Psychodynamic Therapy vs Directive Therapy: A Comparison
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How do psychodynamic and directive therapies differ?
Both types of therapy have the aim of helping you to reduce or overcome the symptoms and distress associated with your particular mental health problem.
The core difference between the Directive therapies such as CBT Therapy (CBT) and Psychodynamic therapies such as Psychoanalysis is that psychodynamic therapy tries to resolve the reasons WHY you feel the way that you do, to help to uncover deep and often unconscious motivations for certain feelings and thoughts.
Directive therapies, on the other hand, do not attempt to discover these deeper meanings, but aim to provide relief from suffering as quickly as possible by re-training your mind to replace any dysfunctional or distorted thought patterns or belief systems.
Comparing Directive & Psychodynamic Approaches
Directive Therapy
- Relatively brief and time limited - typically 12 -24 weeks
- Highly instructional with Homework a key element
- Highly structured and guided by the Therapist
- The focus is on "here-and-now" not the past
- The Client-Therapist relationship is not a key factor
Psychodynamic Therapy
- Can be brief, but typically 24 weeks or more
- Less rigid session framework and no homework required
- The Client's pace sets the agenda for progress
- Seeks to link the Past with the Present Symptomatology
- The Client-Therapist relationship is significant (Transference)
The Pros and Cons
| Directive Therapy | Psycho-dynamic Therapy | |
|---|---|---|
| Pros | Directive therapies foster the idea of independent effort on behalf of the client and therefore relies much less on the therapist. | Engenders the idea of the Client-Therapist relationship and is therefore a collaborative experience. |
| Pros | As the therapy takes place over a relatively short period of time, it can be less financially draining | Takes place over a longer period of time and tackles a wider range of issues. |
| Pros | It's quicker to produce results as it is very focused and doesn't generalise. | Because the object of the therapy is to uncover the causes of the dysfunctional thinking or behaviours, it is thought to be more effective in the longer term and in a more general way. |
| Cons | Some people find that it seems superficial and takes no account of their personal history. | Some people find the uncovering and re-experiencing of emotions quite difficult and uncomfortable. |
| Cons | Can seem to down play emotions and over-emphasise logical thought oriented elements of a person life. | Many find it difficult to believe that unconscious processes can be influencing a person's behaviour and prefer a more logical approach. |
| Cons | May have very little impact on some of the more deeply engrained behaviours and problems. | Therapy requires the examination and consideration of both earlier experiences and the Therapy relationship which some do not like. |
The Therapy Relationship in Counselling & Psychotherapy
Recent research has shown that the most important factor, or predictor of therapeutic success, is the therapy relationship that is created between the client and the therapist (Lambert, 2013 & Wampold & Imel, 2015) rather than the model of therapy in itself.
What this means is that the type of therapy (for example Psychoanalysis, CBT Therapy or any other Counselling approach),,,,
Mindfulness Therapy: How Does it Work?
Mindfulness Therapy is a combination of conventional forms of therapy mixed with the Buddhist traditional philosophy of ‘mindfulness’.
It is most frequently encountered today in the form of Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy or MBCT or as a stand-alone form of therapy in itself.
Which Therapy Should You Choose?
We are often asked by clients which therapy would be best for their specific problem, and although one might think that this is an easy question to answer, in fact there are numerous factors to take into consideration when trying to come up with a definitive answer.
The reality is that what is effective for one person may not be effective for another, and….
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