Psychoanalytic theory

Although it has received the most attention, CBT is not the only form of psychotherapy that is effective for depression. Other psychological treatments include interpersonal psychotherapy, short-term psychodynamic therapy and non-directive supportive therapy. Interpersonal psychotherapy focuses on problems that arise in interpersonal relationships, such as marital conflict, the loss of a loved one and social isolation.20 Short-term psychodynamic therapy focuses on acquiring insight and understanding of unresolved conflicts arising from the person s childhood. It is based on Freud s psychoanalytic theory, but requires only months, rather than the years it takes for a full psychoanalysis.21 Non-directive supportive therapy provides a warm, supportive atmosphere in which the depressed person can explore life issues... 

Historically, the diagnosis of schizophrenia in the United States has been based on bleulerian and psychoanalytic theory, partly due to the greater influence of the latter group in the 1950 s and 1960 s. In contrast, European psychiatry used a narrower set of diagnostic criteria, similar to Kraepelin s approach. 

In terms of psychoanalytic theory, such perceptions as have been quoted could be regarded as "projections" of internal stimuli. The usual explanation of mystic experiences, and of unusual experiences in general, is to regard them as a "projection" and re-interpretation of repressed infantile mem-... 

Psychoanalytic theory, as discussed earlier, sees forgetting as the result of repression. Freud felt a good deal of forgetting happens because the forgotten material is associated with unpleasant experiences that produce anxiety which automatically evokes the defense mechanism of repression. Memories then are never truly lost, but are irretrievable due to repression. 

Yet the glass can be viewed as half full as well as half empty. There are emotions that humans share with other animals, and that can fruitfully be studied with animal experiments. The neurobiology of fear, for instance, has now been unraveled with results that may require a rethinking of the psychoanalytic theory of suppressed trauma. More... 

Fenichel, O. (1945), 77tr Psychoanalytical Theory of Neurosis, New York Norton. 

The symbol of a container was important to the psychoanalytic theory of Wilfred Bion (for a summary, see J. and N.Symington, The Clinical Thinking of Wilfred Bion, London and New York, Routledge, 1996, pp. 50-8). However, the way in which container is used in this instance has more in common with Winnicott s notion of a holding environment ... 

We must cut short our review of the psychoanalytic aspects of the myth of masturbation and will conclude by citing the views o(Ouo (Femchel, whose book. The Psychoanalytic Theory of Neurosis, is cofisidered the definitive modern text on psychoanalysis. Fenichel is considerably less opposed to masturbation than Freud had been. But he, too, tries to present moral criteria of what are desirable and undesirable attitudes toward masturbation as if they were scientific psychoanalytic criteria of mentally healthy behavior. Masturbation, Fenichel writes, .. . is normal in childhood and under present cultural conditions is also normal in adolescence, and even in adulthood as a substitute when no sexual object is available.. . . ... 

O Fenichel. The Psychoanalytic Theory of Neurosis. New York Norton, 1999. DH Shapiro, J Astin. Control Therapy. New York John Wiley and Sons, 1998. JH Norcross, MR Goldfried. Handbook of Psychotherapy Integration. New York Basic Books, 1992. 

Lindsey, G. (1967). Some remarks concerning incest, the incest taboo, and psychoanalytic theory. American Psychologist, 22, 1051-1065. 

Changeling, seen in this light, seems almost to demand to be taken as an early modern exemplar of psychoanalytic theories of subject-formation -that is, Beatrice-Joanna s rejection of De Flores can be read as expressive of something deeper both within herself and within the culture she inhabits. 

For a clear explanation of these psychoanalytic theories, see chapter 3 Feminist poststructuralism and psychoanalysis in Chris Weedon, Feminist Practice and Poststructuralist Theory (Oxford, 1987), pp. 43-73. 

Psychoanalytic theory, for example, is not a theory. Any conceivable thonght or behavior can be explained by it. There is no way that the validity of the theory can be put to a rigorous test. It may have entertainment value, and it may possibly offer comfort and healing to patients of psychotherapy, but it does not qualify as a scientific theory. 

Recent attempts in psychoanalytic theory to explain the failure of classical and even much postmodern psychoanalysis premised on classical notions of the phallus provide a context for understanding the place of Bunyan s encounters with the feminine, and with the maternal, in his psychic... 

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