The document critically evaluates psychoanalytic theory in the context of counseling and student affairs, highlighting key concepts like the structure of personality (id, ego, superego) and defense mechanisms. It discusses the application of psychoanalytic techniques, such as free association and transference analysis, to facilitate students' self-understanding and personal growth. The evaluation also addresses the limitations of applying psychoanalytic practices in student affairs, particularly concerning time constraints and the challenges of maintaining professionalism without anonymity.

1. Form
A
-­‐
Peter
‘Max’
Quinn
Critical
Evaluation
Format
CN528
Counseling
&
Development
Professor
Ciri
-­‐
October
3,
2011
Theory:
Psychoanalytic
Theory
-­‐
MOST
Important
concepts:
§ View
of
Human
Nature
o Libido
-­‐
Energy
of
the
Sexual
&
Life
instincts
of
individuals
&
human
race
o Death
Instincts
-­‐
Account
for
the
aggressive
drive
§ Structure
of
Personality
o Id-­‐
Primary
source
of
psychic
energy
-­‐
Seat
of
the
instincts
§ Lacks
organization
and
is
blind,
demanding
and
insistent
§ Pleasure
Principle-­‐
Reduce
Tension,
Avoid
Pain,
and
Gain
Pleasure
§ Driven
to
satisfy
instinctual
needs
(immoral
&
amoral)
o Ego-­‐
Governs,
controls,
and
regulates
the
personality
(traffic
cop)
-­‐Seat
of
the
intelligence
§ Mediates
between
the
instincts
and
surrounding
environment
§ Reality
Principle-­‐
Realistic
&
logical
thinking
§ Formulates
plans
of
action
for
satisfying
needs
§ Checks
and
controls
the
blind
impulses
of
the
Id
(rational
governing
body)
o Superego-­‐
Judicial
Branch
of
Personality
-­‐
Moral
Code
§ Determines
what
is
good,
bad,
right,
wrong
§ Represents
the
ideal
rather
than
the
real
§ Strives
not
for
pleasure
but
for
perfection
§ Traditional
views
of
society
as
handed
down
from
parents
to
children
§ Inhibits
the
Id
impulses,
to
persuade
the
Ego
to
substitute
moralistic
goals
for
realistic
ones
&
strives
for
perfection
§ Rewards
are
feelings
of
pride
and
self-­‐love
§ Punishments
are
feelings
of
guilty
and
inferiority
§ Consciousness
o Thin
slice
of
the
total
mind
§ The
Unconsciousness
o Larger
part
of
the
mind
-­‐
Exists
below
the
surface
of
awareness
o Stores:
experiences,
memories,
and
repressed
material,
Needs
&
motivations
that
are
inaccessible
(out
of
the
awareness)
§ Anxiety
o A
feeling
of
dread
that
results
from
repressed
feelings,
memories,
desires,
and
experience
that
emerge
to
the
surface
of
awareness
o Develops
out
of
conflict
among
the
Id,
Ego,
&
Superego
o ‘To
warn
of
impending
danger’
o Reality
Anxiety
-­‐
Fear
of
danger
from
the
external
world
§ Level
of
anxiety
if
proportionate
to
the
degree
of
real
threat
§ A
signal
to
the
Ego
that
appropriate
measures
must
be
taken
or
danger
may
increase
until
the
Ego
is
overthrown
o Neurotic
Anxiety
-­‐
Fear
that
the
instincts
will
get
out
of
hand
and
cause
one
to
do
something
for
which
one
will
be
punished
o Moral
Anxiety
-­‐
Fear
of
one’s
own
conscience
§ Ego-­‐Defense
Mechanisms
(pg.
64
-­‐
Table
4.1)
o Help
the
individual
cope
with
anxiety
o Prevent
Ego
from
being
overwhelmed
o Moral
behaviors
that
can
have
adaptive
value,
provided
they
do
not
become
a
style
of
life
that
enables
the
individual
to
avoid
facing
reality
o Characteristics:
§ Deny
or
Distort
Reality
§ Operate
on
an
Unconscious
level
§ Aim
of
the
Psychoanalytic
Theory
o Make
the
Unconscious
motives
Conscious
-­‐
Only
then
can
the
individual
exercise
choice
Increase
awareness
-­‐
Foster
insights
into
the
student’s
behavior
-­‐
Understand
meanings
of
symptoms
1
/
Continued
on
Page
2

2. Application:
Techniques
and
procedures
of
the
Psychoanalytic
Theory
-­‐Techniques
and
methods
of
the
Psychoanalytic
Theory
in
Student
Affairs
practice-­‐
§ Students
Experience
Where
are
they
at
developmentally?
§ Relationship
between
Professional
&
Student
§ Remains
within
the
relationship,
comments
on
it,
and
offers
insight
producing
interpretations
§ Hopes
to
have
an
impact
on
the
student
and
on
the
here-­‐and-­‐now
interactions
that
occur
§ Free
Association
(without
the
couch)
Allow
students
to
say
what
comes
to
their
mind
without
self-­‐censorship
§ When
having
private
1:1
conversations
§ Allow
for
experiences,
feelings,
associations,
memories,
and
fantasies
to
emerge
§ (Carefully
monitor
facial
queue’s
as
no
couch
would
be
used)
§ Interpretation
Pointing
out,
explaining,
and
teaching
the
student
the
meanings
of
their
behavior
manifested
in
dreams,
free
association,
resistances,
and
the
professional-­‐student
relationship
§ Assessment
of
the
students
personality
and
the
factors
in
the
students
past
the
contributed
to
heirs
difficulties
§ Identifying,
clarifying,
and
translating
the
students
‘material’
§ Analysis
and
Interpretation
of
Resistance
Anything
that
works
against
the
progress
of
growth
and
development
and
prevents
the
student
from
producing
previously
unconscious
material
§ Resistance
is
the
students
reluctance
to
bring
to
the
surface
of
awareness
unconscious
material
that
has
been
repressed
§ Any
idea,
attitude,
feeling,
or
action
(conscious
or
unconscious)
that
fosters
the
status
quo
and
gets
int
eh
way
of
change
§ Analysis
and
Interpretation
of
Transference
Students’
unconscious
shifting
to
the
analyst
of
feelings
and
fantasies
that
are
reactions
to
significant
others
in
the
students
past
(1:1
or
group
settings
(provided
the
environment
is
suitable))
§ Unconscious
repletion
of
the
past
in
the
present
§ Resurrection
of
early
conflicts
relating
to
love,
sexuality,
hostility,
anxiety,
and
resentment;
bring
into
the
present;
re-­‐
experience;
attach
them
to
analyst
§ Angry
feelings
=
negative
transference
§ Always
remain
aware
of
Countertransference
o Key
avenue
for
helping
to
gain
self-­‐understanding
o Objectivity
-­‐
Do
not
react
defensively
and
subjectively
in
the
face
of
anger,
love,
adulation,
criticism,
and
other
intense
feelings
of
students
§ Allows
student
to
achieve
here-­‐and-­‐now
insight
onto
the
influence
of
the
past
on
their
present
functioning
§ Aimed
to
increase
awareness
and
personality
change
§ Supportive
Interventions
§ Reassurance,
expressions
of
empathy
and
support,
and
suggestions
o (More
self-­‐disclosure
of
professional)
§ Application
to
Group
Counseling
Understand
the
history
of
the
group
(Greek
Life,
Student
Clubs
or
Teams,
etc…)
and
a
way
of
thinking
about
how
their
past
is
affecting
them
now
in
the
group
§ Remain
aware
of
own
individual
bias
-­‐Psychoanalytic
theory
from
a
diversity
perspective
-­‐
§ Emphasis
on
critical
issues
in
stages
of
development
§ Review
environmental
situations
at
various
critical
turning
points
in
students
lives
to
determine
how
much
certain
vents
have
affected
them
either
positively
or
negatively
§ Recognize
and
confront
own
potential
sources
of
bias
&
how
countertransference
could
be
unintentionally
-­‐Evaluation
of
the
approach
to
use
Psychoanalytic
Theory
in
Student
Affairs
practice
-­‐
Psychoanalytic
theory
can
only
be
used
to
a
certain
extent
within
the
realm
of
Student
Affairs.
Practitioners
do
counsel
students,
but
rarely
could
they
include
many
of
the
key
characteristics
of
this
theory.
The
couch
in
free
association,
and
the
inability,
and
unwillingness,
to
be
anonymous
seems
to
be
the
major
outliers.
Psychoanalytic
theory
has
many
useful
tools
for
student
affairs
educators,
such
and
its
supportive
interventions
and
analysis
of
the
transference.
Countertransference
plays
a
unique
role,
and
truly
provides
insight
into
self-­‐
understanding
for
both
the
professional
and
the
students
they
encounter.
2
/
Continued
on
Page
3

3. -­‐Significant
contributions
Psychoanalytic
Theory
to
Student
Affairs
-­‐
§ The
use
of
methods,
in
collaboration,
to
bring
out
the
unconscious
material
that
can
be
worked
through
§ Induce
the
capacity
to
move
toward
wholeness
and
self-­‐realizations
-­‐
AKA
the
Whole-­‐Student
§ To
help
students
become
what
they
are
capable
of
becoming
§ Helping
students
to
explore
the
unconscious
aspects
of
their
personality
(Both
the
personal
and
collective
unconscious)
§ Help
students
tap
into
their
inner
wisdom
§ Transformation
of
personality
§ Emphasize
the
striving
of
the
Ego
(of
the
student)
for
mastery
and
competence
throughout
life
§ Understanding
of
how
current
behavior
is
largely
a
repetition
of
patterns
set
during
one
of
the
early
stages
of
development
§ Provides
a
framework
when
working
with
symptoms
of:
separation,
individualization,
intimacy,
dependence
vs.
interdependence,
and
identity
-­‐Limitations
of
Psychoanalytic
Theory
in
Student
Affairs
practice
-­‐
§ Availability
of
time
to
‘counsel’
each
student
-­‐
Periods
of
long
interactions
may
be
limited
o Especially
with
free
association
(lack
of
a
couch),
dream
analysis,
and
extensive
analysis
of
the
transference
§ Students
may
lack
‘Ego
strength’
§ “Anonymous
Role”
is
not
assumed
o Blanked-­‐screen
aloofness
can
be
hard
to
maintain
§ Professionalism
is
enacted,
but
not
anonymous
3