Weekly Assignments

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Weekly assignment

Post

Shedler’s The Efficacy of Psychodynamic Therapy offers distinctive features of treating clients that makes it different from other psychotherapies. The most striking impact of the therapy is that the beneficiaries of the therapy show significant signs of improvements. I therefore believe that this is an effective way of treating the people who are suffering from different mental complications. The most visible benefit according to my analysis is less frequent meetings. When clients meet therapists more often they start losing self-control and demand more often to meet them. This I believe is not a good sign because the purpose of the therapy should be to allow people to become self-sufficient. By keeping the number of visits to minimum in psychodynamic therapy the clients learn to build self-sufficiency. This is an effective way of resolving their personal conflicts and problems CITATION Jon102 \l 1033 (Shedler, 2010).

I think Shedler’s psychodynamic therapy is a practical method of uncovering the conflicting or disturbed thoughts of the people. This is because the therapy emphasize on studying the emotions of the clients. This allow them to find their hidden feelings and help them in maintaining cognitive focus. The therapist makes the best use of this therapy by allowing the clients to learn to avoid distressing thoughts. Acknowledgement of the depressed feelings bring them to a state where they learn to avoid them. I think the most visible strength of this therapy that makes it better than others is its focus on the concept of self. This therapy brings clients to a self-realization state where he manages to develop strength for overcoming negative thoughts and feelings. I think that the metric of effect size discussed by Shedler also proves the practical benefits of this psychodynamic therapy. Significant studies are conducted to evaluate it and provides evidentiary support.

Response 1

I agree with the viewpoints of Katharine R Forcier because she thinks that The Efficacy of Psychodynamic Therapy is an interesting way of treating patients with different psychological problems. I agree that the article is important for understanding the importance of psychodynamic therapy because before reading it we used to consider it as unreal. The medications and treatments offered by this therapy are different from cognitive behavior therapy. I like the part highlighted by Forcier by mentioning 0.26 effect of Zoloft. It is quite interesting to know her personal life is linked somehow to this therapy. I agree that the psychologists normally tell people to meet others and get social for overcoming their negative thoughts. However they ignore the other simpler ways as highlighted by Shedler in the article. I believe that this therapy could be of more use if the therapists learn to use it in the right manner and by focusing on studying the emotions.

Response 2

I agree with the discussion of Donal Keane who provides a good analysis on Shedler’s article. I agree that psychodynamic therapy is different from other therapies due to its distinctive features. The approach used in this therapy is based on one’s personal experiences. I like the point quoted in the post where Shedler highlights the need for learning one’s past. The reason in to use it for helping individual to overcome his disturbance by managing complex thoughts of the past. I think that without sorting out the old conflicts one cannot go easy on life. This is essential for moving forward and forgetting the harsh or bitter memories. I believe that the central focus of therapist according to this therapy should be on understanding the feelings and concerns of the clients. This could be used for dealing with anxiety, depression and mental illness.

Reference

BIBLIOGRAPHY Shedler, J. (2010). The Efficacy of Psychodynamic Psychotherapy. American Psychological Association, 65 (2), 98 –109.