COUC 601 LIBERTY UNIVERSITY Family Counseling Approach Research Paper_ASSIGNMENT_2023.pdf

Institute of Psychoanalysis, n.d.). Freud is known for the “Theory of the mind, Theory of self,

Psychosexual stages” (Sigmund Freud | Institute of Psychoanalysis, n.d.). The stages connected

to his psychosexual are the oral stage which is observed in the first year of an infant’s life. The

anal stage during the toddler’s two-three years stage of life, the Phallic state 3-5 years, the latent

stage 6-11 years, and the final stage is referred to as the genital stage, from adolescence and into

adulthood and beyond.

There are strengths and weakness to Freud’s theory a weakness is that his theories are

unreliable due to lack of scientific research. He and other researchers have not been able to

accuracy keep up with any test subjects to determine the outcomes for how one’s parenting skills

have affected their personality. There may be other variable in relation to human development.

Basic Assumptions and Key Philosophy

Psychoanalytic and psychodynamic models in family therapy is developed through cognitive

behavioral therapy, emotional regulation, talk therapy, and solution focused therapy. According

to Busch et al. (2009) “The efficacy of psychoanalytic and psychodynamic therapies has been

very limited. There have been randomized controlled trials of reliably” (p.131). There are

specific studies being done through research such as “The panic focused” (Busch et al. 2009 p.

therapist who were Ph.D., psychologist or M.D.s after psychiatric residency” (Busch et al. 2009

p. 132). This was an open clinical trial and was not an efficacy study due to there was not

comparison condition and was designed to determine if the research study through the

psychoanalytic model would be successful.

Another assumption is that the neurobiological is affected by a psychoanalytic theory.

This assumption was made by a researcher who found that babies are not born as “blank slates”

they are born with needs that they are able to express through their mean of communication. Dr.

Mark Leonard Solms writes that “Psychoanalysis rest upon three core claims about the emotional

mind that were once considered controversial and are now widely accepted” (Solms, 2018). This

author addressed three questions in relation to psychoanalysis. First, he addressed how the

Key Concepts

their behavior. There are several ways that a therapist can conduct psychodynamic therapy.

According to Shedler (2010) “Short-term psychodynamic therapies can contribute to the

armamentarium of treatments for substance abuse disorders. Brief psychodynamic therapies

probable have the best chance to be effective when they are integrated into a relatively

comprehensive substance abuse treatment program” (p. 65). Psychodynamic therapy is one of the

oldest forms of therapy. This therapy is based on a multifaceted therapy human development and

originated in and is informed by psychoanalytic theory” (p. 65). This author goes on to say that

“there are four schools of psychoanalytic therapy” (p. 65). These schools consist of: “Freudian

psychology, Ego Psychology, Object relations psychology, and Self- Psychology” (2010, p. 67).

These schools have their own hidden theories of human personality, psychopathology formation

approaches that incorporate techniques for therapy.

Techniques

Cognitive-behavioral therapy is a major technique that is used in psychodynamic

therapies used within the family counseling sessions. According to Stiles et al. (2008),

“Psychotherapy’s equivalence paradox is that treatments tend to have equivalently positive

outcomes despite non-equivalence paradox is that treatments tend to have equivalently positive

being mindful of their thoughts, triggers to the thoughts, and retracing steps within their minds to

determine what brought about a particular thought. It is best for the client to write down patterns

connected to triggering thoughts. Such as thoughts that are triggered by the five senses; sight,

sound, smell, touch, and auditory sounds. A second stage would be for the therapist to help the

clients understand their behaviors which are connected to their thoughts. Through

psychodynamic therapy a client can learn new behaviors by changing their thoughts. When one

models. One new one that I have learned while writing this paper is that of “Narrative Therapy”

Which focuses on helping clients find their value and the gifts that are within them. Also, another

focus is human action through the lens of a story. According to Wallis et al. (2011), “narrative

approaches build a structure so that human life can see as storied and narrative as the organizing

principle for human action” (pg. 487). This therapy helps clients confront their problems by

learning coping skills to deal with their current situation. This is where the term clients are the

experts of themselves. It is through this type of therapy a therapist can allow the client to tell

their story out loud. When a person hears themselves talk out a problem, they are able to find the

solution to what they are struggling with. As a family therapist narrative therapy would work

well with a therapist who is well trained in this area. This therapy would allow the members to

Part II Personal Integration

father moved into an apartment and I was sent to live with him. He would leave me home alone

while he worked an overnight shift. I would stay up crying and screaming because I was scared

and the apartment was dark. I also thought that the Vampire from Dark Shadows soap opera was

going to come and get me. My grandmother would watch that during the day once she realized I

was having anxiety she stopped watching at least while I was there.