The Application of Psychodynamic Theories Based on the Frances Ashe Case Study
Peryn Fenlon
1.
The purpose of this essay is to identify some of the key concepts and provide an understanding of psychodynamic theory and its application. This will be done in relation to a case study and role play carried out on Frances Ashe, a middle aged woman who has been in therapy for five years. The key concepts of psychodynamic theory which will be explored further include stages of development, ego defences and past and present links.
Psychodynamic refers to the inner drives and conflicts of the mind. Psychodynamic counselling is derived from psychoanalytic traditions which originate from the work of Sigmund Freud (1856-1936) and later Klein (1882-1960), Winnicott (1896-1971), Bowlby (1907-1990) and others, and it works by identifying the links between the present and the past. Freud believed that talking was an effective way of helping patients to locate the causes of their problems. This belief in the value of the ‘talking cure’ became central to psychoanalysis and to all theoretical models which derive from it and became known as ‘free association.’ Although psychodynamic counselling aims at resolution of personal difficulties, it also values the client’s development of insight and ongoing reflection on their personal dynamics. Freud noted that during the ‘free association’ periods that many of his clients remembered unpleasant sexual experiences in childhood and by talking about the experiences they found it to be therapeutic. Freud’s finding’s led him to believe that the sexual
Peryn Fenlon
2.
energy, or libido, of the child develops and matures through a series of biologically focused stages of development.
During the first 18 months of life the baby experiences the ‘oral’ stage of with an almost erotic pleasure from the mouth, for example, sucking, biting and swallowing. From around the ages of 18 months - 3 years children reach the ‘anal’ stage of development whereby they get pleasure from defecating and micturating. Freud
1.
The purpose of this essay is to identify some of the key concepts and provide an understanding of psychodynamic theory and its application. This will be done in relation to a case study and role play carried out on Frances Ashe, a middle aged woman who has been in therapy for five years. The key concepts of psychodynamic theory which will be explored further include stages of development, ego defences and past and present links.
Psychodynamic refers to the inner drives and conflicts of the mind. Psychodynamic counselling is derived from psychoanalytic traditions which originate from the work of Sigmund Freud (1856-1936) and later Klein (1882-1960), Winnicott (1896-1971), Bowlby (1907-1990) and others, and it works by identifying the links between the present and the past. Freud believed that talking was an effective way of helping patients to locate the causes of their problems. This belief in the value of the ‘talking cure’ became central to psychoanalysis and to all theoretical models which derive from it and became known as ‘free association.’ Although psychodynamic counselling aims at resolution of personal difficulties, it also values the client’s development of insight and ongoing reflection on their personal dynamics. Freud noted that during the ‘free association’ periods that many of his clients remembered unpleasant sexual experiences in childhood and by talking about the experiences they found it to be therapeutic. Freud’s finding’s led him to believe that the sexual
Peryn Fenlon
2.
energy, or libido, of the child develops and matures through a series of biologically focused stages of development.
During the first 18 months of life the baby experiences the ‘oral’ stage of with an almost erotic pleasure from the mouth, for example, sucking, biting and swallowing. From around the ages of 18 months - 3 years children reach the ‘anal’ stage of development whereby they get pleasure from defecating and micturating. Freud