Borderline, Narcissistic and Avoidant Personality Disorders:
Psychoanalysis and Psychodynamic Therapy
Therapy in process...How to justify his reaction. He then reported that the
feeling had started the previous day when he had
been at a picnic with his fiancee and his best friend.
Although his fiancee and his friend had been
attentive to him) he felt uncomfortable.
Continuing the story:
He then recalled that during the picnic he
had experienced the following daydream.
"Jane his fiancée and Bob his
friend began to look at each other in a loving way.
They passed signals back and forth of getting rid of
me. They arranged to get together later that night. I
got the old feeling of being rejected-wanting to be
in but kept out and not wanted. They sneaked off at
night and necked and had sex. Then they told me
about it and I gave her up although I felt a deep loss
at the same time.' After having experienced this
fantasy) he had felt rejected by his fiancee even
though in reality she continued to be very affectionate
to him.
After recounting the fantasy in the therapeutic hour)
the patient had a stream of associations. I feel sad
and low) almost as though she actually was
unfaithful. Bob reminds me of competing with my
brother. I was always second fiddle to him. . . . I
never made it up to his level. I was always losing
out. . . . He was always better than me. Everybody
liked him more than me."
The patient was then able to view his unpleasant
reaction at the picnic as analogous to his early
pattern of expecting to be pushed to one side by his
brother. He visualized Bob's displacing him as his
brother had previously triumphed over him. It became
clear to him that his current reactions of jealousy and
vulnerability were not justified on the basis of the
reality situation. With this realization) his feelings of
estrangement from his fiancée disappeared.
-(Beck, 1970, pp. 6-7)
In the course of telling the therapist about a fantasy,
the client may acquire some insight into the relationship
between his or her early ....experiences and a
current tendency to distort reality insight, or understanding
of one's inner life, is a goal of most psychotherapies.
After months of talking about her husband as a
demanding overbearing man who was always
gloomy Rose Francis aged 50 remarked to her
therapist: You know I guess I really don't like
him. There was a tone of wonder and surprise in
her voice when she said this. After recognizing her
strong negative feelings toward her husband Mrs.
Francis found it possible to identify and sympathize
with some of her husband’s worries and concerns. She
became better able to see the world through his eyes.
Being able to say out loud You know, I guess I
really don't like him" made her more aware of just
that insight enabled her to see herself in relation to
her husband in a new way.
Whereas in principle the agenda of a psychoanalytic
session is determined by the free associations of the
patient, psychodynamically oriented psychotherapy usually
focuses on a fairly specific problem or group of
problems rather than on a general reshaping of the personality.
Many people seek clinical help because of
something that has happened to them. Stressful situations
often call for readjustments in an individual's life,
and the therapist helps by listening, supporting, and clarifying.
For the Treatment I recommend click this link:
http://theliberatormethod.com
feeling had started the previous day when he had
been at a picnic with his fiancee and his best friend.
Although his fiancee and his friend had been
attentive to him) he felt uncomfortable.
Continuing the story:
He then recalled that during the picnic he
had experienced the following daydream.
"Jane his fiancée and Bob his
friend began to look at each other in a loving way.
They passed signals back and forth of getting rid of
me. They arranged to get together later that night. I
got the old feeling of being rejected-wanting to be
in but kept out and not wanted. They sneaked off at
night and necked and had sex. Then they told me
about it and I gave her up although I felt a deep loss
at the same time.' After having experienced this
fantasy) he had felt rejected by his fiancee even
though in reality she continued to be very affectionate
to him.
After recounting the fantasy in the therapeutic hour)
the patient had a stream of associations. I feel sad
and low) almost as though she actually was
unfaithful. Bob reminds me of competing with my
brother. I was always second fiddle to him. . . . I
never made it up to his level. I was always losing
out. . . . He was always better than me. Everybody
liked him more than me."
The patient was then able to view his unpleasant
reaction at the picnic as analogous to his early
pattern of expecting to be pushed to one side by his
brother. He visualized Bob's displacing him as his
brother had previously triumphed over him. It became
clear to him that his current reactions of jealousy and
vulnerability were not justified on the basis of the
reality situation. With this realization) his feelings of
estrangement from his fiancée disappeared.
-(Beck, 1970, pp. 6-7)
In the course of telling the therapist about a fantasy,
the client may acquire some insight into the relationship
between his or her early ....experiences and a
current tendency to distort reality insight, or understanding
of one's inner life, is a goal of most psychotherapies.
After months of talking about her husband as a
demanding overbearing man who was always
gloomy Rose Francis aged 50 remarked to her
therapist: You know I guess I really don't like
him. There was a tone of wonder and surprise in
her voice when she said this. After recognizing her
strong negative feelings toward her husband Mrs.
Francis found it possible to identify and sympathize
with some of her husband’s worries and concerns. She
became better able to see the world through his eyes.
Being able to say out loud You know, I guess I
really don't like him" made her more aware of just
that insight enabled her to see herself in relation to
her husband in a new way.
Whereas in principle the agenda of a psychoanalytic
session is determined by the free associations of the
patient, psychodynamically oriented psychotherapy usually
focuses on a fairly specific problem or group of
problems rather than on a general reshaping of the personality.
Many people seek clinical help because of
something that has happened to them. Stressful situations
often call for readjustments in an individual's life,
and the therapist helps by listening, supporting, and clarifying.
For the Treatment I recommend click this link:
http://theliberatormethod.com