Introduction to the Psycho Dynamic Approach :- Personality, Defences and Transference

Counselling Theory and Practice:- PSYCHODYNAMIC APPROACHES TO HELPING

INTRODUCTION TO THE PSYCHODYNAMIC APPROACH PERSONALITY

AND THE ‘AS IF’ RELATIONSHIP

INTRODUCTION Psychodynamic has its meaning in the root word ‘ Psyche’ - a person’s unconscious part. In a less secular world its real meaning is ‘ soul .There are many branches of the Psychodynamic Approach but all are rooted in the work began by Freud. There are many branches of Psychodynamic Counselling but four are very significant, Freudian , Jungian , Adlerian and Kleinian , the latter of these gives rise to Object Relations Therapy. Although modern psychology, and particularly the concept of personality types and traits, lays less emphasis on the psychodynamic approach, all other approaches take this as a starting point and either challenge the psychodynamic Approach or use it as a staring point in the development of personality. All psychodynamic approaches share some basic concepts and ideas. The most important of these are as follows : *

The assumption that experiences in childhood affect us in life.

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People ‘ put things off ‘ and unconsciously suppress things until they have the time and that we all have psychological defences.

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Other ideas can be found in the literature concerning Psychodynamic Theory

This brief note will attempt to sketch out some of these ideas and how they affect /influence the development of personality and then explore two important concepts used by this approach in this approach in therapy. But first let us explore the concept of the conscious and particularly Freud’s model.

Heartsease Training, Shifnal Shropshire

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© 2010 - Peter Creagh, Trainer, Supervisor and BACP Registered Counsellor UKRC

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The Concept of the Conscious Freud outlined the following ideas on our conscious/ unconscious being CONSCIOUS deals with Inner Excitations and External World PRE - CONSCIOUS we can readily move between this and consciousness

Repression

SUB - CONSCIOUS /UNCONSCIOUS Repressed and difficult to bring into the consciousness. Dreams can interpret sub-conscious. This is particularly true of the Jungian Approach

Freud then outlined a schematic diagram which dealt with the inner workings of the simple model above. This led to concepts such as ID - EGO and SUPER EGO and the Dynamic balance required between all three. This is often referred to as the structure of mental processes. Carl Jung’s approach and model is much more complex and allows or posits the idea of a collective nature to the unconscious. In addition most modern Personality Typologies/Indicators ( e.g. Myers Briggs or Keirsey) are influenced and rooted in Jungian Psychology and its approach to personality. This allows for ‘indicators’ like Extraversion/Introversion; Intuition/Sensing; Thinking/Feeling and Perception/Judging. Melanie Klein posits the idea of ‘Objects’ which are repressed into our deep ‘psyche’ and preserved ( like a giant psychological freezer). These objects affect all our relating, both intra and inter-personal , throughout our life and heavily influence our personality. This has led to a ‘school’ based on Object Relations Theory. Let us return the concept of the Dynamic Balance between the Ego-Super Ego and the Id.




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The Structure of Mental Processes and its Three Components or Agents ID

The ‘ it’ or Child.

The Id is like a child, dominated by the pleasure principle. It is our reservoir of primitive instincts, impulses and urges, Freud suggested that it was dominated by two core drive : Love Life Sex

V V V

Hate Death Aggression

The ID is irrational and demanding ‘ It wasn’t me ‘ ‘It just happened’ etc.

‘ It seemed to overpower me ‘

EGO The I This is our ADULT part . It is rational and operates in the CONSCIOUS part of our self. It makes decisions based on reality and has the task of filtering and testing demands and messages from the ID and SUPER EGO. It has an overall balancing task to perform. I don’t know what to do ‘ SUPER _ EGO

I need to think’

Over/Above I

This is the PARENT, the conscience, where rules, taboos, shoulds, should not’s, oughts and ought not’s rule. These are stored away for reference. The attitudes we store away are mainly internalised from parents or other significant adult figures. Both the ID and Super-Ego are mainly rooted in the sub-conscious/ Unconscious . The role of the EGO is to try to balance the (often) conflicting demands of the ID and SUPER EGO




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The following diagram attempts to show the function of the Ego and its task of balancing.

EGO

ID Seeks satisfaction Follows pleasure principle Difficult to know right from wrong Extremes - leads to Psychopath

Balance Develops to manage tension between ID ( Child) and Super-Ego ( Parent) Follows Reality Principle

SUPER - EGO Internalised version of Parent ( particularly same sex) Moral Influence Guilt and Anxiety can rule Constrains the ID You can’t, should, etc. Extremes lead to Neurosis

The battle caused by the ID and Super-Ego is managed by the Ego. Now and then it gets out of control and people require support. The Ego constrains the ‘ raw’ ID and prevents its access to the conscious. It erects barriers and the ID is forced to find other routes. This re-routing tends to force the Id to find more acceptable ways of behaviour/reaction. This is often referred to as Ego Defences ( more on this later) Psychic energy is spread between the three (3) agencies ( ID - EGO - Super -Ego ) which may bring stages of either HARMONY or CONFLICT. Thus the conflict this arouses can cause anxiety and fears and it certainly heavily influences our Personality. Psychodynamic Theory suggests that there are particular stages when these conflicts can become acute. These are often referred to as Life Stages and each stage has a particular task or focus. One of the main proponents of this is Erikson and his concept of the 8 Stages of Life.




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ERIKSON’s STAGES OF LIFE Klenian psychology also stipulates that the effects of both early childhood and later stages has a bearing on the development of the EGO or SELF. Erikson developed this further and laid down an 8-Stage approach. Further reading ( particularly form Jacobs (1998) is recommended for those interested in developing their knowledge and understanding in this area. But many psychodynamic ‘experts’ contend that the early stages of Erikson’s model do influence the development of personality .

Erikson’s Theory of Psychosocial Development Stage

Conflict Faced

Typical Age Range

Major Challenge(s)

1

Trust vs. mistrust

First year of life

Having basic needs met, attaching to people

2

Autonomy vs. shame and doubt

1–3 years

Gaining independence

3

Initiative vs. guilt

3–6 years

Acting in a socially responsible way

4

Industry vs. inferiority

6–12 years

Competing with peers, preparing for adult roles

5

Identity vs. role confusion

Adolescence

Determining one’s identity

6

Intimacy vs. isolation

Early adulthood

Developing intimate relationships

7

Generativity vs. selfabsorption

Middle adulthood

Being productive

8

Integrity vs. despair

Old age

Evaluating one’s life




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Two Important Psychodynamic Concepts Now to explore the important Psychodynamic concepts of DEFENCES and TRANSFERENCE Counselling and Supervision are forms of a helping and therapeutic relationship. Many of the aspects of therapeutic helper-client relationship have echoes of those found in areas where counselling skills are used. Examples are teaching, nursing, social work and close relationships. Consequently it can be important for those involved in helping others to have some awareness and understanding of how issues of transference and countertransference can impact on the relationship with the client. This note will focus on the former. Many models of therapy, but particularly psychodynamic and transactional analysis ( TA), stress that the relationship in the present between the helper and the client and its relationship to current and past situations can lead to valuable insights. Jacobs (1999: p 114-115) focuses on this aspect and then leads on to consider some important aspects that lead to these insights. Foremost amongst these is the twin issues of transference and counter-transference and how they are rooted in several forms of unconscious defences. Most therapeutic models stress the importance of the therapeutic relationship and the part it can play in ‘modelling’ current and, possibly, future relationships. Brown and Pedder (1979) focus on some of the Parent, Child, and Adult aspects, particular to TA, which can affect the helper-client relationship. These are particularly relevant, as many clients may see their helper in a parental role. This can give rise to distorted communications, inappropriate and incorrect connections with past relationships and thereby could give rise to clients being defensive and particularly to transference and counter- transference in the relationship. This remainder of this short paper will examine some of the major forms of unconscious defences, identify those allied to the twin defences of transference and countertransference, outline KoIb’s experiential learning cycle and how this can aid our understanding in the helper-client relationship and finally explore in greater detail the issues of transference and counter-transference. These notes are complemented by a series of brief exercises designed to give participants the opportunity to reflect on and (hopefully) experience the concept of an ‘as if’ relationship.




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DEFENCES ‘Popular’ psychology has perhaps given rise to the misconception that defences are inherently negative. This is definitely not correct. Jacobs (1999) stresses that defences are a natural part of being human. However, they can ‘block’ insights and thereby impede not only personal growth and understanding but also our spiritual growth in awareness. There are many types of defences but the following are most relevant when exploring issues of transference and counter-transference. Splitting . Splitting involves the separation of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ feelings. This can lead to the denial of certain feelings and thoughts. Jacobs (1998) suggests that some religious systems resort to ‘splitting’ in an attempt to resolve the problem of how a good God can ‘allow’ evil. Splitting occurs in all areas of life, in politics the ‘good guys’ versus the ‘bad guys’, in nationalism, the ‘ them versus us ‘ syndrome, etc. Splitting is a common reaction used against helpers/therapists. It is a form of denial and can lead to playing the helper /therapist (the ‘good’) off against the other (the ‘bad’). Projection. Very often we can have difficulty ‘owning’ aspects of ourselves. These can be either positive and/or negative aspects. A way of denying these feelings and defending against the unconscious anxiety of ‘owning’ them, is to project these aspects onto others. For Example: - The helper/therapist can be idealised as the all powerful, all caring person. When it is expressed in negative terms it can often be like ‘the pot calling the kettle black’. Another example might be a client saying ‘You must be finding me a difficult client~ Although this might be true, it could also be a defence against saying the opposite i.e. ‘I am finding you (the director ) difficult! Jacobs (1998) expresses a great truth when commenting on projection he states that it is ‘one which many people recognise others using, even If they are less aware of it in themselves!’ Proiective Identification. This defence is allied to that of projection and like projection is reckoned to be one of the earliest and most primitive defences that occurs shortly after birth. It is like an early warning defence against aspects it sees in others which it wants to deny. Another way of putting it is, that it is like a form of pre-emptive strike. Therefore in the case of the ‘caring director/therapist’, the client ‘attacks’ the helper/therapist in order to ‘ward off’ this caring aspect. This form of defence is very often found in intimate relationships where one partner wants to ‘deny’ any need for intimacy. The defences of projection and projective identification are often allied to incidences of transference and counter-transference.




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TRANSFERENCE : The’ As If’ Relationship Transference is a common human condition where we transfer attitudes, beliefs, feelings and thoughts from the past to the present and from the ‘particular’ to the ‘general’ relationship. This is concept of the ‘presenting past’ effecting our current experience is both the title of and content of Jacobs (1998). In another text, Jacobs (1993) suggests that knowledge of transference reactions and relationships is essential for the helper/therapist ‘even though he/she may not openly refer to it’. Indeed all those who engage in helping, social workers, health professionals, clergy, laity, teachers, doctors etc will gain from an understanding of this phenomenon. Transference effects the way helpers may be ‘perceived’ by those they seek to help. This is greatly influenced by the ‘authority’ and ‘power’ that helpers may consciously or unconsciously assume. Before looking at this in greater depth it can help to view this through the medium of the ‘Experience Cube’. The Experience Cube Although we live and experience things in the ‘present’, experience is cumulative and very complex. The Present is influenced by past experiences, future expectations and hopes and our experiences — ‘out there’ with others. These are all contained with the influence of the present, here and now experience. Thus we all have an ‘experience cube’, where all FOUR fields, if folded up, form a cube. This cube thereby contains the ‘wholeness’ of the present experience.

OUT THERE other(s)

PRESENT Experiences in the ‘here and now’

PAST

FUTURE Expectations And hopes

The Experience Cube




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Transference Hough(2002: p 17) suggests that ‘ transference refers to a human tendency to displace emotional attitudes and feelings, learned in early childhood, to many situations in adult life’. When feelings about an important past experience are somehow ‘transferred’ into the ‘present’ relationship, we then behave ‘as if’ this present relationship IS the past relationship. In other words the past part of the experience cube is mixed —up with the present. Jacobs (1993) reminds us that ‘falling in love’ is one example of common transference. We tend, in the early part of any relationship, to endow the loved one with idealised qualities! A transference relationship is according to Jacobs’ like viewing someone through coloured glass’. All that is seen may be transformed and perceived incorrectly. However, unlike coloured glasses, transference in relationships is not so obvious. Some common examples of transference in relationships are. The adoring mother - adored baby relationship. Caring nurse — sick patient relationship Client — Helper/Therapist relationship — good or bad Our ‘as if’ reactions to someone who reminds us of someone else — this may be either conscious ( aware) or unconscious ( unaware). The helper/therapist may remind the client of an experience in the past (normally with a ‘parental’ or ‘authority’ figure. Then the client may react or behave ‘as if the Helper IS that person. For the helper/therapist, both the recognition of transference and its importance to the relationship are vital. Transference can be a force for good or bad in the relationship. It depends upon the nature and degree of the transference. Whether or not the helper openly addresses or refers to the transference is another matter. In general, as in all helping relationships, the question to ask is ‘In what way could the knowledge of this (transference) be of any help to the client?’ If in doubt it might be best to take these thoughts to supervision before ‘challenging’ the client with what is after all is an unconscious defence mechanism. Transference can be both positive and negative and vary from mild to severe. Positive transference can create a ‘halo effect’ where the client’s esteem or high regard for the director can be a positive, healing and changing influence in the relationship.




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For this to work is requires and demands a great deal of self-awareness, a healthy ego and some good inter-personal skills on the part of the helper/therapist. However, very high or severe positive transference can be very uncomfortable for the helper and may require him/her either to make ‘deliberate ‘mistakes or use skills to ground the relationship in reality. Negative transference can be handled in a similar way to positive transference. However, when it is high or severe it can provoke considerable anxiety in the helper/therapist and may require some supportive supervision and a very high level of inter-personal skills, particularly the use of concreteness, immediacy and challenge. Some common causes of transference are: The idealisation of the helper as symbolic of the embodiment of desired qualities by the client. A tendency to develop a special attachment based on perceived friendship or similarities Identification of the helper/therapist with a particular incidence in the past. E.g the bad teacher syndrome. Many of us may be aware of the often ‘distorted’ image that others have of us. This is particularly true in relationships of trust, where those who are being helped very often place the helpers in positions of authority and sometimes on a pedestal. They then react or behave accordingly and this can lead to past experiences with authority figures ‘clouding’ or transferring onto the relationship. One of the ways that directors can recognise signs of transference is when statements do have an as if quality to them. This is as if the client is confusing the helper (or another person being referred to) with someone else. This ‘someone else’ is, as stated before, most likely to be someone important in the client’s life and/or a parental or authority figure. If the helper feels it appropriate to bring the transference into the present, then they need to be aware that the client may think or feel that their own ‘perception’ is correct and not an as if experience. So the helper must be able to show some evidence for their interpretation of the transference. Stewart and Joines (1987: p111) remind us that in Transactional Analysis, transference is referred to as ‘putting a face on someone’ This expresses the essence of the task facing the director if they are to successfully work with the transference in the relationship.




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Summary on Transference In summary, some characteristics of transference in a relationship are: It is innate and inevitable, often aroused by people either very familiar to us or (paradoxically) unfamiliar but powerful. It can lead to a distorted perception of reality. It is very often inappropriate, in its ensuing actions, attitudes and behaviours. It is often untimely It is very often repetitive — leading to cycles of behaviours and to ‘games’ The latter concept ( games) is linked to Transactional Analysis. It can (is designed to) deflect attention from the ‘real’ issue. It can have positive and negative effects on the relationship and vary from mild to high or severe. Because helping/therapy can sometimes involve an holistic relationship and directly addresses not only the physical and psychological but also the spiritual aspect of what it is to be a person, then it caries with it the opportunity of some additional causes for, and possibly occurrences of, transference. NOTE: If this is part of a presentation — a brief exercise now follows)




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KOLB’s EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING CYCLE Transference and counter- transference are part of all helping and meaningful relationships and therefore will almost inevitably occur in prayer guiding and spiritual direction. They are part of the ‘experiences’ of direction and may require exploration as and when they arise. If the decision is taken to explore the issue, then it can be helpful to inform this exploration in the light of KoIb’s Experiential Learning Cycle. This is outlined in the following figure.

1. EXPERIENCING What Happened? Open to & engaging With experiences

4. EXPERIMENTATION What can/do we do?

2

Trying things out – doing Things differently

REFLECTION What was it like ? Investigating the Experience(s)

3. CONCEPTUALISING What does it mean? Analysing & creating Meaning from experience Adapted from Morrison, T (1998) Casework Consolidation. Whitby & Birch, London QPeter Creagh (2005)




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These notes are both based on and informed by the author’s practical experience of counselling and training over the past 25 years. Much of the text is drawn from this experience and from supervising helpers in a wide variety of settings. In addition the following texts have informed both notes on transference and counter-transference. BIBLIOGRAPHY Bradshaw, J(1990)

Homecoming

Piatkus London

Brown,D & Pedder ,J 1979 , Introduction to Psychotherapy London Cairns,F. 1994, BACP,

A Beginners Guide to Transference & Counter- Transference Counselling Nov 94 ,Rugby

Frankland, A & Sanders, P(1995) – Next Steps in Counselling – Hough, M . 2002,

Tavistock,

A Practical Approach to Counselling

Jacobs,M.1993,

Still Small Voice

Jacobs,M.1998,

The Presenting Past

Jacobs,M.1999

Psychodynamic Counselling in Action

PCCS Ross on Wye Prentice-Hall

SPCK OU Press Sage, London

McLeod,J 1998

An Introduction to Counselling OU Press

Stewart,I & Joines,V 1987, Analysis,

TA Today — A New Introduction to Transactional Lifespace,Nottingham

Winnicott,DW 1965, The Maturational and the Facilitating Environment , Hogarth Press,London




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Introduction to the Psycho Dynamic Approach :- Personality, Defences and Transference

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