PSYCHOANALYTIC MODEL

Advantages and the Disadvantages of Model in the Understanding and Treatment of Mental Disorders



Advantages and the Disadvantages of Model n the Understanding and Treatment of Mental Disorders

Introduction

Psychoanalysis is considered by its practioners to be more thorough and enduring. It spends a great deal of time on exploring the client's past? uses the technique of "free association (saying whatever come to mind without censorship)?" and is supposed to raise the unconscious content of the mind to consciousness? providing the client with more control over his or her life. However? it is lengthy? usually lasting years and it is very expensive. Classical psychoanalysis? rarely practiced these days? involves three to five visits a week to the psychoanalysts. Most psychoanalysts are psychiatrists? while some are psychologists and a very few are clinical social workers. Psychiatry has become highly biologically oriented over the last several decades and relies more heavily on medication than talk therapy. Most psychologists are cognitive-behaviorally oriented.

Much more prevalent than classical psychoanalysis today is an adaption of it to what is known as "Psychodynamic" psychotherapy. This tends to be briefer and relies on one or two visits to the therapist a week. Today? cognitive-behavioral therapy is regarded as more effective and briefer than most therapies. This modality is highly researched and has a strong scientific foundation. Other models of therapy include gestalt? narrative? constructivism? existential? Jungian? and so forth. Many theorists and researchers of psychotherapy believe that more significant than the type of therapy one enters is the strength of the relationship between client and therapist. There is research supporting the premise that certain common elements are present in all types of therapy and that these commonalities are more central to the client achieving a successful outcome than the type of therapy involved. Lastly? the majority of therapists practicing today tend to be eclectic? meaning that they tend to use techniques drawn from a variety of therapeutic models even though they may have a single coherent philosophy of therapy which guides their practice.

Analysis

Psychoanalysis is one method by which trained psychologists or psychotherapists attempt to get at the root cause(s) of a patient's current behavior or actions. This is usually done through a number of sessions in which the patient recalls specific memories of life-altering events -- a process known as free association. Practitioners of psychoanalysis hope to use this information along with other observations to formulate a possible course of treatment for certain mental illnesses or other self-limiting neuroses or irrational fears.

Before the eminent Austrian psychologist Dr. Sigmund Freud developed psychoanalysis in the late 19th century? there were many theories but little scientific knowledge about the inner workings of the human mind. People were believed to behave the way they did for numerous reasons: the will of the gods? demonic possession? inherent good or evil from birth? imbalance of 'humours' and so forth. Criminals who committed crimes against society or those who demonstrated bizarre behaviors were simply removed from society? with little hope for meaningful ...