Ann Case Study: Psychoanalytic Theory
What will be the goals of counseling and what intervention strategies are used to accomplish those goals?
The goals of counseling in Ann’s case will solely be based on the functions of psychoanalytic theory, and will include:
- To bring insight to Ann by treating her unconscious mind into conscious motivations and thoughts
- To cure Ann from repressed psychological experiences, emotions, and trauma to consciousness where she can handle her problems
- To bring a sense of self-esteem, awareness, and mental development on the client at hand
- To enhance the ability and effectiveness of Ann to tolerate and cope with her repressed conflicts in a positive manner
According to Sigmund Freud, psychoanalytic theory gives counselors the responsibility of generating and implementing strategies that meet a client’s needs in a more appropriate manner (Kendra, 2018). Under the case of Ann, the right intervention strategies include:
- Communication criteria / approach: Horizontal channel of communication that allows the client to freely express her mental challenges to the counselor before treatment.
- Upholding self-understanding: Where the counselor is guided by empathy while collecting all psychoanalytic data relating to the client before commencing the therapy exercise.
- Detailed data analysis: Data analysis followed by proper interpretation of client’s information is also an excellent intervention strategy.
Is your theory designed for short- or long-term counseling?
The client under the scenario at hand is depressed, hopeless, and full of anxiety. The main objective of psychoanalytic theory is treating the unconscious mind into consciousness (Kendra, 2018). Ann, at her 24th age is being disturbed by four issues namely sole parenting. Financial hiccups, lack of supportive family and friends, and the absenteeism of her husband. Prior to her marriage, Ann had never experienced such anxiety or depression again. This implies that her mental and…Middle of Paper….
What will be the counselor’s role with this client?
In Ann’s scenario, the engaged counselor will discharge various roles in order to heal or motivate her to positivity. First, the counselor will act as the “mental health doctor” in attempts to cure the client against her repressed conflicts and life challenges (Adam, 2013). Second, it will be the counselor’s role to facilitate psychological awareness, ability to cope, and mental development on the part of Ann. Third, it will be the therapist’s responsibility to establish counseling practice boundaries that will govern the client’s rights and limits in the entire counseling sessions. Fourth, it will be the counselor’s role to encourage, motivate, and positively challenge the client as he/she gives hope about her regaining stability and psychological consciousness (Adam, 2013). Last, the counselor will dedicate sufficient and appropriate counseling environment in terms of time, emphatic listening and reasoning, and proper rapport for response. The counselor will need to be congruent in this client relationship.
What is the client’s role in counseling?
In this scenario, the client needs to first understand what she is getting or committing into. Ann needs to communicate all her problems to the counselor in a detailed manner to make it easy for the therapist to analyze, interpret, and treat her problem (Adam, 2013). Also, the client has the roles of attending or showing up to all set counseling sessions by the counselor. If the client is unable to attend a session, she needs to at least call or email the counselor. Another role of Ann in this case is paying counseling fee on time so that the exercise is not delayed. In this perspective, the client needs to update the counselor of her mode of payment. Additionally, Ann has the role to “do the things” and “embrace the cheese” by practicing any breathing exercises as instructed by the counselor (Adam, 2013). This role fits to Ann’s case since she is facing severe depression and anxiety.
For what population(s) is this theory most appropriate? How does this theory address the social and cultural needs of the client?
Ideally, Sigmund Freud’s theory of psychoanalysis states that the happenings, occurrences, and childhood behaviors influence people’s psychological functioning in their adulthood (Laurie, 2014). In this perspective, psychoanalysis theory suits for counseling practices that involve adult people. In this case, Ann is aged 24 and thus an adult person. Ann remembers her Dad’s “drunkard” behavior, something which influences her current position. The secondary objective of this theory majors more on one’s entire life experiences that impact his/ her thinking. In Ann’s scenario, the 24 aged lady behavior….Middle of Paper….
What additional information might be helpful to know about this case?
In this client intake for counseling sessions, there is other important information that the counselor needs to know about the client. Information about Ann’s address and phone number is missing (Laurie, 2014). Email address and phone number information is helpful for the counselor when calling, emailing, or sending a message to Ann. The other important information is the type of counseling session that the client is more comfortable with, is it online counseling or in-office counseling sessions. Any information relating to insurance of the client is also mandatory and is missing in the client’s data. Information about Ann’s medical history, if maybe she has attended another counseling exercise before or not; this information needs to be disclosed (McLeod, 2018). Other information about any family member or related to Ann that had a mental problem history is also helpful to the counselor. Finally, Ann’s additional history about trauma- whether she had a good emotional, sexual, physical relationship with her husband before he went overseas.
What may be a risk in using this approach?
The use of psychoanalytic approach in treating Ann could be risky based on the fact that the model grossly generalizes and exaggerates human behavior. Due to this, not all concepts of Sigmund Freud can apply in addressing Ann’s case, a counselor is compelled to ignore the subjective nature of this approach by embracing the practical and objective approach and thus could be tiresome (Kendra, 2018). In other times, this approach could be confusing to the counselor other than giving him or her clarity about treating the client. In the context of this scenario, psychoanalytic approach lacks an intervention method, failing to provide enough focus on the client’s need as a technique (Laurie, 2014). Additionally, the fact that psychoanalysis theory pays more attention on the past could mislead the counselor and paralyze his or her analysis procedure. Finally, the approach neglects the cultural, biological, and social considerations of clients, something which derail psychoanalysis.
References
Adam, B. (2013). The Counseling Intake Process: What Counselors Need to Consider. Thriveworks Counseling Blog, 1-24. Retrieved from https://thriveworks.com/blog/counseling-intake-process/
Kendra, C. (2018). What Is Psychoanalysis? The Psychoanalytic Approach to Psychology, 1-6. Retrieved from https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-psychoanalysis-2795246
Laurie, M. (2014). Counseling Today: Connecting with clients. New York: American Counseling Association. Retrieved from https://ct.counseling.org/2014/08/connecting-with-clients/
McLeod, S. (2018). What are the most interesting ideas of Freud? Simply Pyschology, 1-18. Retrieved from https://www.simplypsychology.org/Sigmund-Freud.html