Form  A  -­‐  Peter  ‘Max’  Quinn  Critical  Evaluation  Format  CN528  Counseling  &  Development  Professor  Ciri  -­‐  October  3,  2011    Theory:  Psychoanalytic  Theory    -­‐  MOST  Important  concepts:  

§ View  of  Human  Nature  o Libido  -­‐  Energy  of  the  Sexual  &  Life  instincts  of  individuals  &  human  race  o Death  Instincts  -­‐  Account  for  the  aggressive  drive  

§ Structure  of  Personality  o Id-­‐  Primary  source  of  psychic  energy    -­‐  Seat  of  the  instincts  

§ Lacks  organization  and  is  blind,  demanding  and  insistent  § Pleasure  Principle-­‐  Reduce  Tension,  Avoid  Pain,  and  Gain  Pleasure  § Driven  to  satisfy  instinctual  needs  (immoral  &  amoral)  

o Ego-­‐  Governs,  controls,  and  regulates  the  personality  (traffic  cop)  -­‐Seat  of  the  intelligence  § Mediates  between  the  instincts  and  surrounding  environment    § Reality  Principle-­‐  Realistic  &  logical  thinking  § Formulates  plans  of  action  for  satisfying  needs  § Checks  and  controls  the  blind  impulses  of  the  Id  (rational  governing  body)  

o Superego-­‐  Judicial  Branch  of  Personality  -­‐  Moral  Code  § Determines  what  is  good,  bad,  right,  wrong  § Represents  the  ideal  rather  than  the  real  § Strives  not  for  pleasure  but  for  perfection  § Traditional  views  of  society  as  handed  down  from  parents  to  children  § Inhibits  the  Id  impulses,  to  persuade  the  Ego  to  substitute  moralistic  goals  for  realistic  ones  &  strives  for  

perfection  § Rewards  are  feelings  of  pride  and  self-­‐love  § Punishments  are  feelings  of  guilty  and  inferiority  

§ Consciousness  o Thin  slice  of  the  total  mind  

§ The  Unconsciousness  o Larger  part  of  the  mind  -­‐  Exists  below  the  surface  of  awareness  o Stores:  experiences,  memories,  and  repressed  material,  

  Needs  &  motivations  that  are  inaccessible  (out  of  the  awareness)  § Anxiety  

o A  feeling  of  dread  that  results  from  repressed  feelings,  memories,  desires,  and  experience  that  emerge  to  the  surface  of  awareness  

o Develops  out  of  conflict  among  the  Id,  Ego,  &  Superego    o ‘To  warn  of  impending  danger’  o Reality  Anxiety  -­‐  Fear  of  danger  from  the  external  world  

§ Level  of  anxiety  if  proportionate  to  the  degree  of  real  threat  § A  signal  to  the  Ego  that  appropriate  measures  must  be  taken  or  danger  may  increase  until  the  Ego  is  overthrown  

o Neurotic  Anxiety  -­‐  Fear  that  the  instincts  will  get  out  of  hand  and  cause  one  to  do  something  for  which  one  will  be  punished  o Moral  Anxiety  -­‐  Fear  of  one’s  own  conscience  

§ Ego-­‐Defense  Mechanisms  (pg.  64  -­‐  Table  4.1)  o Help  the  individual  cope  with  anxiety  o Prevent  Ego  from  being  overwhelmed  o Moral  behaviors  that  can  have  adaptive  value,  provided  they  do  not  become  a  style  of  life  that  enables  the  individual  to  

avoid  facing  reality  o Characteristics:  

§ Deny  or  Distort  Reality  § Operate  on  an  Unconscious  level  

§ Aim  of  the  Psychoanalytic  Theory  o Make  the  Unconscious  motives  Conscious  -­‐  Only  then  can  the  individual  exercise  choice  

Increase  awareness  -­‐  Foster  insights  into  the  student’s  behavior  -­‐  Understand  meanings  of  symptoms              

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Application:  Techniques  and  procedures  of  the  Psychoanalytic  Theory    -­‐Techniques  and  methods  of  the  Psychoanalytic  Theory  in  Student  Affairs  practice-­‐  

§ Students  Experience  Where  are  they  at  developmentally?    

§ Relationship  between  Professional  &  Student  § Remains  within  the  relationship,  comments  on  it,  and  offers  insight  producing  interpretations  § Hopes  to  have  an  impact  on  the  student  and  on  the  here-­‐and-­‐now  interactions  that  occur  

 § Free  Association  (without  the  couch)  

Allow  students  to  say  what  comes  to  their  mind  without  self-­‐censorship  § When  having  private  1:1  conversations  § Allow  for  experiences,  feelings,  associations,  memories,  and  fantasies  to  emerge  § (Carefully  monitor  facial  queue’s  as  no  couch  would  be  used)  

 § Interpretation  

Pointing  out,  explaining,  and  teaching  the  student  the  meanings  of  their  behavior  manifested  in  dreams,  free  association,  resistances,  and  the  professional-­‐student  relationship  

§ Assessment  of  the  students  personality    and  the  factors  in  the  students  past  the  contributed  to  heirs    difficulties  § Identifying,  clarifying,  and  translating  the  students  ‘material’  

 § Analysis  and  Interpretation  of  Resistance  

Anything  that  works  against  the  progress  of  growth  and  development  and  prevents  the  student  from  producing  previously  unconscious  material  

§ Resistance  is  the  students  reluctance  to  bring  to  the  surface  of  awareness  unconscious  material  that  has  been  repressed  § Any  idea,  attitude,  feeling,  or  action  (conscious  or  unconscious)  that  fosters  the  status  quo  and  gets  int  eh  way  of  change  

 § Analysis  and  Interpretation  of  Transference  

Students’  unconscious  shifting  to  the  analyst  of  feelings  and  fantasies  that  are  reactions  to  significant  others  in  the  students  past  (1:1  or  group  settings  (provided  the  environment  is  suitable))  

§ Unconscious  repletion  of  the  past  in  the  present  § Resurrection  of  early  conflicts  relating  to  love,  sexuality,  hostility,  anxiety,  and  resentment;  bring  into  the  present;  re-­‐

experience;  attach  them  to  analyst  § Angry  feelings  =  negative  transference  § Always  remain  aware  of  Countertransference  

o Key  avenue  for  helping  to  gain  self-­‐understanding  o Objectivity  -­‐  Do  not  react  defensively  and  subjectively  in  the  face  of  anger,  love,  adulation,  criticism,  and  

other  intense  feelings  of  students  § Allows  student  to  achieve  here-­‐and-­‐now  insight  onto  the  influence  of  the  past  on  their  present  functioning  § Aimed  to  increase  awareness  and  personality  change  

 § Supportive  Interventions  

§ Reassurance,  expressions  of  empathy  and  support,  and  suggestions    o (More  self-­‐disclosure  of  professional)  

 § Application  to  Group  Counseling  

Understand  the  history  of  the  group  (Greek  Life,  Student  Clubs  or  Teams,  etc…)  and  a  way  of  thinking  about  how  their  past  is  affecting  them  now  in  the  group  

§ Remain  aware  of  own  individual  bias      -­‐Psychoanalytic  theory  from  a  diversity  perspective  -­‐  

§ Emphasis  on  critical  issues  in  stages  of  development  § Review  environmental  situations  at  various  critical  turning  points  in  students  lives  to  determine  how  much  certain  vents  have  

affected  them  either  positively  or  negatively    § Recognize  and  confront  own  potential  sources  of  bias  &  how  countertransference  could  be  unintentionally  

 -­‐Evaluation  of  the  approach  to  use  Psychoanalytic  Theory  in  Student  Affairs  practice  -­‐  Psychoanalytic  theory  can  only  be  used  to  a  certain  extent  within  the  realm  of  Student  Affairs.  Practitioners  do  counsel  students,  but  rarely  could  they  include  many  of  the  key  characteristics  of  this  theory.  The  couch  in  free  association,  and  the  inability,  and  unwillingness,  to  be  anonymous  seems  to  be  the  major  outliers.  Psychoanalytic  theory  has  many  useful  tools  for  student  affairs  educators,  such  and  its  supportive  interventions  and  analysis  of  the  transference.  Countertransference  plays  a  unique  role,  and  truly  provides  insight  into  self-­‐understanding  for  both  the  professional  and  the  students  they  encounter.    

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-­‐Significant  contributions  Psychoanalytic  Theory  to  Student  Affairs  -­‐  § The  use  of  methods,  in  collaboration,  to  bring  out  the  unconscious  material  that  can  be  worked  through  § Induce  the  capacity  to  move  toward  wholeness  and  self-­‐realizations  -­‐  AKA  the  Whole-­‐Student  § To  help  students  become  what  they  are  capable  of  becoming  § Helping  students  to  explore  the  unconscious  aspects  of  their  personality  (Both  the  personal  and  collective  unconscious)  § Help  students  tap  into  their  inner  wisdom  § Transformation  of  personality  § Emphasize  the  striving  of  the  Ego  (of  the  student)  for  mastery  and  competence  throughout  life  § Understanding  of  how  current  behavior  is  largely  a  repetition  of  patterns  set  during  one  of  the  early  stages  of  development  § Provides  a  framework  when  working  with  symptoms  of:  separation,  individualization,  intimacy,  dependence  vs.  interdependence,  

and  identity    -­‐Limitations  of  Psychoanalytic  Theory  in  Student  Affairs  practice  -­‐  

§ Availability  of  time  to  ‘counsel’  each  student  -­‐  Periods  of  long  interactions  may  be  limited  o Especially  with  free  association  (lack  of  a  couch),  dream  analysis,  and  extensive  analysis  of  the  transference  

§ Students  may  lack  ‘Ego  strength’  § “Anonymous  Role”  is  not  assumed  

o Blanked-­‐screen  aloofness  can  be  hard  to  maintain  § Professionalism  is  enacted,  but  not  anonymous  

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