Psychodynamic Interventions

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ARTICLE 1

Hemsley, C. (2010). Why this trauma and why now? The contribution that psychodynamic theory can make to the understanding of post-traumatic stress disorder. Counselling Psychology Review. 25 (2), 13-20.

"Psychodynamic therapy is the oldest of the modern therapies. (Freud's psychoanalysis is a specific form and subset of psychodynamic therapy.) As such, it is based in a highly developed and multifaceted theory of human development and interaction" (www.psychcentral.com). Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is described as the development of a characteristic pattern of symptoms in response to exposure to an unusually traumatic event (www.apa.org). Hemsley (2010) utilized a psychodynamic an approach in contrast to a Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) model to explore reactions to trauma associated with PTSD. Based on the psychodynamic approach the impact of trauma could be explored by achieving an understanding of the particular meaning that the events brought into the patient's life.

For instance, childhood and development is expected to play a large role in the therapeutic analysis of trauma. The focus is not on the trauma but the possibility that this trauma has uncovered unresolved pains and feelings. According to Hemsley (20100, the National Institute of clinical Excellence (NICE and many CBT protocols recommend the establishment of a relationship to enhance the patient's sense of safety, the psychodynamic model presents it as central to recovery (p. 15).

The patient, (Natalie (pseudonym) is a 22-year-old woman who witnessed a burglary, and later witnessed a violent assault of her partner by the gang who burglarized her home. Five months later (Criterion E based on the DSM-IV-TR) flat being burgled by several youths and later witnessed a violent assault on her partner by the same gang (criterion A). Five months later (criterion E) she was experiencing intrusive recollections of the event. Natalie reported reduced social interactions, a tendency to avoid discussing the events (criterion C) which was also displayed by an initial reluctance to approach the events within therapy. She displayed signs of insomnia and when sleeping would awake to the slightest sound (criterion D). Her attendance at work was markedly reduced to the point that her boss had commented on her attendance (criterion F). Natalie had never known her father as he left the family household when she was under two-years-old. Subsequently, her mother had several relationships that were violent in nature. ...