Key Theories and Approaches of Counselling
Senior 6 · Psychology (Languages)
Key Theories and Approaches of Counselling
Lesson 1 of 4
25 min
On the night of 23 to 24 July 1895, the Viennese doctor Sigmund Freud dreamed that, at a party, he met a former patient he called “Irma”, who complained of pains. In the dream, colleagues examined her and found an infection, and it became clear that a friend of Freud’s had given her an injection with an unclean syringe.
Freud wrote down every detail and, for each one, every thought that came to mind. He concluded that the dream fulfilled a hidden wish: in real life Irma had not fully recovered under his care, and the dream placed the blame on others, freeing him of responsibility. In The Interpretation of Dreams (1900) he used this analysis to argue that dreams are disguised wish-fulfilments, and that much of mental life happens outside awareness. From self-analysis and from his patients’ stories, he built psychoanalysis, the first “talking” therapy and the root of many counselling approaches.
Definition
Psychoanalytic theory: Freud’s theory that behaviour and feelings are strongly influenced by unconscious wishes, conflicts and early childhood experiences.
Unconscious: the part of the mind that holds thoughts, memories and wishes a person is not aware of but which still influence them.
Defence mechanism: an unconscious strategy the ego uses to protect itself from anxiety.
Transference: the client’s unconscious redirection onto the counsellor of feelings originally felt towards important people in their past, such as a parent.
Psychodynamic counselling: modern, usually briefer forms of counselling based on psychoanalytic ideas.
Figure 1. Freud’s iceberg: most of the mind lies below awareness.
| Part | Works on | Example: hungry student in a long assembly |
|---|---|---|
| Id | The pleasure principle: wants satisfaction now | “Leave and buy food!” |
| Superego | Morality learned from parents and society | “Leaving would be disrespectful.” |
| Ego | The reality principle: finds realistic compromises | “Wait twenty minutes; eat at break.” |
| Mechanism | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Repression | Pushing painful memories out of awareness | Being unable to recall a frightening event |
| Denial | Refusing to accept a painful reality | Insisting a failed exam “doesn’t count” |
| Projection | Seeing one’s own unacceptable feelings in others | A jealous student accusing a friend of jealousy |
| Displacement | Redirecting feelings to a safer target | Shouting at a younger sibling after a teacher’s criticism |
| Rationalisation | Giving a reasonable-sounding excuse | “I didn’t revise because the exam was going to be unfair anyway.” |
| Regression | Returning to childish behaviour under stress | Sulking and refusing to speak when upset |
| Sublimation | Channelling urges into acceptable activities | Turning anger into hard training for sport |
Classical psychoanalysis could involve several sessions a week for years, with the client lying on a couch. Modern psychodynamic counselling is usually face to face, weekly and shorter, focusing on repeating patterns in the client’s relationships.
Dr. Todd Grande: “Psychodynamic Therapy Role-Play - Defense Mechanisms and Free Association”. A counsellor educator demonstrates the techniques; note one moment where a defence mechanism appears and how the counsellor responds.
Important
Evaluate psychoanalytic theory
Warning
Common mistake: writing that the id, ego and superego are parts of the brain. They are parts of Freud’s model of the mind, not physical structures.
Tip
Memory hook: the id is the “I want”, the superego the “you must”, and the ego the “let’s be realistic”.
Practice
Sources and credits
Written by Ganzaa: the text, the tables, Figure 1 and the exercises.
