JB
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Compare and contrast the psychoanalytic and humanistic brands of insight therapy.
On May 07, 2024
The main similarity is that both seek to enlighten the individual about internal structures and mechanisms that may be contributing to one's distress.Differences centre on assumptions about the causes of the distress.Psychoanalysis focuses on uncovering unconscious conflicts,motives,and defences that are not merely adaptive,but which cause distress or dysfunction.Client-centred therapy,a representative humanistic therapy,centres on the notion that distress results from incongruence between one's self-concept and reality,which causes one to behave in maladaptive ways.The aim is for the individual to "get in touch" with one's own individual nature and to value it appropriately.Another difference is in techniques.Psychoanalysis employs free association,dream analysis,and other techniques aimed at allowing and encouraging the emergence of material from the unconscious,which is then interpreted by the analyst.The general approach in client-centred therapy is for the therapist to establish a climate that feels safe enough so that the client is free to examine his or her true nature without feeling it necessary to employ defensive manoeuvres.