While counseling generally deals with the issues and problems of daily living, psychotherapy is intended to resolve issues involving the metal state and emotions (Brown and Lent, 2008). Hence, psychotherapy needs more intensive and specialized training as compared with counseling. Psychoanalytic approaches are products of the intensive studies done by Sigmund Freud form 1886 to 1939 (Westen, 2006). Basic to a Psychoanalytic approach, individuals are, either unconsciously or a little bit aware, largely influenced by the dynamics of psychological factors.
This also includes the works of Carl Jung, Alfred Adler, Erick Erikson, John Bolby, and Heinz Kohut (Westen, 2006). The primary goal of therapy is to increase the consciousness of the individual (Westen, 2006). In psychodynamic approaches, the therapist facilitates the shifting of intrapsychic events in the client from unconscious to conscious state (Westen, 2006). Thus, psychodynamic approaches are also known as uncovering therapy.
As such, increasing the strength of the ego helps the adaptive process of the individual with internal conflicts (Westen, 2006). Hence, to develop behavior anchored more on reality and less on instinctual craving such as problematic self-objects, problematic archetypes, irrational guilt, and excessive impulse for superiority, consciousness should be attained. The attainment of this goal is done through free association, confrontation, interpretation, dream analysis and working through (Westen, 2006).
Free association is employed to uncover the dynamics of the client’s unconscious and subconscious mind (Westen, 2006). In this technique, clients are encouraged to express their thoughts and feelings. Through the client’s reactions and expressed thoughts, the therapist applies the interpretation technique in the determination of fears, needs, and other internal conflicts (Westen, 2006). However, not all internal thoughts can possibly express by the client. There are psychological issues that the client may refuse to reveal with the therapist.
Thus, the latter must be conscientious enough with the signs of such avoidance in order to create and implement an intervention plan specific to the case of the client. This process of addressing the psychological issues that the client refused to face is termed as confrontation (Westen, 2006). On the other hand, Freud firmly believed that dreams are the royal roads towards the unconscious, thus, dream analysis is also employed (Westen, 2006). In this technique, the collaboration of the client with the therapist, the dream elements are freely associated with the consciousness of the mind.
Nevertheless, the change and development of the client’s self concept is done by the repetition of the disruption restoration process in working through technique (Westen, 2006). Behavioral Therapy Learning theories are the backbone of behavioral therapy (Westen, 2006). In the development of intervention plan and strategies for the behavioral change of the client, learning tenets are adapted and applied. In behavioral therapy, resolving easy or less serious behavioral problems are given first priority then as on progress, difficult or threatening behaviors are dealt with (Westen, 2006).
Although early forms of behavioral therapy only considered the overt behaviors, nowadays, the goals are made concrete, clear, and observable (Westen, 2006). The products of the works of Ivan Pavlov on classical conditioning are applied on the proper mind conditioning of the client (Westen, 2006). By applying classical conditioning principles, psychological conflicts are treated as a result of a neutral stimulus that triggered intrapsychic events in the client.
As the cause and source of the psychological conflict were pointed out, counterconditioning will be applied for the client to unlearn the conditioned stimulus (Westen, 2006). Based on the stimulus-response connection, identification of a response that should be paired with the stimulus is the main purpose of counterconditioning (Westen, 2006). It is believed that the connection between the conflict-inducing stimulus and a psychological conflict would be weakened if the client learned a proper response against the stimulus (Westen, 2006).