Hockenbury Discovering Psychology 5th txtbk

582 CHAPTER 14 Therapies© The New Yorker Collection 2007 Robert Mankoff from cartoonbank.com.All Right Reserved.“Look, making you happy is out of the question, but Ican give you a compelling narrative for your misery”We’ll begin this chapter by surveyingsome of the most influential approachesin psychotherapy: psychoanalytic, humanistic,behavioral, and cognitive.Each approach is based on different assumptionsabout the underlying causesof psychological problems. And eachapproach uses different strategies toproduce beneficial changes in the way aperson thinks, feels, and behaves—theultimate goal of all forms of psychotherapy.After discussing the effectivenessof psychotherapy, we’ll look atthe most commonly used biomedicaltreatments for psychological disorders.Psychoanalytic TherapyKey Theme• Psychoanalysis is a form of therapy developed by Sigmund Freud and isbased on his theory of personality.Key Questions• What are the key assumptions and techniques of psychoanalytic therapy?• How do short-term dynamic therapies differ from psychoanalysis, andwhat is interpersonal therapy?Sigmund Freud and Psychoanalytic TherapyAt the beginning of the twentieth century,Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) developed aninfluential form of psychotherapy calledpsychoanalysis. Traditional psychoanalysis isnot widely practiced today, partly becauseit is too lengthy and expensive. However,many of the techniques that Freud pioneered,such as free association, dream analysis,and transference, are still commonly usedin different forms of psychotherapy.When cartoonists portray a psychotherapy session, they often draw a person lyingon a couch and talking while a bearded gentleman sits behind the patient, passivelylistening. This stereotype reflects some of the key ingredients of traditionalpsychoanalysis, a form of psychotherapy originally developed by SigmundFreud in the early 1900s. Although psychoanalysis was developed a century ago,its assumptions and techniques continue to influence many psychotherapies today(Lerner, 2008; Luborsky & Barrett, 2006).Sigmund Freud and PsychoanalysisAs a therapy, traditional psychoanalysis is closely interwoven with Freud’s theory ofpersonality. As you may recall from Chapter 10, on personality, Freud stressed thatearly childhood experiences provided the foundation for later personality development.When early experiences result in unresolved conflicts and frustrated urges, theseemotionally charged memories are repressed, or pushed out of conscious awareness. Althoughunconscious, these repressed conflicts continue to influence a person’sthoughts and behavior, including the dynamics of his relationships with others.Psychoanalysis is designed to help unearth unconscious conflicts so the patientattains insight as to the real source of her problems. Through the intense relationshipthat develops between the psychoanalyst and the patient, long-standing psychologicalconflicts are recognized and reexperienced. If the analytic treatment issuccessful, the conflicts are resolved.Freud developed several techniques to coax long-repressed memories, impulses,and conflicts to a patient’s consciousness (Liff, 1992). In the famous techniquecalled free association, the patient spontaneously reports all her thoughts, mentalimages, and feelings while lying on a couch. The psychoanalyst usually sits out ofview, occasionally asking questions to encourage the flow of associations.