1. Discuss the interrelationships among the many psychodynamic theories. These type theories are the second most favorite, right after the eclectic. There have been many variations split off and also mutations to the classical psychoanalysis theory.

2. Discuss the Carl G. Jung approach to psychodynamic therapy. Jung was the only non-Jew in the psychological society, so he had a strong interest in keeping things balanced. He placed great value on dreams. He believed that personality was based on the collective unconscious and archetypes (persona, shadow, anima/animus, and self). He thought that problems happened because people lost balance and meaning and because they needed to individuate. He thought that the problems could be solved by listening to one's unconscious, by analyzing dreams, and by developing an individual curiosity about what each person is meant to be in a balanced state. Jung agreed with Freud about the UCS, and he said that the mind had archetypes in the collective UCS.

3. Discuss the Alfred Adler approach to psychodynamic therapy. Adler had polio from his youth and fought its consequences all his life. He thought that personality consisted of core motives where each person was striving for a sense of superiority and trying to overcome their feelings of inferiority. He thought that people needed to create goals for living and that those goals would formulate a style of life ideal to express what the person is becoming. However, this style of life ideal could easily be different than how the person is actually living. The style of life was simply a way of thinking about how one should be. Adler linked problems to birth order, where a first born, for example, feels dethroned and in a struggle to regain what was lost by the birth of siblings.

According to Adler, problems developed when children were not allowed to attain superiority. Such hindrances to this need were pampering, parental domination, and neglect and indifference. Other causes for problems were when people adopted faulty life styles or when they had conflicts in their intrapersonal and interpersonal relationships. Producing change happens when the therapist: (a) examines the client's cognitive map to show how the client is directing his own course, (b) raises the client's consciousness of his chosen life style, (c) interprets information, (d) completely analyzes the client's life style, (e) gives feedback, (f) teaches a new philosophy of life, (g) analyzes the client's dreams, (h) helps the client reevaluate his or her future goals, (i) creates an image that captures the client's goals, and (j) encourages experimentation with the new life style.

4. Discuss the Gestalt approach to psychodynamic therapy. With this theory, by Fritz Perl, personality is a function of goal-directed beings who encounter blocks to their goals. He did not think that people really understood themselves, so they could not solve their problems. They needed to have integrated lives but often used self-deception and manipulation to get others to solve their problems. With them, problems occurred because of a lack of awareness of self and because of their phony layers of self-deception. He saw personality as being described by five concentric circles. The layers from outside in are (a) a phoniness-fantasy-projection layer (how others see you), a phobia layer (the things that scare us), an impasse manipulation layer by top dog (trying to bully people into solving their problems) or under dog (playing helpless and invoking sympathy), an implosive-explosive layer (we bounce back and forth between the energy we feel and our goals), and a self layer (the core of the person). The impasse layer is where people get stuck in trying to understand themselves. The was for these people to solve their problems is to help them gain an awareness of self through direct experience. The therapist manipulates and frustrates the client until he or she becomes aware of the manipulation strategies and changes. Perl thought that the therapist was a catalyst for learning but was not a teacher.

5. Discuss Transactional Analysis. Created by Edward Burn, this theory emphasized ego and social parts. Personality is driven by ego states (parent, adult, child), transactions (interpersonal part - parallel tracks, cross transaction, and ulterior communications), games (they begin, end, and have rules and payoffs for both players (one type of game is: Why don't you . . .? Yes, but . . .). On these games, the client starts out as the victim. The therapist starts out as the rescuer, and the go through the "yes-but" scenario. After a while of that, the therapist switches to the role of persecutor, and then, the client will hopefully retaliate and rescue himself or herself), scripts (Burn thought that people learned early in life what they were supposed to be and then scripted out their life), and life positions (Burn set up a 4-point grid where client sees self as OK or not OK and others as OK and not OK. When client sees self OK and others OK, that is a healthy sign. When self OK and others not OK, client will usually be angry and hostile. When self not OK and others are OK, then the client will usually have self-esteem problems and frequently be depressed. When self not OK and others not OK, the client will usually withdraw, do drugs, or be suicidal). Parallel tracks mean joint understanding in communications. Cross transactional tracks are not parallel and means a failure to communicate and the creation of misunderstandings. Ulterior communications has two levels of communications at the same time, social and psychological. The cause of problems are difficulties in any or all of the above five personality areas. The solution, usually through group therapy, is insight, plus correcting the problems, and educational (teach the theory to the clients and allow them to apply it to their own lives). Burn did things in groups, and he liked educational methods.

6. Discuss contemporary psychodynamic therapy. A summary of contemporary theory is traditional, ego psychology, American ego object relations, British ego object relations, interpersonal, self, and brief psychotherapy. Each approach makes different degrees of modification to basic psychoanalytic theory in (a) theory of the person or (b) theory of the hour. Some themes in changes to theories of the person are: (a) individuation-separation is stressed instead of an Oedipal conflict, (b) adaptation and coping throughout the life span are stressed, and (c) cognitive processes are attended to more than previously. Some themes in changes to theories of the therapy hour are: (a) primacy of the therapeutic relationship (use of own reactions to reveal clues about the client's psychodynamics) and (b) changes in the process of therapy to more confrontation and shorter time frames).

				Tom of Bethany

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