Psychodynamic Essay

The Psychodynamic Model (or psychoanalytic psychotherapy) is a form of therapy that is built to help clients understand their emotions, feelings, and behavior patterns, so that clients might be able to understand themselves at a higher level and be able to consciously make a better decision for themselves, and how a person’s childhood might have affected their life in later years. I will be discussing the history behind the psychodynamic theory, going more in-depth with the model itself, explaining what it’s used for, and discussing some of the theories that follow alongside the psychodynamic model. The book explains that the “basic personality, developmental processes, and interpersonal relationship,” (Edwards, pg. 70) are the focus interest

While studying, Freud discovered that the mind worked in three ways, the ego, the id, and the superego. The id is known for being the instincts part of the mind, almost like the impulse control center, that has hidden memories, and sexual and aggressive drives. The superego is a person’s moral consciousness, and the ego (or mediator,) is the middle ground before the two types of desires (Solms, 2018). The psychodynamic theory is based on a few different psychological theories, and all these theories described unresolved issues that were developed from childhood, and repressed trauma, that all get tucked away into the person’s unconscious mind (Solms,

Psychodynamic therapy is used to help a client gain self-awareness and understand how their past experiences can and are affecting their current experiences (Dilges, 2014). There are a few different therapies that come from psychodynamic theory, and they are time-limited dynamic psychotherapy, interpersonal psychotherapy, narrative therapy, and supportive therapy. Time-limited dynamic psychotherapy (TLDP) is used when a person needs a shorter therapy time, but still maximizes the therapy’s effectiveness, and helps with a specific part that needs to be met with counseling. Interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT) is the psychotherapy that helps when treating patients with major depression, as it addresses the concerns within a person that leads to depression. Narrative therapy is based on a person’s ability to “write and rewrite their autobiography throughout the lifespan,” (Edwards, pg. 82). This therapy helps prove that people can change and grow as a person, despite what has happened in their childhood, and that a person can continue to grow and make the conscious decision to be better. Lastly, supportive therapy is designed to help reinforce, and keep the patient’s well-being high (Edwards, pg. 80 –