Why You Need A Psychoanalyst - Self-development

We have already written about many areas of psychotherapy. Now it was the turn of psychoanalysis. What to expect from working with a psychoanalytic psychologist and in what situations is it worth contacting this specialist?

One of my acquaintances (let's call him M.) decided to consult a psychologist. “I use the psychoanalytic method,” - read M. on the specialist's website. What does it mean? Thoughtful M. decided to figure out what kind of method the psychologist uses and what this method can give him. M. came to me as a psychoanalytic psychologist and asked for help in answering three questions.

When do people go to a psychologist?

The conversation with M. began like this: “Do I really need this? Go to a psychologist, tell him something? When do people come to a psychologist?"

People come to a psychologist when they feel bad. Something in their life starts to go wrong. And, as a rule, when a person decides to turn to a psychologist, this "not so" has been going on for quite a long time. I noticed that going to a psychologist is often associated with "I can't." I call this impossibility. "I can not forget". "I can't make up my mind." “I can't fall in love” … Everyone has their own impossibility.

“Okay, - said M. - I know that a psychologist can suggest a test and give recommendations and exercises based on its results. I would like to receive an answer to the question: “What should I do in my situation? Does the psychologist have any plan to get out of this situation?”” What to say? The psychoanalytic psychologist does not give recommendations, does not conduct tests, does not offer exercises for the development of any skills, does not ask homework, answers to the question "What should I do in this situation?" and "What's our plan?" does not have. Why then did this psychoanalytic psychologist give up and what does psychoanalytic therapy generally give? A logical question.

What is the psychoanalytic direction?

The name "psychoanalytic" speaks for itself. That is, this trend is based on psychoanalysis with its key message that the unconscious affects our behavior and functioning. Conflicts arise between the unconscious and consciousness. They also become the cause of internal problems.

Freud compared the influence of the unconscious on a person's life with the situation when a careless student during a lecture interferes with the teacher in every possible way. The teacher puts the student out the door. And he still constantly looks into the audience, draws attention to himself in all possible ways, interferes in the work again and again. So we push our unconscious "out the door", and it constantly reminds us of itself. Pain, melancholy, "unreasonable" failures, etc. And just as the situation with this student can be resolved only by inviting him to the audience, so with the unconscious - you need to find out what it wants from us.

The psychoanalytic direction considers the problem that arises in a person's life as a multilevel one. The first level is the one that the person is aware of. Another level is hidden. He is inaccessible to consciousness. The hidden meaning of the problem, inaccessible to consciousness, feeds it at a deep level and thereby prolongs its life. It is impossible to reach this level on your own, alone, without the accompaniment of a psychologist. The goal of psychoanalytic therapy is to help a person find this hidden meaning and thus cope with the problem. How this happens is the third question.

What does psychoanalytic therapy give and how does it work?

We have already touched on the fact that the psychologist, depending on the direction he adheres to, uses the theory, technique, and methods of this direction in his work. The psychoanalyst interprets, that is, shares with the client what unconscious meaning is contained in what the client tells him.

There are many different, unusual moments in working with a psychoanalytic psychologist. For example, if you are visiting a psychoanalytic psychologist for the first time, you should be prepared that he will not "this moment" answer each of your lines. This does not mean that he ignores them.

Psychoanalytic therapy is a study in which a psychoanalytic psychologist assists a client. The client examines his psyche with the help of a psychoanalytic psychologist. This research is complex and painstaking. And the psychoanalytic psychologist, knowing this, tries to be careful and accurate. He provides the client with therapy as a safe, non-judgmental environment, understanding how difficult and painful the research is for the client.

The psychoanalytic psychologist is not in a hurry, he cannot be in a hurry. He waits, thinks, analyzes. He thinks not only about the client's text, but also about the context in which the client's words sound. What, how and why, after what or before what and in connection with what the client said. What is the deeper meaning of what the client said. When the psychoanalytic psychologist has a hypothesis, he shares it with the client. This is called interpretation.

The psychoanalytic psychologist interprets in order to understand the deep meaning of the impossibility problem. Because our psyche is arranged in such a way that when the deep meaning becomes clear, the impossibility is transformed into a possibility. Psychoanalytic therapy brings awareness. Awareness of all the elements leading to the problem with which a person turns to a psychoanalytic psychologist.

Turning to a psychologist with his problem, a person wants to find a solution to the problem. There can be many solutions. How many directions in psychotherapy - so many ways.

Psychoanalytic psychotherapy helps, by making the unconscious conscious, see and process the inner conflicts that caused the psychological problem. What is conscious no longer needs to burst through the closed door with anxiety, pain, loneliness, emptiness, anguish, etc. Psychoanalytic therapy makes it possible to realize the problem. And thus to deal with the problem and its cause.

Here's a conversation. M. had answers to his questions, and he went to a psychoanalytic psychologist. Now they will have to walk together along the road of the unconscious. Where will she lead them? And that's another story.

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