Essay about Assignment: Psychology and Psychodynamic...

Observation of Theory Applied to Practice
Case Western Reserve University
Ronald W. Barker
1/17/2015
Identifying Data/Reason for Referral
Client is a male in his 30’s who is experiencing problems with his occupational supervisor. He reports experiencing feelings of anxiety and depression. The client reports these cognitive issues have manifested themselves into somatic complications.
Two Approaches
During the next two sessions the therapists offer varying difference of approaches, the Psychodynamic and Cognitive Behavioral Approach. The Psychodynamic Approach focuses on the unconscious processes as it is manifested in an individual’s present behavior. The goal of psychodynamic is to enhance the client’s self-awareness with an understanding of the effect of the past on present behavior (http://psychcentral.com/lib/psychodynamic-therapy/000119).
The Cognitive Behavioral Approach focus on the present; unlike the Psychodynamic Approach the Cognitive Behavioral Approach does not concerned about what the individuals unconscious may or may not be storing. This approach focuses on “getting right to the point” and taking action to resolve behavior that is disrupting the individual’s daily life. The videos we had to analysis highlight the important aspects of the differences of these two theories and how each best practice can benefit the client in resolving his issues.
Psychodynamic Approach Dr. Cooper’s goal for treatment is to reveal the client’s childhood conflict. The client stated his childhood “shaped” his adult behavior. The psychologist does this by encouraging the client to utilize free association. During free association the client “talks of whatever comes into their mind. This technique involves a therapist reading a list of words (e.g. mother, childhood etc.) and the patient immediately responds with the first word that comes to mind. It is hoped that fragments of repressed memories will emerge in the course of free association” (McLeod, 2007). Along with free association Dr. Cooper uses multiple best practice techniques within the realm of the psychodynamic approach to allow the client to gain insight into his present behavior from unresolved past experiences. The client presents due to present concerns with his occupational supervisor. Dr. Cooper redirects the client to focus on past experiences. This technique led the client to reveal secondhand childhood trauma when he was pre-adolescent. Dr. Cooper began to ask questions to gain information about the events surrounding the trauma. . By doing this the clinician is using reflection of the childhood trauma to expose the feelings associated with it and to determine if these feelings have manifested themselves into the present situation. Dr. Cooper will then be able to work within the therapeutic relationship to gain insight and develop intervention techniques to curtail any emotional turmoil that has not been treated in the past to decrease the emotions in the present. The clinician then focused on the client’s defenses. This led the client to talk about how he learned how his brother had passed away, from his father a day after. He heard his father inform his emotional mother that crying would not help the situation. This led the client to talk about how he would bottle his emotions up instead of addressing his concerns. The clinician was able to aid the client in pointing out how this maladaptive behavior is associated in the present. With the aid of Dr. Cooper the client was able to reflect on how his feelings of disappointment from his childhood interaction with his parents interact with him expressing his emotions toward his employer with low defensiveness.

Cognitive Behavior Approach
As stated previously the Psychodynamic Approach searches for answers to problems subconsciously by focusing on the client’s past. The Cognitive Behavior Approach searches for answers to the client’s problems within the individual’s automatic

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