A man has always strived for superiority. Every human has certain flaws and defects in their lives. No matter how perfect life goes on there are some loopholes in the system. But the problem is not the presence of ambiguity but unawareness of it.
Everyone wants superiority in one or the other form. Majority of people believe that “Life with no flaws is possible.”
But perfect in what terms? Well, that differs from person to person.
Perfect life= Accomplished goals
The belief is that when ‘When my goals are achieved, I become the ideal self , that is when perfectness comes in.’ When someone refers to ideal self, unconciously he/she refers to a person whom they want to create out of themselves.That is when ‘Inferiority’ comes in. Ideal self image created in mind automatically assumes that the current self has some flaws and at that point seed of inferiority starts growing.This is termed as ‘Inferiority complex.’
But the interesting fact about it is your Area of Inferiority=Area of Superiority
You can only feel inferior about something , when you want to be more than you are in the same given circumstances.
Most of us must have heard about the term unconscious and conscious mind.Unconscious mind is where thought processes occur but one is not aware about it. So, when Psychodynamic therapy is done the thoughts of the unconscious mind are brought into picture.
The term Psychodynamic psychotherapy was came out of theories given by Sigmand Freud who is also recognized as Father of psychodynamic psychotherapy. This therapy identifies somehow the shaping of current personality and behaviour.
But it should not be confused with the term ‘Psychoanalysis’ which is a therapy based on intrapersonal interactions, whereas psychodynamic is interpersonal.
“Psychodynamic Psychotherapy” is a treatment for thoughts in motion in mind. Lets split the term ‘Psycho’ means ‘mind’ and ‘dynamics’ is something that is in motion. In simple terms the thoughts are in motion. Thoughts in motion does not necessarily mean that these are brought about in awareness.
Though the thoughts may be unconscious but those can affect our conscious thoughts and its consequences like feelings,expression,behaviour.
Psychodynamic psychotherapy is a form of treatment based on past experiences.The experiences had an effect on conscious behaviour but somehow it went unrecognised. The person knows that the problem persists but is not able to figure out the source of it and that is when the therapist helps out.
The therapist needs to know all the past experiences and thoughts.Along with that he should also know about the thoughts flushing in the unconscious mind.
Psychodynamic Psychotherapy comes under the category of interpersonal because the thing that bothers is somewhere because of thoughts of others and not the juggling between oneself.
By having a one on one interaction, knowing past experiences connecting the dots and ultimately converting unconscious thought to conscious.This is termed as Consciousness raising.Wherein unconscious desires,emotions,relationship patterns become visible and the person is now more aware of the thoughts which existed even before but were not introspected.
When a person is more aware of his thoughts which might be conscious or may not be but after the psychodynamics he is able to notice it , this benefits a human as becoming aware of thoughts in mind helps figuring out what is bothering and ultimately in making better decisions.
Four phases of Psychodynamic therapy
There are “Four basic phases of Psychodynamic therapy”
The first being ‘Evaluation’ wherein the person undergoes assessment. All the points required for knowing about the past are enquired and a therapist comes to know the root cause.
The second step is ‘Induction’ where the treatment begins and the person is made aware of the flow of process of how the therapy will go on.
The third step is ‘mid phase’ where the therapist and patient are working together to achieve the goals they’ve set or may be some things to overcome.
The last phase is ‘Termination’ where they will have a look at all the treatment plan, plan for future goals, and clear some difficulties.
Therapy with psychodynamic approach also has types:
Brief psychodynamic therapy:
For instance, if a person has anxiety and doesn’t know the reason or is unable to speak out, the cause of it is known in one session itself but resolving the problem requires time and brief assessment is done for it.
Psychodynamic Family Therapy is where families are involved. Unresolved conflicts and issues are analysed. Family traumas are addressed.
Psychodynamic art or music therapy
If a person is unable to express emotions, desires and feelings even with the therapist he/she expresses it in the form of artwork or music. This is how the thoughts are conveyed.
Therapist Approaches
Therapist approaches in steps:
Firstly the emotions of a person are acknowledged and he makes sure that the feeling has been delivered.
Then he observes the behaviour of a person and how his past situations have affected his decisions and behaviour.Therapist identifies whether the past decisions and situations have affected his/her social life and interpersonal connections.
If a person is ignorant about certain things and doesn’t even talk about it more, that particular area is dealt with by a therapist. Goal of psychodynamic psychotherapy is making a person aware of thoughts coming from the unconscious mind and how that is affecting current behaviour patterns.
Key feature of psychodynamic psychotherapy is identifying unconscious thoughts and knowing its effect on conscious behaviour.