Theories Of Psychodynamic Counselling

Introduction

There are various approaches to counselling and psychotherapy and these therapies generally fall into five categories. These are behavioural therapies, psychoanalytical and psychodynamic therapies, cognitive therapy, humanistic therapies and Integrative or holistic therapy. Most of the approaches to counselling and psychotherapy are based on the Judeo-Christian tradition with Western values and objectives. It is argued that the western value system has a profound impact upon counselling approaches, techniques, and processes, for it reinforces what is considered good according to the prevalent social standards, values, and norms (Jafari, 1993, p.330). There will be situations when traditional or Western-oriented counselling approaches

The primary purpose in psychodynamic counselling is to release repressed emotions and experiences so as to make the unconscious motives conscious. That is, to enable individual to review feelings, thoughts, early-life experiences, and beliefs to gain insight into current problems and patterns of behaviour. It is stated that by identifying recurring patterns, the individual may perceive the ways in which they avoid distress or develop defense mechanisms as a method of coping so that they can take steps to change those patterns (www.goodtherapy.org). Freud’s stage of psychosexual development (and Erikson’s psychosexual stage of development) is a framework that the counsellor may use for the understanding of key developmental tasks characteristic of the various stages of life. The core principles of psychodynamic approaches to counselling include:
 The belief that early childhood experiences and past events, often unconsciousness, determine how people feel about themselves and their world.
 The view that all internal experiences relate to interpersonal relationships.
 The process and techniques of psychodynamic therapy and counselling include: Identification of recurring themes and patterns of behaviour; discussion of past experience (developmental focus); focus on affect and expression of emotion; focus on the therapy relationship

However the findings of a recent meta study showed that long-term psychodynamic psychotherapy was superior to less intensive forms of psychotherapy in complex mental disorder (Leichsenring and Rabung, 2011). But this study has been refuted and challenged on its methodology (Kliem et al.,