Thread Response 2

According to our text in  Counseling and Psychotherapy, Tan explains that Adlerian therapy focuses on the individual’s freedom to choose and pursue life goals and purpose (2022). The role of the therapist in Adlerian therapy is to walk and coach the client through four phases to help them achieve their goals (Tan, 2022). The four therapeutic techniques and phases are “establishing a therapeutic relationship, conducting an assessment of the client’s dynamics, provide insight and interpretation, and facilitation re-education” (Tan, 2022). Adlerian therapy looks at the whole self, and sees the individual as an integrate, and interactive part of the healing process to achieve goals. Psychoanalytic therapy emphasizes Freuds three systems within the personality structure that function together as a whole and impacts the way an individual processes emotion (Tan, 2022). Freud believed that the Id represented the biological system, the Ego as psychological system, and the Superego as the social system (Tan, 2022). The role of the therapist in Psychoanalytic therapy is to act as a blank canvas, that helps to facilitate the development of an individual, by maintaining anonymity, with little to no self-disclosure (Tan, 2022). Psychoanalytic therapy utilizes the Id, Ego, and Superego to help clients understand how their attachment with parental figures as a child has impacted their biological, psychological and social systems into adulthood.

The differences within the two therapies are better displayed within practice. According to Hollenbaugh and Joyal’s article “Adlerian Play Therapy…” researchers explore how the integration of Adlerian play therapy positively impacts the mental health of youth (2024). Counselors who focus on helping the client gain insight (Phase 3), and re-educating (Phase 4) increases the client’s ability to be more aware of and manage their emotions and thoughts (Hollenbaugh & Joyal, 2024). In comparison, Olarte & Lenz’s article “Learning to do Psychoanalytic Therapy…” emphasizes inner city clients need to understand how their past experiences and hardships have shaped their present circumstance (2022). Though both therapies include a discovery of a self- awareness component, the difference between the two lies in the role the therapist. What strengthens the effectiveness of Adlerian Therapy is the counselor’s ability to guide and coach the client through the healing process. Whereas the Psychoanalytic approach, is more of a self-guided experience of the client, with the empathy and support of the counselor, as the client walks through the process to healing. A weakness of the Psychoanalytic approach to therapy is its focus on sexual and aggressive drives as major influences on human behavior (Tan, 2022). This Freudian belief denies the influence of other external factors, and systems that impact the life, and behavior of humans, that Adlerian Theory and therapy supports. Adlerian Therapy aligns more with Biblical Integration in comparison to Psychoanalytic Therapy. Adler’s focus on how the future goals motivates a person’s behavior, aligns with the Biblical text found in Philippians 3:14, where Paul emphasizes that we should press toward the goal to win the prize found in Christ Jesus (Tan, 2022) (King James Bible, 2022). When we focus on what is ahead, we are encouraged to continue. Though Freud’s viewpoint and focus on experience influence is not wrong, this perspective promotes more of a natural and flesh like thought process, which is the opposite of what God commands us. In Philippians 2:5, we are instructed to “Let this mind be in us, that is also in Christ Jesus”, which confirms that leaning and depending on our old thinking or experiences, influences us to depend on ourselves, and not on Jesus our savior (King James Bible, 2022). Adlerian Therapy balances the use self-reflection by encouraging the need to identify mistakes, while leaning on the social environment for accountability to enhance the healing journey (Tan, 2022). This theory promotes progression and includes the spiritual dimension as a part of life, which aligns with Biblical perspective of being Mind, Body, Soul (Tan, 2022).

Considering the cultural background of a client prior to integrating the therapy approach is pivotal. Every person has a different story, and background, and counselors should be culturally competent to the struggles, and hardships of a population. Having knowledge of their SES, Family health history, age, year of birth, schooling, etc. provides counselors insight on how these variables impact a person’s perspective of their experience and crisis. Olarte and Lenz’s article dives into the mental health need of Inner-City populations within crisis (2022). Researchers find that populations in crisis need the skills to develop language that “allows for verbal expressions of their emotional experiences” (Olarte & Lenz, 2022). The use of Psychoanalytic Therapy in this Inner-City environment is effective, because counselors are challenged to guide clients through the process to see how their upbringing (inner city, SES, Poverty) has impacted their families for generations. In this context and within the culture of this environment, the client’s ability to see how their setting impacts their mental health, and protective factors is key, in them learning how to articulate their experience.

Looking into the future use of both Psychoanalytic therapy and Adlerian therapy, I am interested to learn what resources, and programs counselors develop to better incorporate the strengths of both models, while aligning the principles to biblical standards. I wonder how counselors can integrate and utilize Psychoanalytic therapy methods as an entry (step 1), while incorporating Adlerian methods (step 2) to enhance the wellness/ healing  process with clients.

 

References

Hunnicutt Hollenbaugh, K. M., & Joyal, A. (2024). Adlerian Play Therapy and Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills: An Integrated Approach.  Journal of Creativity in Mental Health, 1–12.  https://doi.org/10.1080/15401383.2024.2404005Links to an external site.

King James Bible (2022). King James Bible Online. https://kingjamesbibleonline.org/Links to an external site. (Original work published 1611)

Tan, S. (2022). Counseling and Psychotherapy (2nd ed.). Baker Publishing Group.  https://mbsdirect.vitalsource.com/books/9781493435074Links to an external site.

Olarte, S. W., & Lenz, R. (2022). Learning to do Psychoanalytic Therapy With an Inner City Population.  Psychodynamic Psychiatry,  50(1), 77–85. https://doi.org/10.1521/pdps.2022.50.1.77