Topic > Psychoanalysis: Intersubjectivity, the Analytical Third and Relational Psychotherapy

IndexIntroductionPsychoanalytic TheoryIntersubjectivityThe Analytical ThirdRelational psychoanalytic psychotherapyConclusionIntroduction There are many ways of conducting therapy, in this essay I will start by giving an idea of ​​what psychoanalytic theory is and then I will critically discuss some modalities to conduct therapy which are relational psychotherapy, intersubjectivity and the analytical third. I will also discuss how these concepts help the therapist in working with clients. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Psychoanalytic Theory Psychoanalytic theory was coined by Sigmund Freud in the late 19th century between 1939 and 1956. His theory was based on the idea that human behavior can be established through interactions between the id, the Superego and the Ego. He focused on finding ways to treat mental health problems by establishing the connection between the conscious mind and the unconscious. Freud began psychoanalysis when he worked together with his mentor, Dr. Josef Breuer, to try to diagnose and provide treatment for their patient Anna O. She had problems with hallucinations, speech problems, visual disturbances etc. His case was very important and led to the development of psychoanalysis. The word unconscious can be described as a person who is not aware of their surroundings or their environment. The unconscious expresses what we feel, our emotions and our thoughts. Psychoanalysis has a number of techniques that can be used to understand a person's behavior: dream analysis, free association, interpretation and transference. Dream analysis can be used to express unconscious thoughts. Free association is where clients talk about random things that come to mind and this technique helps with repressed memories. Interpretation occurs when the client and therapist have a conversation and then the therapist looks for the client to make a mistake and reveal something important when he has it. conversation. Transference occurs between the therapist and the client, where the client expresses his feelings towards someone from the past towards the therapist. Psychoanalysis has its advantages and disadvantages. The advantage is that it gets to the root of the problem, giving us a broader view of why we feel a certain way, our behavior and our thoughts. It can sometimes help people who don't respond well to conventional therapy. There is also research evidence that supports part of Freud's theory. There are criticisms of psychoanalytic theory that it does not pay too much attention to the role of the environment and focuses more on sexual drive, it is very expensive and time-consuming, which requires total commitment, and recovery rates are very low. Intersubjectivity There are many definitions of intersubjectivity, a term introduced by Edmond Husserl which simply refers to an interaction between two subjects which can be me and another person. When we break the word down, inter refers to between or among and therefore subjectivity refers to how an individual's judgment is based on personal beliefs, opinions, feelings and desires as opposed to external influences. Intersubjectivity is a concept that has been used extensively by researchers to discuss the early modes of communication between a baby and its mother. Meltzoff and Moore designed experiments to study movement matching between infants and mothers. They argue that babies respond better to movements or actions that match their own and that they develop them at an earlier stage, at around 6 weeks. Meltzoff (1985, 1990) argues that thecorrespondence of movements between the child and the mother is a form of intersubjectivity. Christopher (2015) argues that several theorists have used early studies of child-parent communication to explain the analytic procedure in work with adults. Furthermore, the first type of interaction between mother and child plays a significant role in nonverbal communication in adult therapy. Christopher (2015) argues that the analysand's internal state can be recorded by the analyst in the form of sensations, images, confused mental states, etc. According to Christopher (2015, p. 618), “the vision of intersubjectivity as the interaction between the modes of verbal and non-verbal communication between patient and analyst and the interaction of transference and countertransference in the analytic couple is a widely accepted concept”. Benjamin (2005, 2010) argues that the mind cannot be understood as a distinct unitary body and that the analyst's position is not to help the affected person understand how his or her mind works. Auerbach (2001) argues that intersubjectivity theory holds that children become independent subjects only if they recognize the caregiver's autonomous subjectivity – independence and separation in more familiar language. According to Povinelli and Prince (1998) the cognitive-affective capacity, which is also the final result of the evolutionary improvement of the human brain, allows the child in turn to recognize the mind of his parents and in that recognition between the child and the mother child constitutes an intersubjective situation. The Analytical Third The analytic third is a concept coined by Thomas Ogden (1994) which refers to the “intersubjectivity of the analyst-analysand” (1994). He argued that the mother-child unity as well as the intersubjectivity of the analyst-analysand coexist in dynamic tension with the mother and child in their separateness. According to Ogden (1994) “neither the intersubjectivity of the mother-child nor that of the analyst-analysand (as separate psychological entities) exists in pure form. Intersubjectivity and the individually subjective create, deny and preserve the other”. Ogden (2001) maintains that the experience of the analyst and the analysand in the analytic third represents an experiential base, a pool of unconscious experience to which analysts and analysands contribute and from which they draw on their own experience of the analytic relationship. Morton (2003) proposed that, like other types of unconscious, the third analytical derivative from the conscious in disguise is metaphorically linked to unconscious material, which is unraveled and revealed in the process. Reveries was the term used by Ogden to refer to conscious derivatives. Reverie can be defined as the process or phase of getting lost in one's thoughts, such as daydreaming. In this context, reverie was used to talk about a mother's ability to contain a child's projections. Morton (2003) argues that the analyst and patient do not directly know the analytic third, so they depend on metaphors to give them a sense of what the unconscious is like. Analysts based on their personality and history will experience the analytic third separately. Ogden (1994) argues that the analytic third modulates the analyst's experience in such a way as to induce extremely private connections that nevertheless represent the nature of the intersubjective between analyst and patient. According to Morton (2003) “the analytic third cannot be described, because it does not exist within the categories accessible to consciousness. The analyst must be able to talk to himself to conduct analytic work, which means he should be able to talk about his feelings towards the patient even if those experiences are unconscious. Project identification was also onedimension of the analytic third that made it possible to understand transference and countertransference and these terms also play a very important role in Ogden's theory or technique. Relational psychoanalysis psychotherapy Relational psychoanalysis was a term coined by Stephen A. Mitchell (1983) who wrote the book entitled Object Relations in Psychoanalytic Theory, considered an introduction to relational psychoanalysis with the help of Jay Greenberg, co-author of the book. He was considered one of the most influential relational psychoanalysts. According to Hoffman (2012) "relational psychoanalysis emphasizes the relationship with others, mutual recognition, the importance of early attachment, interpersonally mediated subjective experience, that is, intersubjectivity". In relational psychoanalysis the mother-child relationship or the early stages of any relationship create the personality. Social constructionism is a field closely related to relational psychoanalysis. Relational psychoanalysis is very different from Freud's psychoanalysis in some ways, it holds that the urge to be in relationship with others is the motivation of the subconscious. There has been criticism from Jon Mills, a psychoanalyst, regarding relational psychoanalysis. Mills obviously believes that the "paradigm shift" towards relational psychoanalysis is due not only to theoretical distinctions with classical psychoanalysis, but also to a certain group mentality and a certain set of interests. He also underlines the fact that in relational psychoanalysis the importance of the unconscious is lost or disappears. Mills criticizes the relational analyst for never fully reflecting on contradictions, instead of uncritically adopting postmodern concepts. How do these concepts help the therapist in working with clients? With the concept of intersubjectivity, children are able to better reflect on their memories and traumatic experiences without being poorly regulated during a therapeutic relationship, and eventually develop the ability to tolerate increasing amounts of affect. . After a while the child will reach a point where he or she will be able to self-regulate. Intersubjectivity has made it possible in therapy for children to be able to make sense of their feelings and memories. It has led to better parenting skills with clients and understanding how children function. The analytic third also played a role in improving therapy, Ogden showed how therapists should avoid acting on countertransference and also provided a theoretical model for therapists to be able to understand it. According to Ogden (1994) “the concept of the analytic third provides a framework of ideas about the interdependence between subject and object, of transference and countertransference, which assist the analyst in his efforts to attend to and reflect on the myriad of intersubjective clinical facts encountered by the analyst, be they the apparently egocentric wanderings of his mind, the analyst's bodily sensations that apparently have nothing to do with the analysand, or any other “analytic object” intersubjectively generated by the analytic couple. ”Relational psychoanalytic psychotherapy has helped therapists build strong collaborative relationships with their clients that can last forever. It has helped therapists better understand and evaluate family and workplace issues. With relational psychoanalysis the therapist must keep gender, race, class, and culture in mind to better understand the client's problem. It also helps evaluate mental health disorders such as depression, anxiety and understand how these disorders affect the client's social relationships. The therapist will be able to strengthen your sense of self. Please note: this is just an example. Get.