Psychoanalysis Vs. Dynamics?

[maranatha]

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So I come from a medical school whose psych department leans toward the biological side and really beats the drum of CBT, IPT, and what not; so I'm less familiar with psychodynamics...

I keep on hearing that psychoanalysis and psychodynamics are different. Can someone explain the difference to me?

Thanks!

 

[MBK2003]

Well, not being an analyst myself, but being trained in a dynamics-heavy program, my rule of thumb is that psychodynamic therapy is generally 2x a week (a.k.a. insight-oriented psychodynamic therapy) and can be either a brief short-term treatment or a longer treatment of 1-2 years. Psychoanalysis is 4x a week, conducted by an analyst, and occurs over a much longer time spans (years). While there are techniques in common, interpretation, dream work, & working in the transference, my impression is that there's a real difference in the intensity of the treatment.

MBK2003

 

[LM02]

Well, not being an analyst myself, but being trained in a dynamics-heavy program, my rule of thumb is that psychodynamic therapy is generally 2x a week (a.k.a. insight-oriented psychodynamic therapy) and can be either a brief short-term treatment or a longer treatment of 1-2 years. Psychoanalysis is 4x a week, conducted by an analyst, and occurs over a much longer time spans (years). While there are techniques in common, interpretation, dream work, & working in the transference, my impression is that there's a real difference in the intensity of the treatment.

MBK2003

Also, psychoanalytic theory is grounded in Freud's concept of the two basic drives - sex and aggression (eros & thanatos).

Back in the day, several theorists did not agree on the centrality of eros/thanataos, and developed psychodynamic theories that stress otherwise similar concepts (i.e., inner conflicts, the unconscious, working with transference, etc.- as MBK nicely outlined) but without the particularly strong focus on sex and aggression.

Also, in addition to being shorter in terms of # of sessions, psychodynamic therapy is typically a bit more structured within the session.

 

[Doc Samson]

Also, psychoanalytic theory is grounded in Freud's concept of the two basic drives - sex and aggression (eros & thanatos).

Back in the day, several theorists did not agree on the centrality of eros/thanataos, and developed psychodynamic theories that stress otherwise similar concepts (i.e., inner conflicts, the unconscious, working with transference, etc.- as MBK nicely outlined) but without the particularly strong focus on sex and aggression.

Also, in addition to being shorter in terms of # of sessions, psychodynamic therapy is typically a bit more structured within the session.

Modern psychoanalysis integrates the concepts of Jung, Klein, Kohut, etc. No-one practices pure Freudian analysis anymore.

 

[LM02]

Modern psychoanalysis integrates the concepts of Jung, Klein, Kohut, etc. No-one practices pure Freudian analysis anymore.

Sorry I wasn't more clear - I was just clarifying that, historically, the "sex thing" was where there was a large rift which set the ball rolling for some of these other "psychodynamic" models to emerge.

Not to turn this into a psychologist vs. psychiatrist thread (because I very genuinely don't want to do that), but I think it's interesting that very few psychologists are trained in psychoanalysis these days, whereas several of my psychiatry colleagues get a lot of this on residency. For example, one of my psychiatry buddies refers to all therapy as "analysis." He always asks me about my "analysis" cases, when in reality, I'm a behaviorist. It's an interesting divergence of the two fields.

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

.....I think it's interesting that very few psychologists are trained in psychoanalysis these days, whereas several of my psychiatry colleagues get a lot of this on residency.

Interesting. I believe one reason behind this is the problem of pratical application of the approach in today's world (insurance coverage, frequency, duration, etc) I prefer an Object Relations perspective, but for some....they want a 'quicker' fix, which is one reason why CBT, and related approaches, have gained popularity. Each method has their own positives and negatives.....but I think the largest obstacle traditional analysis work encounters is the scarcity of time in our modern world.

-t