Pathways to psychoanalytic cure
Article Abstract:
''How Does Treatment Help? On the Modes of Therapeutic Action of Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy'' (1988), edited by Arnold Rothstein, attempts to define the curative factors in psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic psychotherapy. The role of insight and whether or not therapeutic modalities should differ for different types of patients are discussed in length. Psychoanalysis, psychoanalytic psychotherapy and supportive treatment are compared and contrasted. The contributing authors are all respected psychoanalysts. Their collective theoretical contributions lead to four general conclusions. The first is that among the sicker patients (e.g., those with borderline and narcissistic disorders), a feeling of being understood is considered to be more of a curative factor than insight or insight-oriented interpretations. In contrast, among healthier patients, insight into unconscious motivations is considered to be the primary curative factor. The second conclusion is that Freudian analysts still believe that insight is the primary curative tool for all types of patients, while relational-oriented analysts place more emphasis on the therapeutic alliance between analyst and patient. The third conclusion is that analysts who stress insight still tend to believe that the Oedipal conflict is the core issue of analysis, while relational-oriented analysts tend to focus on pre-Oedipal issues. Finally, the conclusion is reached that the real differences between psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic psychotherapy are minimal, since both disciplines rely on insight-oriented interpretations related to transference and resistance. In sum, the book provides a sampling of ways in which some current psychoanalysts perceive the nature of therapeutic change. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)
Publication Name: Contemporary Psychology
Subject: Psychology and mental health
ISSN: 0010-7549
Year: 1990
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Not quite what is promised
Article Abstract:
''Development and Psychopathology: Studies in Psychoanalytic Psychiatry'' by Clifford Yorke, Stanley Wiseberg and Thomas Freeman (1989) offers a thorough account of psychoanalysis based on Freud's structural model of the mind and later theoretical modifications influenced by Anna Freud's emphasis on developmental processes. Although Anna Freud's theories are not backed by scientific evidence, a clear summary of the interactions between drive theory (which assumes instinctual forces motivate behavior) and psychopathology is presented. In particular, there is a great deal of discussion of borderline and narcissistic character disorders. Object relation theory (which concerns the real and fantasized representation of people in the inner world of the self and how this influences the way people relate to the world) is also described in terms of its usefulness in treating some character-disordered patients. A comprehensive discussion of various theoretical formulations in regard to psychotic disorders is also included, and clinical examples are provided. Throughout, the major focus of the book is geared toward presenting psychoanalysis as a model of the mind rather than as a therapeutic technique. Overall, this work should prove to be instructive for adherents to the drive model of psychoanalysis, and interesting reading for informed advocates of other analytic models. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)
Publication Name: Contemporary Psychology
Subject: Psychology and mental health
ISSN: 0010-7549
Year: 1990
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The Rorschach: toward a nomothetically based, idiographically applicable configurational model
Article Abstract:
The Rorschach is useful for some applications and less useful for others.The test can be used in a nomothetic framework which can permit quantitative comparisons. It is useful in assessing the type of psychotherapy that a patient needs. Self-report measures are appropriate when the aim to is assess behavioral and consciously available aspects of functioning. The Rorschach is a depth-oriented measure which is appropriate when structural, longitudinal and unconscious dimensions are being assessed. It is necessary to use heteromethod assessment in order to gain a broad picture of functioning.
Publication Name: Psychological Assessment
Subject: Psychology and mental health
ISSN: 1040-3590
Year: 1999
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