{"id":1316,"date":"2022-09-22T12:31:45","date_gmt":"2022-09-22T10:31:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metkazalaznikfurlani.si\/experts-corner\/"},"modified":"2023-02-08T14:20:18","modified_gmt":"2023-02-08T13:20:18","slug":"experts-corner","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/metkazalaznikfurlani.si\/en\/experts-corner\/","title":{"rendered":"Expert’s corner"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\tThe synonyms originate from the psychoanalytic theory developed by Sigmund Freud and Josef Breuer in the 19th century. <\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
In some parts of the world psychodynamic and psychoanalytic psychotherapy are considered synonymous, since both have their roots in the psychoanalytic theory developed by Sigmund Freud and Josef Breuer in the 19th century. In Slovenia, psychoanalytic psychotherapy has often been considered to be synonymous with psychoanalysis. <\/p>\n
The key theoretical framework for understanding personality in psychoanalytic theory<\/strong> is Freud\u2019s structural model. The structural model<\/strong> is concerned with the three systems of an individual\u2019s personality \u2013 the id, the ego and the superego<\/strong>, which typically undergo five developmental stages \u2013 oral, anal, phallic, latent and genital<\/strong>. This model is based on Freud\u2019s motivation theory<\/strong>, according to which the personality is determined by our drives, especially libido<\/strong> and aggression<\/strong>. Both can be viewed as forms of psychological energy and represent a quasi-physiological entity or link between the physical and the psychological (Praper, 1999). This dual-drive theory forms the core of the motivational and psychodynamic theory of personality, and is the first of four paradigms central to the understanding of personality in psychodynamic and psychoanalytic psychotherapy. (Motivational and psychodynamic theory is just one of the major theories of personality: others include structural, functional, biological, behavioural, social, humanistic and cognitive.) The dual-drive theory also underlies the second important theory, Heinz Hartmann’s ego psychology<\/strong>, which emerged in 1962 and extended Freud\u2019s structural theory by shifting the focus from the id to the ego. Unlike Freud, Hartmann argued that the ego develops autonomously, independently of conflict. The third important theory is object relations theory<\/strong>, which claims that our early childhood experiences with significant others have a decisive influence on all our subsequent relationships. According to this, all our mental structures bear the imprint of our early object experiences (Kernberg in Woller and Kruse, 2005). The fourth important paradigm is self psychology<\/strong>, founded by Heinz Kohut<\/strong> in 1979. This theory developed the concept of the self-object function, which claims that the way we experience the self is invariably co-determined by how we experience the responsiveness of the other towards us (Kotnik, 2003). Contemporary psychoanalytic theory was also greatly influenced by infant and toddler observation<\/strong> (Stern, Lichtenberg, Dornes), attachment theory (Peter Fonagy,<\/strong> 1960; John Bowlby<\/strong>, 1969) and neurobiological research<\/strong>. Infant and toddler observation is primarily concerned with the discovery of the importance of the mutual emotional attunement between mother and child, which has an important impact on the child\u2019s emotional development. Attachment theory and neurobiological research have presented related findings. Attachment theory argues that the child begins to form inner models of attachment in their relationships with relational figures in the preverbal stage of development; that these internal models affect all their later relationships (Bowlby, 1969); and that safe attachment in childhood is a prerequisite for healthy personality development (Fonagy, 2004). Meanwhile, neurobiological research has confirmed that early mother-child interactions have a profound influence on the regulatory processes in the brain, especially the regulation of emotion (Woeller and Kruse, 2005). Hans Krens (1995) also merits a mention here. He located the conditions for healthy personality development in the prenatal period<\/strong>, contending that child development begins at conception and that traumatic experiences in the womb have an important influence on personality development after birth. <\/p>\n However, even though in many countries the psychoanalytic and psychodynamic approaches are considered synonymous, in Slovenia they differ significantly<\/strong>. Unlike the psychoanalytic approach, the psychodynamic approach also uses touch or other forms of body work (with or without touch)<\/strong>. Conventional psychoanalysis rejects the touch aspect, unlike contemporary psychoanalysis, if I may call it that, which permits or even encourages it in some cases. Depending on the nature and extent of the client\u2019s issues, I may combine psychoanalytic work (with the client either lying down or sitting) with body work (either with or without touch)<\/strong>. In cases of neurotic personality organisation<\/strong>, in which the identity is clear, the defence mechanisms more mature and the degree of reality control high (to draw on Kernberg\u2019s classification), the client should lie down where they cannot see the psychotherapist. Touch may still be helpful in such cases but is not essential, since the repressed content is more accessible to the conscious mind when the client is lying down. However, psychotic clients<\/strong>, or clients with borderline personality disorder<\/strong>, should sit somewhere they can have eye contact with the therapist. This gives them a greater sense of control, which in turn reduces the risk of regression, which can result in a psychotic state. The focus here is on grounding and stabilisation. In major ego deficits, lying down may lead to malignant regression. Touch can be essential for such patients, however, or those with trauma, as it may be their first ever experience of this kind of contact, i.e. touch based on safety and trust; emotional touch. Sometimes this may require many hours of purely analytic work. <\/p>\n For some clients, the therapeutic effect is enhanced when the two approaches are combined <\/strong>. Again, it all depends on the individual, their ego deficits, when the disorder arose, and the client-therapist relationship. <\/p>\n You can find out more about body-oriented psychodynamic psychotherapy in \u201cBody and Touch in Psychodynamic Psychotherapy<\/a>\u201d (Slovenian only).<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t