Psychoanalytic psychotherapy began with the work of Sigmund Freud (1856 – 1939), and all psychotherapeutic models have, in one way or another, grown out of the pioneering work he completed.
Psychodynamic therapists recognise the role the unconscious plays in the individual’s life; and explore this through a variety of channels including childhood experiences, dreams, art and fantasies.
Psychodynamic Theoretical Concepts
Freud developed the concept that the human psyche is split into three seperate parts – the ‘id’, ‘the ego’ and the ‘superego’. Freud referenced the ‘id’ as being unconscious and childlike, governed by needs such as food, warmth and sexual desire. Freud described the ‘superego’ as being largely unconscious, but at the opposite end of the scale from the ‘id’ and governed by the need to be socially acceptable and constrained. The ‘ego’ was somewhere in the middle – our conscious sense of self, struggling to control the ‘id’ and the ‘superego’.
Freud believed that the unconscious mind could be explored through a number of avenues, such as art, fantasies, projection, free association and dreams. Freud described these methods as being individualised; thereby the same object could mean two things to two seperate individuals; depending on their experience of that object.
Other contributors to the psychodynamic approach include Alfred Adler (1870 – 1937), Carl Jung (1875 – 1961), Heinz Hartmann (1894 – 1970), Anna Freud (1895 – 1982) and Melanie Klein (1882 – 1960).
Uses and Limitations
Individuals can benefit greatly from engaging in psychodynamic counselling, which explores the unconscious drives to deal with the root cause of anxieties using a variety of techniques. Once these unconscious drives have been recognised and understood, the anxiety can be dealt with and the individual can move on. Critics of this approach stress that a time and financial commitment is required for this approach to succeed and some individuals may not have the capacity for this. For those individuals who do not wish to delve so deeply or commit to a timeframe; an immediate ‘fix’ may be acceptable.