Both approaches focus on subjectivity and the inner world of the experiences in live, however psychodynamics are focused on the impact of the unconscious mind on meanings, motivations, behaviours and conscious experiences. They refer to inner conflicts (especially between the different aspects of the psyche – id, ego and superego) and the defensive processes used unconsciously to defend against the anxiety these conflicts creates, including repression, sublimation, projection and reaction formation. The aim of psychoanalytic psychotherapy is to release repressed unconscious material by bringing it into consciousness. The person centred approach primary focus on the significance of a person’s conscious feelings and thoughts while not entirely rejecting the relevance of unconscious feelings. Thus Rogers says that each person lives essentially in her own particular and subjective world. . While he accepts that a person will not be conscious of all aspects of her subjective world he believes that the person’s awareness of herself is the most important source of knowledge about her. The aim of person centred counselling is to help clients restore their ability to become aware of what they really feel. For this the therapist provides an atmosphere of non-evaluative, unconditional regard, a warmth and respect for clients regardless of what they think or do. They encourage their clients in a NON-DIRECTIVE WAY to explore and express whatever feelings they have.
Given this contrast between the approaches is easy to imagine that they will use very different types of methods to understand the subjective world of their clients. Psychodynamic techniques include dream analysis, free association, and the analysis of transference and resistance to reach and understand the unconscious conflicts. The experiential world of childhood and its significance in adult life plays a very important role. This approach focuses on interpretation on the basis of clinical evidence. They work with the understandings produced by this to try to give patients greater insight into their own unconscious motivations. Their assumption by doing this is that it will create a climate that will lead to positive change. The analyst plays a crucial role in bringing about change in clients for the aim of psychoanalytic therapy – to bring unconscious material into conscious awareness – requires the help and the skill of the analyst. In contrast Rogers’ therapy focus on the here and now, encouraging full awareness of senses and feelings, freedom to use bodily expressions as well as words, and discouraging both interpretation and evaluation. The emphasis is on encouraging clients to make their own choices and to work by themselves at reaching awareness of their feelings. They listen carefully and without interpretation, try to reflect back what they hear their clients to be saying This way it allows the client to become more aware of her feelings and to feel they can express these without censure. Once clients realise that she can do this and still be accepted, she can begin to open to what she really feel. This will make emerge a more consistent sense of self. The client will now be open herself up to relationships and situations which before would have been experienced as threatening. These methods tend to focus more on current experiences of the client in contrast to the psychoanalytic emphasis on the experiences of childhood.
One of the critics made by psychodinamic therapists to humanistic type counselling is that this is likely to be superficial and changes are short term; they think that without full awareness of unconscious motivations and the influences of unconscious residues from childhood, clients may be in no position to make effective choices and change themselves. However these emphasise the idea of autonomy, the potential for personal grow, and our capacity at least in part to create ourselves through the self-actualizating tendency, there is a drive to perfection in all-living matter and all human being is essentially good Psychodynamics observe the client as an entity with something wrong, Freud was pesimistic about human nature and had worrying doubts about the future of human kind. They see the person as a patient and not as a client as the client centred therapy does.
As we have seen the respective therapy methods of the two perspectives reflect the theoretical differences between them. The main debate focus on their respective models of the person and their different assumptions about the origins and nature of our actions and feelings, in particular the role of the unconscious and the validity of psychoanalytic interpretations. Maybe the weak point of both therapies is that they have been more concerned with developing ideas and methods rather than evaluating how and to what degree they can produce change. However both have made very important contributions to counselling and psychotherapy; psychodynamic approach offers a detailed theory of the human condition and it also constitutes a clinical method with a set of concepts and methods for penetrating to the unconscious meanings of the subjective experiences.
Although the person centred approach does not provide with a comprehensive theory of why we are as we are it provides very extended ideas and methods which are intended to heighten our awareness of what it regards as key aspects of the human condition and of our potentialities.
REFERENCES
Miell, D., Phoenix, A., Thomas, K.(2002), Mapping Psychology
Garcia, J. A., Lacasa, P.(1992), Psicologia Evolutiva
Hoffman, L., Scott, P., Hall E.(1995), Developmental Psychology Today ( Spanish Edition)
Myers, D. G.(1992), PSYCHOLOGY.( Spanish edition)
