[ANSWERED 2023] Select one of the five postulates of contemporary psychodynamic theory identified by Westen

In their article, Bitter and Nicoll (2000) distinguished between the use of “The Question” in Adlerian therapy and the “The Miracle Question” employed by solution-focused therapists.  Do you find that distinction useful and how would you use the technique in your future practice?

Reference

Bitter, J. R., & Nicoll, W. G. (2000). Adlerian brief therapy with individuals: Process and practice. Journal of Individual Psychology, 56, 31-44. Retrieved from https://search-ebscohost-com.libraryservices.yorkvilleu.ca/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=url,cookie,ip,uid&db=a9h&AN=9064041

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Assignment 1: Psychodynamic Approaches – Assignment 1: Psychodynamic Approaches

Instructions

Do NOT exceed one double-spaced page (two or three paragraphs) for each of your answers. Please, save your assignment in Microsoft Word (files with extension .doc or .docx), or Rich Text Format (files with extension .rtf), or Open Office (files with extension .odt). Include a title page and a reference page. An introduction/conclusion is not necessary. Organize the answers using APA style.

Answer the following three short-answer questions (250 words for each answer, approximately 750 words per assignment):

• Select one of the five postulates of contemporary psychodynamic theory identified by Westen (1998) in his comprehensive article on the scientific legacy of Sigmund Freud. Briefly, explain the importance of that postulate and its implications for the practice of psychodynamic counselling.
• How do Adlerian counsellors use clients’ early recollections as part of the lifestyle assessment?
• How can clients in counselling benefit from the application of Jung’s theory of psychological types?

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Expert Answer and Explanation

2.1. Personality Descriptors in Adlerian Counselling

It is vital for a counselor to understand the factors that influence their clients’ personality. Adler developed a theory that can help counselors understand the influence of clients’ personality. The theory is birth order theory. According to Adler, first-born children are higher achievers, natural leaders, on-time, organized, bossy, responsible, obeys the rules, and know-it-al. In the case of a person I know, the descriptors are reasonably true (AAISFNW). This person is the first-born in their family.

All other siblings depend on him on almost everything. For instance, when his younger brother wanted to join college, the individual was asked to give his opinion about the best courses and help the brother applying for the school. The individual’s brother was the last-born child. The brother was outgoing, likes to be pampered, risk-taker, and highly competitive.

He wanted to surpass his older brother in almost everything. I have also interacted with the only child in a family. In my observation, the individual was close to parents, demanding, and dependent on his older sibling a lot. He cannot spend a day before calling his mother. Though this theory applies to most people, my question is, what if the older brother did not go to school, can he have the descriptors identified by Adler?

Reference

Alfred Adler Institutes of San Francisco and Northwestern Washington (AAISFNW). [Website]. Retrieved from: http://www.adlerian.us/

2.2. Questions in Adlerian vs. Solution-Focused Therapy

“The Question” in Adlerian therapy is used to identify the aim of the symptoms experienced by clients. According to Bitter and Nicoll (2000), “The Question” can be used for differential diagnosis to determine what the client thinks about the symptoms. However, solution-focused therapists use “The Miracle Question” to provoke the clients to tell them how the future might be when they are healed.

Bitter and Nicoll (2000) highly helped therapists by showing the distinction between the “The Question” and “The Miracle Question.” One of the differences is that “The Miracle Question” is used to encourage the patient to find solution to the problems while “The Question” is used to find how they think of symptoms. The two techniques will highly significant in my future practice.

For instance, if a client comes to me complaining of stress and anxiety, I will ask them: Would your life be different if you were free of the symptoms? If the patent says no, then the symptoms are physically-related. However, when the patient says yes, he would have a job or get married, then the problem is mentally-related, and hence mental solution should be provided.

Reference

Bitter, J. R., & Nicoll, W. G. (2000). Adlerian brief therapy with individuals: Process and practice. Journal of Individual Psychology, 56, 31-44. Retrieved from https://search-ebscohost-com.libraryservices.yorkvilleu.ca/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=url,cookie,ip,uid&db=a9h&AN=9064041

Assignment: Psychodynamic Approaches

Question 1: The postulate of Contemporary Psychodynamic TheoryOne of the five postulates of contemporary psychodynamic theory is that much of the mental life is unconscious. Westen (1998) notes that Freud was not the first person to identify the unconscious part of people’s mental life. He says that philosophers and poets were the first to apply the concept. However, Freud was the first psychologist to form a psychological theory about the concept.

Freud’s psychoanalytic theory of personality defines the unconscious mind as thoughts, feelings, memories, and urges that are outside the conscious awareness (Westen, 1998). This postulate is important in psychology because it is used by psychologists to relieve clients from psychological distress. The postulate can also be used to improve the behaviors of clients.

Most of the clients’ motives, feelings, and decisions are stored in the unconscious, and thus helping patients to identify their unconscious can help them discover their strengths and skills they can use to improve their mental health (Westen, 1998). If not handled properly, unconscious beliefs, thoughts, and feelings can cause problems, such as bias, relationship problems, distress, anger, difficult social interactions, and compulsive behaviors.

The practice for psychodynamic counseling implies that clients can develop defense mechanics to prevent them from rising to awareness of the things in the unconscious mind. The defense mechanisms can help the patient cope with conflicting demands of the superego and id. Some of the defense mechanisms include displacement, denial, and suppression, and repression. Displacement involves taking out feelings, impulses, and frustrations on less threatening objects or people.

Question 2: How do Adlerian counsellors use clients’ early recollections as part of the lifestyle assessment?Adlerian therapy is a psychoeducational, brief approach that is both goal-oriented and humanistic. The therapy stresses a person’s strivings for connectedness with others, success, and contributions to the community as being symbols of mental health (Watts, 2003). Some of the key concepts of Adlerian therapy include lifestyle, social interest, equality, directionality or goals, and holism.

Alder emphasizes the significance of stressed psychosocial and childhood inferiority feelings rather than development psychosexually. According to alder, all people often have a feeling of inferiority. He also believed that one can start taking steps towards healing and growth by taking time to evaluate the source of their personal feelings and beliefs and how they influence their behavior (Sperry, 2018). The key to understanding one’s behaviors is generating effective ways to seek acceptance and validation.

Adler developed a model that can be used by psychologists applying this therapy in their sessions to assess the lifestyle of clients. The approach is known as early recollections. Early recollections allow psychologists to conduct lifestyle assessments of their patients because they focus mainly on the clients’ present rather than past. Early recollections can tell the psychologist how the patient carried themselves in the past (Sperry, 2018).

The therapy can also help counselors unearth and clarity the client’s assumptions about oneself, the world, and others. Through this technique, the client will narrate their lifeline and how they deal with life challenges in the move to become complete and perfect through remembering their past life.

Question Three: How can clients in counselling benefit from the application of Jung’s theory of psychological types?Clients can benefit from the application of Jung’s theory by understanding their personalities. After they have undergone Jung’s therapy, they will know where they fall in the following psychological functions. The first function is extraversion vs. introversion. Extraverted people enjoying working in a group and socializing with people. These people learn through direct experience, outside sources, and never wait for guidance before they embark on a project.

However, introverted individuals do not like to work with others and like to learn through personal reflection and brainstorming (Galipeau, 2013). These people think before they talk any step in life. Another function is sensation vs. intuition. Sensation personalities are more concerned with the external environment. They are reasonable, practical, and often focus on the present issues. However, intuitive people focus more on possibilities, like new challenges, and experiences.

The third function is thinking vs. feeling. People with thinking personalities tend to focus more on the function and structure of objects and information. They are often logical and rational when dealing with challenges. They do not decide things based on emotions. People with feeling personalities are interested in people’s feelings and are often emotional when making critical decisions.

The last function is judging vs. perceiving (Dehing, 1992). A judging character often has strong opinions, is structured and organized, and does not line mystery and ambiguity. However, people with perceiving characters are not organized and structured, have trouble making decisions, are often persuaded with new information when making decisions, and are often impulsive. People learn where they stand in terms of personality when they are exposed to the therapy.

References

Westen, D. (1998). The scientific legacy of Sigmund Freud: Toward a psychodynamically informed psychological science. Psychological Bulletin, 124(3), 333-371. Retrieved from https://search-ebscohost-com.libraryservices.yorkvilleu.ca/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=url,cookie,ip,uid&db=pdh&AN=1998-11174-003

Dehing, J. (1992). The therapist’s interventions in Jungian analysis. Journal of Analytical Psychology, 37, 29-47. Retrieved from https://search-ebscohost-com.libraryservices.yorkvilleu.ca/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=url,cookie,ip,uid&db=a9h&AN=12234171

Galipeau, S. (2013). The Red Book and Jung’s typology. Psychological Perspectives, 56, 34-49

Watts, R. E. (2003). Adlerian therapy as a relational constructivist approach. The Family Journal, 11(2), 139-147. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1066480702250169

Sperry, L. (2018). Achieving evidence-based status for Adlerian therapy: Why it is needed and how to accomplish it. The Journal of Individual Psychology, 74(3), 247-263. https://doi.org/10.1353/jip.2018.0017

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