Pest Analysis and Journal Learning

Psychodynamic has come a long way as a model in counselling and psychotherapy. Since its inception by Freud it has continued to remain relevant in modern practices. The ideologies behind psychodynamic is used in the academic field and in clinical practices. Most of the approaches used in counselling and psychotherapy emerged from psychoanalysis (Parker, 2010). One of the common precepts of the integrative counsellor is psychodynamic approach, hence every integrative counsellor should be fully grounded in the techniques, methods, and approaches used in psychodynamic.

This essay is a descriptive analysis of a 50 minutes DVD recorded session. In the session, I played the role of a counsellor, why my colleague (a fellow student) was the client. In line with the confidentiality principle of the BACP (2016) ethical framework, I sought her permission to use excepts from the session for the course task and to use a pseudo name to hide her identity.

My typical style of counselling approach is the Person-centred, hence it is impossible for me not to apply the main skills of EC-UPR (Empathy, Congruence, and Unconditional Positive Regard) in the real play session. My adaptive style however does not limit the use of psychodynamic skills in the session that ensued. Some researchers have also added that all psychotherapeutic approaches have some intersections at some point (O’Brien & Houston, 2007). The application of psychodynamic by counsellors is to help clients realise who they are in the present. The procedure to get there is first to unlock the unconscious mind and help the client understand the past, accentuate the client’s experiences in other for the client to know the current reality (Jacob, 2004). Hence, I followed the same procedure to get my client to gain consciousness of her present condition.

At the start of the session, I did the normal introductions and routine. After we exchanged pleasantries. I set out to tell her that the therapeutic approach that will be used is psychodynamic, to this she did not have a problem. I told her the rules of the approach and clarified that if her situation was needed hospitalization or urgency, I will put a call through immediately.

The client had multiplicity of problems. She lost her only daughter, five and a half years ago, of which she is still grieving, her mum is seriously ill in Nigeria and she cannot be there, and she is going through a divorce phrase in her marriage. She is currently on anti-depressants and she feels very alone in the situation. My client considers herself as a very religious person, and she says she is not hearing from God about the situation. She also says she has been there for people in time past and they are not giving her the support she believes she requires. Her children (all boys) also do not understand what she is going through, they just tell her to go have fun and that is all. The situation presented by the client, is one of depression and the most likely approach would have been the Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) however, as the situation presents itself I have to ensure that the psychodynamic approach is used in the situation by drawing the client back to the past to what the present.

The most fundamental principle in a counselling session is the ability to listen attentively (Geldard & Geldard, 2005). Hence at the start when the client began narrating her problem I was attentive to her, given her the needed audience to speak and bear her mind. I did however cut in sometimes to ensure that the approaches of psychodynamic will be used in the process. Therefore, I asked questions such as “what was your relationship with your mum like?”; and “When you were growing up did you have a good relationship with your mum?”. It was difficult to get the client to focus on the past, she was all about what she was going through in the immediate circumstances, this posed a huge challenge for the real play session.

Furthermore, l allowed my emotions into the situation because I understood very well the culture of the client, and I could relate with the religiousness, and the part where she must stay with her husband irrespective of the circumstances because of cultural and religious beliefs. At a point where she said she feels very lonely, my empathic and unconditional positive regard side (Clark, 2010) showed up as I said “I feel for you when you say you feel alone”. On reflection, it helped her to be more open and free about the discussions. I got to her in the sense that she felt I felt what she meant and I understand her perfectly (Geldard & Geldard, 2005). After this I followed the abstinence rule, as I became very quiet and attentive to her (Jacobs, 2004).

I began to remind myself about Howard (2010) when he identified that the theory of psychodynamic philosophy stems in “early experience and phantasy combine to a create a person’s internal world” (p.2). Hence, I garnered myself and asked my client - “when exactly did you lost your daughter?” she identified that it was five and a half years ago. I went further to ask her; “what role did your husband play - emotionally, financially, spiritually or otherwise”. This question was to get a sense of her divorce. This really opened her up as she indicated that her husband did not play any role, and he believed it was so simple to move on. This believe she said stems from the culture that her daughter was a child and there was nothing to think too much about. Since, my client had expressed regret over people that she thought will be there for her, but eventually were not there; I asked her “how did you feel when your sister flew in from the United States to be with you? She said she was happy, but she went further to disclose the role of her husband and his family. Taking her mind back to the past, and reflecting for the future (Higdon, 2011). This was something having direct linking to psychodynamic framework.

I went further to buttress on the past influencing the future (Higdon, 2011; Brooks-Harris, 2008). I asked her what her relationship was like with her husband back in the days. I asked this question because I wanted her to reflect on the times (if any) her husband had been the man she knew and her father to her children. She narrated that he has always been like that. To get a better interpretation of the situation, I asked her; “what do your children think about you both getting a divorce?”, she identified that her children knew perfectly the situation, that he had never been a father to them. She single-handled trained her children, and that some of her children were graduates and the other ones were college students. She noted that her children told her that she has their support, and it was high time for her to move on.

I proceeded to ask

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