Narcissistic: Psychoanalysis & Psychotherapy
The principles and mechanisms that operate
in psychoanalysis are believed
also to play a role in psychotherapy.
One of the most important of these
is the relationship between the
person seeking help and the helper.
Freud noticed that his patients' attitudes toward
him changed as their analysis proceeded. He also noticed
that his own attitudes toward his patients changed.
As the relationship between patient and therapist develops,
it comes to involve feelings and patterns of behavior
that originally were experienced earlier in life, often
in relation to significant figures of one's childhood. For
example, during psychotherapy feelings toward one's
father be transferred to the therapist,
A key aspect of psychoanalysis is the use of this
transference as a vehicle for resolving interpersonal
conflicts and revealing the meaning of anxiety. In positive
transference, the patient feels predominantly
friendly and affectionate toward the analyst. However,
in negative transference hostility predominates. Counter-transference
refers to the therapist's emotional reactions
to his or her patients. Psychoanalysts must be
analyzed themselves because of the belief that their self insight
will reduce the occurrence of counter-transference
reactions.''
The case of Bill Jenkins, a 40-year-old construction
supervisor who sought psychotherapy because of the increasing
number of arguments he was having with his
wife, provides an example of transference.
During the first twenty sessions he described in detail
to the therapist frustrations connected with his
marital and work situations. In these sessions he
never referred to any thoughts he might have had
about the therapist. In the twenty-first session
Jenkins noticed a small crack in one of the walls of
the therapist’s office. He said to the therapist: "It
looks like the construction company that put up that
wall didn’t do a very good job." After several
uncomfortable pauses he went on "You know, Doc I
feel embarrassed saying this but some how I keep
feeling sorry for you, feeling like in a way you’ve
been a loser...Like that lousy construction job
over those construction guys are
pretty smart fellows who don't mind taking
advantage of innocent people.
The characteristic Jenkins was attributing to the
therapist (being a loser) could not have been based on
facts available to him because Jenkins knew little
about the therapists background. What he said was
the first outward expression of his developing
relationship with and fantasies concerning the
therapist. In subsequent sessions Jenkins himself
observed the similarity between his pictures of the
therapist and his father who was an alcoholic and a
"loser." At one point he said, "It doesn't make sense,
does it for me to see you as being like my father?
In asking that question, Jenkins showed insight
and came close to making an interpretation of his behavior
toward the therapist seeing him as a loser like
his father. Interpretations of behavior that arise during
psychotherapy sessions may be made by either the therapist
or the client.
Many people go into psychotherapy
expecting to be told what is wrong with them and what
to do about it, but psychotherapists usually limit their
intervention to making interpretations. Actually, most
therapists prefer that clients evolve their own interpretations
and achieve self-understanding with the help of
the therapist. But many therapists will offer interpretations
when they seem especially appropriate and the
client seems unable to make or express them. Through
these interpretations, therapists seek to expose areas of
conflict, portions of which have been unconscious, and
to help the client understand past psychological events.
During therapy, individuals may be confronted with an
interpretation that they have an interest in not acknowledging.
They may become irritated with the person who
has confronted them, and in an effort to protect themselves
they may try to think of more acceptable, but incorrect,
explanations for their behavior.
Psychoanalytic treatment is helping the client place his or her
motivations in perspective and redirect their influence
on everyday life.
For the Treatment I recommend click this link:
http://theliberatormethod.com
in psychoanalysis are believed
also to play a role in psychotherapy.
One of the most important of these
is the relationship between the
person seeking help and the helper.
Freud noticed that his patients' attitudes toward
him changed as their analysis proceeded. He also noticed
that his own attitudes toward his patients changed.
As the relationship between patient and therapist develops,
it comes to involve feelings and patterns of behavior
that originally were experienced earlier in life, often
in relation to significant figures of one's childhood. For
example, during psychotherapy feelings toward one's
father be transferred to the therapist,
A key aspect of psychoanalysis is the use of this
transference as a vehicle for resolving interpersonal
conflicts and revealing the meaning of anxiety. In positive
transference, the patient feels predominantly
friendly and affectionate toward the analyst. However,
in negative transference hostility predominates. Counter-transference
refers to the therapist's emotional reactions
to his or her patients. Psychoanalysts must be
analyzed themselves because of the belief that their self insight
will reduce the occurrence of counter-transference
reactions.''
The case of Bill Jenkins, a 40-year-old construction
supervisor who sought psychotherapy because of the increasing
number of arguments he was having with his
wife, provides an example of transference.
During the first twenty sessions he described in detail
to the therapist frustrations connected with his
marital and work situations. In these sessions he
never referred to any thoughts he might have had
about the therapist. In the twenty-first session
Jenkins noticed a small crack in one of the walls of
the therapist’s office. He said to the therapist: "It
looks like the construction company that put up that
wall didn’t do a very good job." After several
uncomfortable pauses he went on "You know, Doc I
feel embarrassed saying this but some how I keep
feeling sorry for you, feeling like in a way you’ve
been a loser...Like that lousy construction job
over those construction guys are
pretty smart fellows who don't mind taking
advantage of innocent people.
The characteristic Jenkins was attributing to the
therapist (being a loser) could not have been based on
facts available to him because Jenkins knew little
about the therapists background. What he said was
the first outward expression of his developing
relationship with and fantasies concerning the
therapist. In subsequent sessions Jenkins himself
observed the similarity between his pictures of the
therapist and his father who was an alcoholic and a
"loser." At one point he said, "It doesn't make sense,
does it for me to see you as being like my father?
In asking that question, Jenkins showed insight
and came close to making an interpretation of his behavior
toward the therapist seeing him as a loser like
his father. Interpretations of behavior that arise during
psychotherapy sessions may be made by either the therapist
or the client.
Many people go into psychotherapy
expecting to be told what is wrong with them and what
to do about it, but psychotherapists usually limit their
intervention to making interpretations. Actually, most
therapists prefer that clients evolve their own interpretations
and achieve self-understanding with the help of
the therapist. But many therapists will offer interpretations
when they seem especially appropriate and the
client seems unable to make or express them. Through
these interpretations, therapists seek to expose areas of
conflict, portions of which have been unconscious, and
to help the client understand past psychological events.
During therapy, individuals may be confronted with an
interpretation that they have an interest in not acknowledging.
They may become irritated with the person who
has confronted them, and in an effort to protect themselves
they may try to think of more acceptable, but incorrect,
explanations for their behavior.
Psychoanalytic treatment is helping the client place his or her
motivations in perspective and redirect their influence
on everyday life.
For the Treatment I recommend click this link:
http://theliberatormethod.com