’s professional career, his ideas regarding
unconscious motivations, psychosexual development, and
dynamic insights regarding coping mechanisms dominated
psychological explanations of how the human mind works.
Background
While visiting Paris in 1885 on a traveling fellowship, he began
to study physiology as a dynamic system influenced by
neurology. Greatly intrigued by this concept, he deserted the
exclusive practice of family medicine and instead devoted his
life to medical pathology, primarily exploring the potential of
hypnosis, free association, and dream analysis as cures for a
constellation of unusual symptoms he observed in patients.

Background
The famed patient ‘Anna O.’ led Freud to popularize the
concept of the ‘talking cure,’ or the free flowing catharsis of
symptoms and their possible origins.
Freud suggested that many psychological conditions were found
to greatly improve once repressed trauma and their related
emotions were expressed using the talking cure.
Background
During his early 40’s, Freud engaged in his own self-analysis,
and channeled his creative energy on processing the meaning of
his own dreams. This was a challenging task, and he developed
many of his formative theories during this period.

Background
One such theory was that of personality development. Freud
concluded that personality is formed through early childhood
experiences, and those experiences are responsible for the
individual’s functioning through one’s adult life.
Human Nature
Psychoanalytic theory suggests that behavior is largely
determined by irrational forces, unconscious motivations, and
biological, or instinctual, drives.
Human Nature
Humans are conceptualized largely in terms of biology and
maladaptive behaviors are symptomatic of a subconscious

response to social interactions which the mind interprets as
unsafe, thereby threatening the stability of the human
personality structure.
Human Nature
The mind interprets social interactions within a framework
shaped largely by early life experiences and subsequent
functioning is dependent upon the humans’ capacity to cope
healthfully on a subconscious level.
Major Constructs
The Id, the Ego, and the Superego
Id: The instinctual and biological drives of the psyche.
Super-Ego: The critical, moralizing function.
Ego: The organized, realistic part which mediates and seeks a
balance between the former two

Major Constructs
The Id
The Id comprises the unorganized part of the personality
structure that contains the basic drives and it is the only
component of personality that is present from birth. According
to Freud, the id is the source of all psychic energy,
making it the primary component of personality.
Major Constructs
The ID
The id functions on the pleasure principle, which
emphasizes wants and desires and instant self-gratification,
and if not satisfied immediately, the result is a state anxiety or
tension.

Major Constructs
The SUPEREGO
The superego, which strives to act in a moral, socially
appropriate manner, directly contradicts the id, which demands
instant self-gratification. The superego works to suppress the
urges of the id and strives for morality, regardless of
contextual circumstances.
Major Constructs
The SUPEREGO
There are two parts to the superego: The first is the ego-ideal,
and includes the rules and standards for good behaviors.
The second part is the conscience, which includes information
about things that are viewed as bad by parents and society.

Major Constructs
The EGO
The ego is the largely unconscious part of personality that
mediates the demands of the id the superego.
The ego prevents us from acting on our basic urges (created by
the id), but also works to achieve a balance with our moral and
idealistic standards (created by the superego).
Major Constructs
The EGO
The ego is the component of personality that is responsible for
helping an individual cope with reality.
The ego develops from the id and ensures that the impulses of
the id can be expressed in a manner acceptable in the real
world.

Major Constructs
The EGO
The ego functions on the reality principle, which strives to
satisfy the id's desires in realistic and socially appropriate
ways.
Major Constructs
Psychosexual Development
Freud believed that personality develops through a series of
childhood stages during which the pleasure-seeking energies of
the id become focused on certain erogenous areas.
Psychosexual energy, or libido, is suggested to be the driving
force behind behavior.

Major Constructs
At particular points in the developmental process, a single body
part is particularly sensitive to sexual, erotic stimulation. These
erogenous zones are the mouth, the anus, and the genital region.
Major Constructs
A child at a given stage of development has certain needs and
demands and if these psychosexual stages are completed
successfully, the result is a healthy personality.

Major Constructs
However, frustration occurs when these needs are not met and if
certain issues are not resolved at the appropriate stage, the
individual will become fixated and will remain stuck until this
conflict is resolved.
Major Constructs
Oral
Anal
Phallic
Latent
Genital
The infant derives pleasure from oral stimulation through
gratifying activities such as tasting and sucking.
The primary focus of the libido is on controlling bladder and
bowel movements.

The primary focus of the libido is on the genitals.
The libido interests are suppressed.
The individual develops a strong sexual interest in the opposite
sex.
Major Constructs
Life and Death Instincts
Freud determined that all instincts fall into one of two major
classes: life instincts, or death instincts. Freud believed that
these drives, or instincts, were as influential on one’s behavior
as were the id, ego, and superego.
Major Constructs
Life instincts are those that deal with basic survival, pleasure,

and reproduction.
These instincts are important for sustaining the life of the
individual as well as the continuation of the species.
Major Constructs
While they are often called sexual instincts, these drives also
include such things as thirst, hunger, and pain avoidance. The
energy created by the life instincts is known as the libido.
Behaviors commonly associated with the life instinct include
love, cooperation, and other pro-social actions.

Major Constructs
In Freud’s view, self-destructive behavior is an expression of
the energy created by the death instincts. When this energy is
directed inward, it appears as masochism and self-loathing. If
directed outward onto others, it is expressed as aggression and
violence.
Major Constructs
Defense Mechanisms
Defense mechanisms are a function of the ego, which strives to
protect the individual from experiencing anxiety and guilt,
provoked by the discord between the id and superego.

Major Constructs
Defense Mechanisms
This coping strategy safeguards the mind against feelings and
thoughts that are too difficult for the conscious mind to cope
with, such as inappropriate or unwanted thoughts and impulses
from entering the conscious mind.
Major Constructs
Defense Mechanisms

Denial The refusal to accept reality and to act as if a painful
event, thought, or feeling did not exist. RepressionThe blocking
of unacceptable impulses from consciousness.Reaction
Formation The converting of wishes or impulses that are
perceived to be dangerous into their opposites.Projection The
attribution of one's undesired impulses onto another.
Major Constructs
Defense Mechanisms
Displacement
The redirecting of thoughts feelings and impulses from an

object that gives rise to anxiety to a safer, more acceptable one.
RationalizationThe cognitive reframing of one’s perceptions to
protect the ego in the face of changing realities.SublimationThe
channeling of unacceptable impulses into more acceptable
outlets.RegressionThe reversion to an earlier stage of
development in the face of unacceptable impulses.
Major Constructs
Defense Mechanisms
CompensationA process of psychologically counterbalancing
perceived weaknesses by emphasizing strength in other
areas.CompartmentalizationA process of separating parts of the

self from awareness of other parts and behaving as if one had
separate sets of values.Intellectualization The use of a cognitive
approach without the attendant emotions to suppress and
attempt to gain mastery over the perceived disorderly and
potentially overwhelming impulses.
Major Constructs
Defense Mechanisms
An individual may use any combination of these coping
strategies during his or her lifetime. It is when these
mechanisms fail to protect the individual at a certain point,
however, that the individual will unconsciously experience an
overwhelming sense of emotional discord and it will most likely
be at this time that he or she seeks counseling.

Major Constructs
Transference and Countertransference
One of the most important concepts associated with
psychoanalysis is the idea of transference, or the process of
attributing one’s feelings from one person onto another.
Major Constructs

Transference is often manifested as an erotic attraction towards
a counselor, but can be seen in many other forms such as rage,
hatred, mistrust, parentification, extreme dependence, or even
placing the counselor in a god-like or guru status.
Major Constructs
The goal of transference is to expose the unconscious
motivation behind the individuals’ defense mechanisms by
repeating or reenacting the attitudes, feelings, impulses, and
desires which were generated in early life in relation to
important figures in the individual’s development.

Major Constructs
This process occurs automatically and unconsciously and the
role of the counselor is to assume a ‘blank screen,’ during
which he or she “becomes a conduit for exposing the instinctual
motivations behind the process, thereby bringing the process
into consciousness where it can be examined and redirected”

Major Constructs
Countertransference is defined as the emotional reactions to a
patient that are determined not by the client’s own personality
traits, disorders, and experiences, but rather the counselor’s
own unconscious conflict.
Major Constructs
As a counseling tool, this concept can have both positive and

negative effects on the treatment.
Awareness of this process by the counselor can provide
important insight into the client’s inner world and into the
emotions and reactions the client often tends to induce in
others.
Major Constructs
However, the counselor must be able to recognize these feelings
and address his or her own fears and distortions to use
countertransference as an effective counseling tool, or
damaging enactments, and impaired judgment may occur.

Applications
Overview
The process of change emerges from the use of traditional and
modified techniques to bring awareness to the client and frame
current maladaptive behaviors in the context of prior
experiences contributing to current circumstances in the client’s
life.

Applications
Goals
The general goals of psychodynamic counseling are client self-
awareness and understanding of the influence of the past on
present behavior, and the correction of the client's distortions is
often the primary focus of therapeutic treatment.
Applications
Goals
The primary goal of psychoanalysis is to bring the drives of the
id into consciousness, allowing them to be understood and
addressed directly, thus reducing the client’s reliance on
defense mechanisms to function in social contexts.

Applications
Process of Change
The basic method of psychoanalysis is the analysis and
interpretation of the client’s unconscious conflicts which are
interfering with daily functioning.

Applications
Process of Change
This is done using a variety of traditional strategies and
techniques such as the analysis of dreams, transference,
resistance, and defenses, which encourage the client to increase
his or her awareness of how the processes and behaviors have
manifested and how to cope with new experiences in a more
healthful, productive manner.
Applications
Analyzing Transference
The counselor, as the object of transference, assumes the

position of an anonymous tool for the client to expose the
unconscious issues driving the maladaptive behaviors and
maintains an obscure presence during the process of
transference with the goal of analyzing the transferred material
later.
Applications
Analyzing Resistances
The counselor also analyzes the observed resistances from the
client during sessions with the intent to expose, or bring into
consciousness, the underlying causes for those resistances.

Applications
Resistance is based on personal, instinctual ways of reacting to
uncomfortable situations in which the client attempts to keep
hidden aspects of themselves from the counselor.

Applications
Psychoanalysis classifies client resistance into five categories,
all emanating from the ego, the id, and the superego. Freud
viewed all five categories of resistance as requiring more than
just intellectual insight or understanding to overcome.
Applications

Repression ResistanceOriginates from the egoStems from the
ego and includes various defenses and symptoms such as
reaction-formation, obsession, anxiety, and phobias.
Transference ResistanceOriginates from the ego
It presents as projection and also stems from the ego. This
succeeds in establishing a relation to the counselor and
reanimates a repression.

Applications
Ego- ResistanceOriginates from the ego This is an
unwillingness to renounce any satisfaction or relief that has
been obtained. Acting Out or ‘Working Through’Originates
from the idIt presents as a compulsion to repeat maladaptive
behaviors.

Applications
Self-SabotageOriginates from the superego Appears as a sense
of guilt or need for punishment. It opposes every move towards
success, including the client’s own recovery through analysis
Applications

Posthypnotic Suggestions
Hypnosis is a mental state or set of attitudes usually induced by
a procedure known as a ‘hypnotic induction,’ which is
commonly composed of a series of preliminary instructions and
suggestions.
Applications
Posthypnotic Suggestions
Hypnotherapy features one or more suggestions made to a
hypnotized client that specifies an action to be performed after
awakening, often in response to a cue, with the aim of
unconsciously redirecting the behavior.

Applications
Free Association
In free association, psychoanalytic clients are invited to relate
whatever comes into their minds during the session without
self-censorship.

Applications
Free Association
The method of free association has no linear or preplanned
agenda, but works by intuitive leaps and linkages which may
lead to new personal insights and meanings.

Applications
Free Association
The goal of this technique is not to unearth specific answers or
memories, but to instigate a journey of co-discovery which can
enhance the client's integration of thought, feeling, agency, and
selfhood.
Applications

Dream Analysis
Freud was one of the first to emphasize dreams as keys to the
unconscious and interpreted dreams as symbolic wish
fulfillments. He distinguished the manifest content of dreams,
or the dream as it is recalled by the individual, from the latent
content, or the actual meaning of the dream.
Applications
Dream Analysis

CondensationOne dream object stands for several associations
and ideas.DisplacementA dream object's emotional significance
is separated from its real object or content and attached to an
entirely different one.
Applications
Dream Analysis

RepresentationIt is a thought which is translated to visual
images. SymbolismWhen a symbol replaces an action, person,
or idea.
Applications
A central concept in brief counseling is that there should be one
major focus for the counseling rather than the more traditional
psychoanalytic practice of allowing the client to associate freely

and discuss unconnected issues.
Applications
The primary goal of brief psychoanalysis is to estimate what
may have happened in the past that created a current issue.

Applications
The counselor can also use confrontation to bringing an aspect
of functioning, usually a defense, to the client's attention. The
counselor then uses a variety of interpretation methods, such as
dynamic interpretation, resistance interpretation, transference
interpretation, or dream interpretation.

Applications
When using a brief psychoanalytic approach, the therapeutic
work has an orientation toward the future, but both client and
counselor remain focused on the present with the goal to reduce
anxiety and frame positive goals for the future.
Applications

Serious Mental Health Issues
Psychoanalytic theory maintains that psychological disorders
are the result of unconscious conflicts becoming extreme or
unbalanced.
Applications
Freud suggested that severe mental health issues are comprised
of a constellation of symptoms which are caused by intrusions
of hidden drives into voluntary behavior when defense
mechanisms fail.

Applications
The unconscious is the primary focus of treatment, when used in
the treatment of serious mental illness, the aim is to trace the
overt symptoms of the diagnosis back to their unconscious
origins and analyze them through the use of rational thought
and processing.

Applications
The goal is to develop a sense of stability in the client through
emotional processing of the past and linking to the present and
to synthesize the personality components into one functional
unit.

Applications
A major criticism of psychoanalytic theory is based on the
argument that it oversimplifies cultural paradigms due to the
idea that humans are driven by sexuality and appears to ignore
other factors, such as class, race, sexuality, gender, disability,
and many others which shape culture.

Applications
Some practitioners suggest that psychoanalysis is entirely
inappropriate for use with certain cultures due to the lack of
structure, lack of direct problem-solving, and a consistent
emphasis on the reflection of childhood experience.

Melinda Haley, Ph. D. Counseling and Psychother.docx

Melinda Haley, Ph. D. Counseling and Psychother.docx

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

Similar to Melinda Haley, Ph. D. Counseling and Psychother.docx

Similar to Melinda Haley, Ph. D. Counseling and Psychother.docx (9)

More from andreecapon

More from andreecapon (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

Melinda Haley, Ph. D. Counseling and Psychother.docx