A Primer of Jungian Psychology - Essay Example

Introduction Psychodynamics is the science focusing on the interrelationship among various components of mind, personality or psyche by virtue of therelation in mental, emotional or motivational forces incorporating primarily at unconscious regime of the mind. It can also be put simply as the mutual exchange and transformation of psychic energy into personality traits (Hall & Nordby, 1999). An essential ingredient of psychodynamics is to focus on the relationship between the dynamism of emotional states in the id, ego and superego in relation to the early childhood development and corresponding mental processes. Psychodynamics endeavours in explaining or interpreting behaviour or mental conditions in terms of instinctive emotional forces. The psychodynamic perspective emphasizes on the internal conflicts, motives and unconscious forces regulate an individual's overt behaviour and attitude, hence addressing and resolving these underlying factors may attribute in the understanding of maladaptive behaviour. In psychodynamic approach, the associated symptoms are considered as an expression of a defence mechanism with a struggling inner-self attributes to the disordered pattern of eating or weight control behaviour as a connotation to commune or articulate underlying problems. In a conventional psychodynamic treatment approach, these symptoms are taken into consideration for expressing underlying issues, working through them and then resolving them. The psychodynamic treatment session primarily consists of looms using understanding and administration of the transference relationship mutually corresponding between the therapist and the client. The effectiveness of sole use of psychodynamic approach has not been proved well up to the mark, primarily because of twofold reasons. Firstly, in many cases clients suffering from acute starvation, depression or compulsivity that compel them having distorted mental states and hence aggravating the crisis by means of initiating associated complications like suicidal ideation or attempt, compulsive binging or purging, or need for critical medical attention. This eventually deteriorates the outcome of psychodynamic treatment approach, if applied prior resolving these problems. Secondly, client may engage in psychodynamic therapeutic approach for long years while employing themselves in the destructive symptomatic behaviour as well. This paper focuses on the analysis of Freudian psychodynamics theoretical perspectives in relation to the eating disorder including the adaptive function and the purpose that the eating disorder serves at unconscious level. Freudian Psychodynamic Approach Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) had been greatly influenced by Hermann von Helmholtz (1821-1894), a German physicist and physician. Freud had been inspired from him to propose his psychodynamic theory in relation to the principles incorporating the law of thermodynamics. He theorised that psychic-energy attributed to the development of human personality is a form of energy that can neither be destroyed nor be created, it can only be converted from one form to another, obeying the 'law of energy'. Hence the science of psychology is to focus on the adaptation, conduction and exchange of psychic energy within the realm of personality traits attributing to the overt shape and determining it (Internet Encyclopaedia). In his topographical structure of mind (1923) as illustrated in Figure 1, Freud explained the division of mind as the dynamism of unconscious, preconscious and conscious levels of mind by virtue of interplay among Id, Ego and Superego. Freud considered that most of our underlying feelings incorporating emotions, beliefs, attitudes and impulses are buried down into unconscious level. The conscious level of the mind, the smallest region, is what an individual is aware of. Freud described that as we possess the perception of awareness of our environment and the objects around us, it signifies the mechanism of conscious mind. Another level is preconscious which is promptly accessible whenever required, but not belong to the active conscious regime. Freud elucidated personality comprising of three aspects, interacting together to create all our complex behaviour - id, ego and superego. Freud specified id as the source of our drives and the reservoir of libido. This consists of irrational and emotional part of the mind, governed by 'pleasure principle' and belonging to the unconscious level of mind. Superego lies at preconscious level defining the moral part of the mind and constantly strives for perfection even it is far from reality itself. This is where the anxiety lies. The third contributing factor is ego, which is freely floated through three levels of mind. It is governed by 'reality principle', implicating the needs to understand the balance between the id and superego through the method of compromising and negotiating these aspects. Ego doesn't support instant gratification on one hand, it doesn't agree with pious delaying in gratification as well on the other. There is a factor called ego strength which defines how well ego is able to cope with the conflicting needs stemmed by id and superego. Eating Disorder and Psychodynamics The psychodynamic perspective of eating disorder suggests it as a malfunction to detach, isolate and build up autonomy from the primary caregivers. Studies conducted on normal female development mainly explain that the female personality develops as a product of interpersonal attachment with the surroundings to make it ascertain that female may understand her worth and cultural values from her developing interpersonal relationship. Changes made in cultural context have led female to undervalue relationships by promoting autonomy and independence. According to Steiner-Adair (1986), the incidence of eating disorder is primarily caused due to an unrealistic prominence on autonomy in female, hence refusing all other symbolic parts of the body itself and promoting the current cultural belief and norms in maladaptive fashion. Empirical Research Evidences In an observational multi-institutional approach conducted by Kchele, Kordy & Richard (2001), 1171 patients have been observed under controlled environment for throughout 2.5 years with the adjustments taken into consideration such as treatment modalities combining length and intensity which are varied significantly within and between hospitals and are insignificantly correlated with the patient characteristics in particular. At the end of 2.5 years, 33% and 25% patients suffering from anoxia nervosa and bulimia respectively are recovered from their corresponding disorders. There is a strong gender stereotyping, biased on an orientation towards female, associated with the development of eating disorders, however, clinical studies based on the community-based epidemiological research has shown different results. It suggests that the prevalence of full anorexia nervosa in men is much higher (16%) compared to the clinically based estimates (5%-10%), but it corresponds to the gender parity illustrating the result as men:women=1:1.5 (Andersen & Holman, 1997). Factors Influencing Eating Disorders There are various factors contributing to the development of eating disorders. Recent research on genetics suggests that more than half (56%) of the risk factors for developing eating disorder contribute to dysfunctional genetic structure (Archive of General Psychiatry, 2006). Childhood experience plays a crucial role in determining an eating behaviour as well as in developing the individual personality as an adult along with biological factors, socio-cultural values and norms. In modern society, with the help of the media, young females are encouraged to perceive their body shape negatively and to hold unrealistic expectations regarding their body shape as well as to get inclined in achieving ideal thin-shape persistently (Robert-McComb, 2000). Additionally, family plays a vital role in developing eating disorder in an individual. Hence, researchers and analysts become interested in family history by virtue of analysing families with a history of anxiety, depression, untreated distorted eating behaviour and attitudes (Costin, 1999). However, some indirect attitudes derived from family such as distorted attachment among family members, holding critical attitudes towards family members, employing shame and guilt may also cause eating disorder in an individual belonging to that family in concern. In most of the cases, parents may employ their biased behaviour learned from their own childhood experiences such as to control in expressing love and affection, to use of food as a mode for employing self-comfort, to impose unrealistic and demanding unfulfilled expectations about themselves (Costin, 1999). It is really tragic to understand that our societal structure promotes the dysfunctional behaviour in such a high extent that many families even encouraging the maladaptive pattern of behaviour are unaware of about how their behaviour shapes negatively the development of their children. They may experience difficulty in expressing empathically towards the attitude and behaviour of their children when it comes remarkably different from them and being sensitive towards them. Children who are tending to be more sensitive may internalise their negative feelings and stimuli more strongly than those of others who are not very sensitive at all. These children may come under more stressors and experience feelings of distress as they are striving for perfectionism and possess the tendency to please others and eventually spend a great amount of time by directing psychic energy towards negative impulses like anxiety and worrying. Eventually, these children have a high risk for developing eating disorder later in adolescence phase with a developmental challenge consisting of identity formation and anxiety derived from separation from family. Apart from genetic and familial reasons, eating disorder may result from impairment of brain structure (Simon & Schuster, 2004). Cultural expectations may play a crucial role in developing eating disorder, which may be proven cruel and unrelenting in due course of time Domar, 2003). Psychodynamic Perspective of Intervention Eating disorders such as binge eating disorder, anorexia nervosa and bulimia are multifactor disorders and almost all clinicians agree that the treatment approach for eating disorders should be holistic in nature by aiming at restoration of weight, management of maladaptive behaviours, treatment of medical complications, providing therapeutic support to family members, promoting autonomy, aiding in identity development, supporting and treating the family, enhancing autonomy, facilitating identity formation, and increasing self-esteem and escalating self-esteem by way of psychotherapeutic approaches (Godart et al, 2004). Psychodynamic pathway helps an individual to understand the illness in widened perspectives. Contemporary practices of psychodynamic approach entail the integrated insights articulated from drive theory, ego psychology, and interrelationship between objects, self-psychology, attachment theories and the claim to understand the precursor of the eating disorder symptoms (Zerbe, 2001). Likewise the treatment for other disorders, the primary focus of psychodynamic approach for treating eating disorder is to enable the individual suffering from eating disorder to overcome repression and to recognize and brazen out their hidden feelings and impulses. Throughout this process of gaining insights, as Freud believed, the individual in concern would gain a release of emotion - this phenomenon is known as abreaction followed by a release from the task of repression and directing energies in to health development. The most common form of psychodynamic approach includes psychoanalysis focusing on causes and cures of illnesses, the approach developed by Sigmund Freud. Under this, free association is used to entail an individual to report spontaneous thoughts coming into his mind followed by a progressive relaxation technique. Freud believed that throughout this mental journey, the unconscious impulses and inner conflicts would be revealed (Grant & Crawley, 2002). Interpretation of dreams is another method in concern that possesses, according to Freud, a great significance in representing the inner conflicts and unconscious impulses in masquerading forms. An analyst may estimate and measure the internal conflicts by virtue of slip of the tongue (I hurt you rather than I heard you) or action (dropping water on someone). Another aspect of psychoanalysis includes the method of transference in which a patient expresses his intense feelings towards the analyst assuming the analyst as the symbolized object having a crucial role in the developmental phases in the early lives of the individual in concern. According to Freud, this helps in bringing the innermost conflict into the surface which eventually fades down as the patient gains increasing insight towards the problems encountered (Johnson, 1990). Strengths of the approach Psychodynamic therapy or intervention is focused to provide therapeutic approaches through which an individual becomes able to meet the surface of his true feelings and becomes able to know and experience it. Psychodynamic therapies are developed on the basis of the idea that mental disorders instigate, in general, from the hidden inner conflicts initially explained by Freud. In specific terms, psychodynamic therapy assumes that mental disorders transpire due to imbalance of psychic forces - in the surface of id, ego and superego. It is also assumed in this approach that an individual's current condition is governed by past experiences and through psychological exploration a therapist may become able to bring changes in personality and behaviour of a patient in concern. In other words, it can be stated as a developmental anxiety in regards to physical changes in association with puberty, the societal demands during adolescents, and the developmental tasks of being separate from parents (Lock). Likewise other disorders, eating disorders stem from the fact that many impulses of the id are not acceptable to the ego or the superego, hence they become repressed and driven back to the depth of unconscious regime, where an individual devote a considerable amount of psychic energy in order to keep them in check so that they cannot be brought into conscious regime. This eventually develops defence mechanism in order to protect ego to get relief from the feelings of anxiety instigated by inner conflicts and clashes. Psychodynamic therapeutic approaches thus focus on eliminating the disorder by means of inducing a control over the distorted defence mechanism and corresponding feelings of anxiety. Weakness of the approach This approach is nonetheless the most famous form of psychotherapy (Hornstein, 1992), but it is not due to its effectiveness as a therapeutic approach. Rather, this approach as proposed by Sigmund Freud had received various criticisms along with its major and understandable weaknesses. Firstly the high amount of cost-involvement and time-consuming nature of the approach have made it nor to be employed as the primary choice very often. The assumption that once insight is gained it will automatically work on restoring health in positive direction whereas it has been found through several studies that it doesn't necessarily alter those thoughts and feelings corresponding to the behaviour itself (Rozin, 1996). On the other hand, several researchers agree with the fact that only psychodynamic approach may not be solely effective in treating eating disorder like various other types of maladaptive pattern of behaviour. Conclusion Eating disorder is a multifactor complicated disorder that may stem in an individual for various reasons combining social, familial, cultural, genetic, anatomical factors. This is a deep-rooted problem that needs appropriate intervention on time and in most of the cases an individual treatment policy may not turn out to be effective, so as with psychodynamic approach. It has been found through several researches that in combination with various other therapies like cognitive-behavioural therapy, familial therapy, individual therapy, rational emotive therapy and interpersonal therapy along with medications may help in assisting in the treatment of eating disorder by restoring the health to its optimum. Reference Hall, Calvin S.; Nordby, Vernon J. (1999). 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Parade magazine, October 11, 2003 H. Kchele, H. Kordy, M. Richard, R.G. Tr-Eat (2001). Therapy Amount and Outcome of Inpatient Psychodynamic Treatment of Eating Disorders in Germany: Data From a Multicenter Study. Journal of Psychotherapy Research. Routledge, part of the Taylor & Francis Group. Volume 11, Number 3/September 01, 2001 Andersen AE, Holman JE: Males with eating disorders: challenges for treatment and research. Psychopharmacol Bull 1997; 33:391-397 Figure 1 Freud's Topographical Model of Mind Read More