Freud’s concept of psychoanalysis has helped many understand the importance of speaking to a therapist about his or her problems and concerns. Rogers’s person-centered theory has allowed therapists and counselors to understand individuals are unique and an individual’s development goes beyond early childhood. Psychology calls Freud one of the most famous and influential figures of controversial thinkers of the twentieth century (Grünbaum, 2007). Sigmund Freud’s work was influential to more people than he realized it would be. For more than 100 years, his work has been researched, reviewed, tested, and proven.
It is a generalised concept that if the cause of the symptoms were tackled it would only be logical that the symptoms would then cease. The Psychodynamic theory assumes the personality is split into three parts, the id (most primitive, instinctive part we have from birth), the ego (logical, balances out the id and superego) and the superego or moral part of our personality. These areas influence our behaviour as well as the defence mechanisms of the ego, and the psychosexual stages of development. Defence mechanisms are used
The first orientation that I have chosen to use with this family is Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy. It was developed as a reaction to the psychodynamic approach (Tuttle, et al., 2003). It includes aspects of both Cognitive and Behavioral theories. Cognitive Theory suggests that people are influenced by their innate beliefs about themselves and the world around them. It assumes that human problems come from operating on faulty, irrational beliefs.
Running head: Personality Theories Personality Theories PSY/211 Personality Theories The existence of personality theories correspond to how scholars analyze and assess the development of human identity and behavior. Each viewpoint provides a specific understanding of what cultivates personality and the corresponding factors that influence such behavior. One way to analyze personality is through the lens of psychoanalytic theory. The main argument of this theory is that problems or issues pertaining to psychology can be rooted to one’s unconscious (McLeod, 2007). Specifically, the problems are influenced by latent issues surfacing in the conscious mind.
Descartes introduced the theory of dualism (the mind-body problem). According to this theory the mind and the body are two completely separate entities that work together to make up human experiences (Goodwin, 2008). Descartes played an important role in the mind-body problem, which has been a persistent issue in the history of psychology. Locke Locke was the referred to as the founder of British Empiricism. He believed that personal experiences have a large impact on the inner workings of the mind and the development of personality and behaviors.
REALITY THERAPY As the field of psychology evolved in the twentieth century, theorists examined the possibility of feelings, emotions and thoughts influencing an individual’s behaviour, and as a result a number of alternative approaches to therapy evolved. Behavioural theorists asserted that a person is the “producer and the product of his or her environment” (Corey, 2009, p. 237), whilst cognitive therapy incorporated the effect of the client’s belief systems and thinking in determining behaviour and emotional responses. Classic behavioural models were eventually greatly affected by cognitive psychology, and cognitive schools took on behavioural components, resulting in a merged cognitive behavioural method of approach. In its practical, directive and thought based approach, Reality therapy, based on research by William Glasser in the 1950’s, conforms to the cognitive behavioural school of thought and will be illustrated in this essay. Theory and techniques will be applied through the window of the case study of John, in an effort to demonstrate the effectiveness of this model in strengthening an individual’s internal sense of control, thereby changing behaviour.
However both are deterministic in their approaches, both in effect reduce the client to an aspect of their life or personality (behaviourism focused on reinforcement of stimulus-response behaviour; psychoanalysis on unconscious irrational and instinctive forces determining human thought and behaviour) and both tended to use directive approaches by the therapist to resolving the problem issues. In 1943, Abraham Maslow published his paper A Theory of Human Motivation which posited that people have a hierarchy of needs, from the most basic, physiological needs, through ‘safety’ needs; love and social needs and ‘esteem’ needs, ending with the need for self-actualisation. This hierarchy is often depicted as a triangle, with ‘physiological needs’ at the bottom, and ‘self-actualisation’ at the summit. The theory is that the ‘lower’ or more basic needs must be met before a person can
The Psychodynamic Perspective The school of psychodynamics focuses on the interplay of the mental forces. It is said that humans have can have unconscious motives that underlie their true intentions. It is also said that the foundations of what was discovered rests on the evidence that people could be aware of their subconscious motivations while processing the things that affect their conscious thoughts that are related to their feelings, behaviors and intentions. Scientific studies show that psychodynamic perspective can reveal as to why a person’s actions are brought on by thoughts and feelings that would cause a reaction or a response in different situations. This school of study ultimately depends on the methods of the case studies that are performed to provide the necessary information that will clearly show them the evidence based on motivations.
The evaluation on The Encyclopedia of Drug Abuse gave me a better understanding of stress and how it effects people. My evaluation on The American Journal of Psychiatry I found very interesting it had thousands of articles on mental illness and substance abuse. If I ever need to do any more research on mental illness or substance abuse I would definitely go back to this source. My third source was an article called Dissociation, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Substance Abuse. It was a valuable source because it gave me insight into the research that has been done on proving mental illness and substance abuse co-occur.
The history of clinical psychology developed in colonial America when the first mental asylums opened in the mid 1700s. These asylums were the beginning of a revolutionary new medical specialty designed to treat the mentally ill. In the 18th century there was a greater need for mental asylums. American cities were evolving and growing in population which resulted in a larger population of those who were labeled as “distracted” or “lunatics.” Also, general beliefs of the origins of mental illness changed from mythical causes such as, demonic possession to a physiological and psychological basis of origin. Before mental asylums, families would care for their mentally ill family members in their homes, but as the population of these individuals