Principles of Psychodynamic Psychology

Giulia Bassi
[email protected]

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Expectetations from this course

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Are you interested in dynamic psychology? Why?

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 The Exam

The exam will be in written mode

31 multiple choices questions and 3 open-ended questions

90 minutes

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 Oral presentation rules
• Scientific articles assigned by the lecturer related to psychodynamic psychology.
• 10 minutes for presenting the scientific article + approximately 5 minutes of questions from
your colleagues and from the lecturer.
• Power point presentations must be sent to the lecturer via mail the day before the
presentation. Failing to do so will imply exclusion from the oral presentation session.

Group composition:
Communicate the name/surname of each students to the lecturer via email no later than
Thursday 10th October.

The extra point does not provide a pass grade if the written assignment is insufficient.

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 Seminars
5th November 2024:
“Psychodynamics from a Jungian lens: An Introduction to Carl Gustav
Jung and his key Concepts”
Dr. Sukhija, psychologist, Ph.D. student

21th November 2024:

“The different configurations of the Oedipus Complex”
Dr. Pandolfi, Ph.D., psychologist, psychotherapist

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Course Introduction
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 Why this textbook?

1. It avoids distruptive polarizations between

disciplines and/or theories
2. No excessively hero-worship about S.
Freud
3. Simple and (whenever possible) jargon-
free language
4. It discusses psychoanalysis’ relationships
with its boundary sciences
5. It provides a comprehensive and well
modeled broad picture of psychoanalysis

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Data is not the plural of
anecdote!

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What is psychoanalysis?

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• It is the branch of psychology that deals with understanding human
behavior as the result of the mind.

• Psychoanalysis refers specifically to Sigmund Freud’s original theories and

concepts, which he developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

• Freud’s work laid the foundation for many subsequent psychological

theories and therapeutic practices.

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What is psychodynamic
psychology?

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• The word psychodynamic, which means «mental forces» (or
motivations), is used interchangeably with psychoanalytic, because
there are few psychodynamic approaches that are distinct from the
psychoanalytic approach.

• Today the term psychodynamic is routinely used to designate those

theories of the mind and interpersonal relationships that derive
from psychoanalysis.

Why do we prefer the term «psychodynamic» over «psychoanalysis»

today?

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• Contemporary psychoanalysis (or psychodynamic) is best
described as pluralistic, consisting of not one but several
models of the mind, overlapping but distinct, each taking a
somewhat different perspective on human mental functioning
and each emphasizing a different set of phenomena.

• Auchincloss aims to combine the major psychoanalytic models

of the mind into a single usable contemporary psychoanalytic
model of the mind.

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Drive Psychology
(Sigmund Freud, 1890, 1900)

Ego Psychology
(Anna Freud, Heinz Hartmann, Erik Erikson, 1930-1950)

Object Relations Theory

(Melanie Klein, Donald Winnicott, Margaret Mahler,
1930-1950)

Attachment Theory
(John Bowlby, Mary Ainsworth, 1950-1960)

Self Psychology
(Heinz Kohut, 1970) 15
 What is the
psychoanalytic model of
the mind?

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• It is an imaginary construction designed to represent a complex
system.

• It describes how psychological phenomena such as feelings,

thoughts, fears, fantasies, values, attitudes interact in the system
and influence each other.

• It describes the motivations, the structures, and the functions and

processes of people’s mind.

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 We are used to thinking about psychoanalysis in a tripartite way (Freud, 1923):

• as a theory of the mind (and a theory of some aspects of psychopathology)

• as a treatment
• as a method for investigating the mind
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FREUD, S. (1923). Two encyclopaedia articles. Standard Edition 18:235–259.
 We are used to thinking about psychoanalysis in a tripartite way (Freud, 1923):

• as a theory of the mind (and a theory of some aspects of psychopathology)

• as a treatment
• as a method for investigating the mind
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FREUD, S. (1923). Two encyclopaedia articles. Standard Edition 18:235–259.
 Psychoanalysis as a theory of the mind

1. Major role of unconscious mental phenomena for understanding both normal and
pathological mental life.

2. Centrality of early (childhood) experience on the development of the mind, strongly

influencing adult mental states.

3. Mental distress can be understood as a compromise solution (mental conflict) and/or as a

result of a developmental deficit.

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 Psychoanalysis as a theory of the mind
1. The major role of unconscious mental phenomena for understanding both normal and
pathological mental life.

• Freud (1896/1962) presented his revolutionary “new psychology”: most of what goes on in
the mind occurs outside of awareness.

The ego is not master in its own house. (S. Freud, 1917)
Rather than living our lives ourselves, we are «lived» by unknown and uncontrollable forces.
(S. Freud, 1923)

• In the exploding world of mind science, unconscious mental processes are now taken for
granted as a basic feature of the mind.

• The new challenge: account for consciousness. 21

 Psychoanalysis as a theory of the mind

2. The centrality of early (childhood) experience on the development of the mind, which strongly influences adult
mental states.

• Our temperament shapes the experiences we have with our primary caregivers and genetic makeup (i.e.,
Freud’s “constitution”) and by our caregivers’ responses.

• This intense interpersonal biobehavioral matrix of infancy and early childhood forms templates: are more or
less modifiable for future relationships.

• Our struggle as young children to understand and come up with our complicated feelings about our earliest
love objects and our place in the family lays the foundations of enduring psychic structures that will determine
the characteristics of our future attachment relationships.

• Developmental nature of mental health problems.

→ Longitudinal research: three-quarters of mental health problems can be traced back, in an additive way, to
«adverse childhood events» (Kim-Cohen et al., 2003).
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 Psychoanalysis as a theory of the mind
3. Mental distress can be understood by as a compromise solution (mental conflict) and/or as a
result of a developmental deficit.

• «Mental distress can be understood as a compromise solution (mental conflict)»

• Mental conflicts arise from unconscious forces seeking to express themselves and
require constant control by opposing forces that prevent their expression.

• Mental conflicts:
▪ An intense affect (e.g. a desire or a fear) and a defense against that affect;
▪ different intrapsychic structures, or «parts», with different purposes and priorities;
▪ an impulse in contrast to an internalized awareness of the demands of external
reality.
• «…and/or as a result of a developmental deficit»
• Early childhood experiences are crucial for future adult relationships.
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 We are used to thinking about psychoanalysis in a tripartite way (Freud, 1923):

• as a theory of the mind (and a theory of some aspects of psychopathology)

• as a treatment
• as a method for investigating the mind
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FREUD, S. (1923). Two encyclopaedia articles. Standard Edition 18:235–259.
 Psychoanalysis as a treatment

• It is the first contemporary kind of psychotherapy that we know of!

• Psychoanalysis comprises a set of specific psychotherapeutic techniques:

▪ free association.
▪ Analysis of transference and countertransference.
▪ Interpretation (of defenses, resistance etc.).

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 Psychoanalysis as a treatment

Psychoanalytic therapists tend to place a stronger emphasis on:

(1)affect and emotional expression;

(2)the exploration of patients’ tendency to avoid topics (i.e., defenses);
(3)the identification of recurring patterns in behavior, feelings, experiences, and relationships;
(4)the past and its influence on the present;
(5)interpersonal experiences;
(6)the therapeutic relationship;
(7)the exploration of wishes, dreams, and fantasies.

(Blagys & Hilsenroth, 2000)

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 Psychoanalysis as a treatment

A common feature of all the psychoanalytic psychotherapies:

A therapists’ non judging and deeply respectful attitudes regarding patients’

mental life and the avoiding assuming that there is something «wrong» in
patients’ minds!

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 We are used to thinking about psychoanalysis in a tripartite way (Freud, 1923):

• as a theory of the mind (and a theory of some aspects of psychopathology)

• as a treatment
• as a method for investigating the mind
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FREUD, S. (1923). Two encyclopaedia articles. Standard Edition 18:235–259.
Psychoanalysis as a method of investigating the mind

Methods: Data were exclusively collected by observing patients’ mental processes during
psychoanalytic sessions

Some exceptions (before ‘90s):

• Clinical observations of children behavior (A. Freud, M. Klein)

• Squiggle Game (D. Winnicott)
• Observations of children behavior in a laboratory setting (M. Ainsworth)

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Case studies (or case
reports)

• “Dora” (Freud, 1905),

• “Rat man” (Freud, 1908),
• “Wolf man” (Freud, 1918),
• “Richard” (Klein, 1960),
• “Piggle” (Winnicott, 1977)
• “Mr. Z” (Kohut, 1979)

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Drew Westen (2002): «Narratives [case reports] ... are invariably compromise
formations. Hopefully, they include a strong dose of relatively accurate
perception and memory. But as compromise formations, they ... are likely to
reflect a variety of desires and fears: to make a particular point...convincingly,
to appear intelligent and clinically talented to one's colleagues, to establish
one's identity as a member of the analytic community (or a subset thereof), to
express identification with others one admires and those whose admiration
one desires, to express competitive or hostile impulses toward those with
whom one disagrees or dislikes, and so on...

Among the most important limitations are lack of replicability, lack of reliability
of inference, lack of control over the variables that would allow causal
inference, and unknown generalizability.» (p. 883)
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Is psychoanalysis a
science?

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 Evidence-based
medicine
Objective: establishing which clinical treatment
is most effective for a specific clinical
conditions (mental disorder) by applying
empirical methodologies (e.g., standardized
measures, statistical methods etc.)
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Case studies (or case reports)
As the history of science attests (and, as recently
emphasized by the American Psychological
Association in their guidelines defining “evidence”),
scientific evidence includes and often begins with
sound descriptions, such as case studies.

Psychodynamic Diagnostic Manual, 2006, p. 3

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 The strong debate within the psychoanalytic community regarding the
application of evidence-based and empirical research methods

Clinicians → are afraid that these changes may challenge their well-practiced
interpretive ways of working and their years of training in interpretive approaches.

Researchers → want to stick to «hard» methods and theories in order to maintain

scientific respectability and academic recognition.

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 The strong debate within the psychoanalytic community regarding the application of
evidence-based and empirical research methods

Clinicians → claim that the search for a scientific basis for psychoanalysis is inherently
misguided, arguing that it is a philosophical and linguistic discipline concerned with meaning
and interpretation rather than mechanism and explanation

Researchers → although perhaps more difficult to study than in the physical sciences,
cause–effect principles apply just as strongly in psychoanalysis as in physics.

This debate exemplifies the philosophical struggle between the coherence and
correspondence theories of truth (Cavell, 1994):

• coherence → depends on how robust and internally consistent a theory is

• correspondence → depends on how much it appears to correspond with the «facts»
of external reality (but note that coherence theorists argue that what we call a «fact»
is itself a construction and therefore subject to coherence criteria).
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 Psychoanalysis is no longer the undisputed queen of the psychotherapies. The
welcome and respect it used to find in the larger intellectual world can no longer
be taken for granted, even—in the final irony of all, perhaps especially—in the
world of medicine and psychiatry.

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 Today
• Empirical studies demonstrate not only that psychoanalytic concepts
can be tested empirically, but also that solid evidence supports many
psychoanalytic assumptions.

• Parts of psychoanalysis – unconscious, awareness, repression,

internalisation, and identification – are scientifically established
phenomena. Others represent metapsychological superstructures,
which may eventually be dismantled, amalgamated, or modified.

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 Today Keyword: «psychodynamic» (all fields)

• Psychodynamic research is
increasingly published in
major, high-ranking,
mainstream psychology
and psychiatry journals.

• There is now also

considerable evidence
documenting both the
efficacy and effectiveness
of various kinds of
psychodynamic
psychotherapy

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 Psychodynamic psychotherapy
Today, there are a bunch of psychotherapies derived from psychoanalysis:

• Brief psychodynamic Psychotherapy

• Mentalization Based Therapy (MBT)
• Transference focused psychotherapy (TFP)

Pragmatic demarcation line between psychoanalysis and psychodynamic psychotherapy

concerns the frequency, intensity, and duration of therapy.

Put simply: more than three sessions a week – psychoanalysis; three sessions or less –
everything else.

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 We do not even require of our patients that
they should bring a conviction of the truth of
psycho-analysis into the treatment or be
adherents of it. Such an attitude often raises
our suspicions. The attitude that we find the
most desirable in them is a benevolent
scepticism.

(Freud, 1917a, p. 244)

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