Unconscious Communication and Defence Mechanisms

Un cognizant Communication and Defence MechanismsAccording to Frayne1 unconscious mind dialogue is one(a) of the three types of conference, the separate two being conscious and preconscious. To the clinician, it is critical to understand the full nature of unconscious communication, falsification mechanisms and the musical mode in which these inter arrange in the remedial environment2. The redress environment is lots prey to issues of conveyance, countertransference and a multitude of denial mechanisms. As a result, it is innate that the clinician understand how issues of transactional epitome impact both(prenominal) the patient and therapist.The therapeutic tantrum is one based on a close relationship, that of patient and clinician. two parties bring their own beliefs and perceptions, personality, stages of development and behaviors to the therapeutic experience. As a result, both parties are prey to their own types of unconscious communication and use of variant defense team mechanisms. Frayne3 resigns Contemporary psychoanalytic interventions (require that) the analyst be able to imprint in that transitional field that joins the unconscious of the patient and the analyst.This melodic theme leave behind highlight the many concepts involved in the roles of unconscious communication, defence mechanisms, transactional analysis and the transference and countertransference experience. In order to highlight these issues and how they can manifest themselves, this paper will present the case of B.A., a 13-year-old child who has been in the therapeutic setting for 5 months. Following the case presentation, topics will be explored in a reflective manner.Case PresentationB.A. is a 13-year-old Caucasian virile who presented to the therapeutic setting as a result of maladaptive behaviour displayed at home and in the school setting. B.A. is one of four children born(p) to working class parents, both of whom work a traditional 830 600 work day. B. A. is second oldest and the only male child. His other(a) sisters are 15, 10 and 7 years of age, respectively.B.A. has had history of excellent grades, for the most part As and a few Bs for the majority of his public schooling and has been cited as a good citizen by his teachers. Five months ago, B.A.s grades significantly dropped to near(a) failing, his attitude was oppositional, he was oft truant and B.A. became involved with numerous fights with other children. When school counsellors brought the issues to B.A.s parents, his parents acknowledged that B. A. changed at home as well, being oppositional and defiant. both his teachers and parents cited increased frequency of lying and his parents telld It is getting impossible to branch the disagreeence between when he is telling us the truth or a lie. We wonder if he even knows the difference anymore, whether he believes his lies rightfully are the truth.Upon closer familial examination, B. A.s parents admitted they had been having marital problems, including issues of betrayal and infidelity much(prenominal) that there have been regular loud shouting matches and arguments in the house. During those duration B.A. would stay in his room and turn the volume on his binaural up, causing more stress within the household. The infidelity was first uncovered six months ago at which time B.A.s parents discussed divorce options, which B. A. overheard.A effectuate incident involving night time vandalism four months ago at his school led to court involvement and mandated psychological counselling for a period of one year.The reflective nature of this paper is based on two months of bi-weekly therapeutic sessions.Unconscious CommunicationFrayn4 tells us that unconscious communication can only be inferred, as it cannot be tangibly seen, yet only sensed in the therapeutic setting, primarily during those times of silence. in that respect were many times that B.A. maintained his silence, primarily during those ti mes when he was challenged to let off his behaviour, justify his actions or explain his thought processes. Although his overt actions during these silent periods could be interpreted as insolent behaviour, there was no way to sincerely know what unconscious mechanisms were engaged, but a series of defence mechanisms were perspicuous in his therapy and were inferred as greatly influenced by the unconscious process5.Defence MechanismsFrayn6 believes that unconscious processes are often a form of acting out in the therapeutic environment, in token those under age seven, where children find it easier to act instead of talk7. This is particularly evident in the transactional analysis approach when traffic with dysfunctional or challenged adolescents, like B.A. who respond with childlike reactions when stressed. In particular, Araujo, Feldman and Steiner8 state that defence mechanisms are a function of age, sex and status of genial health. In particular, those unconscious actions and reactions are involuntary but serve to cringe a perceived threat as reality-distorting mechanisms postulated to form themselves in the unconscious9. Araujo et al. 10 state that youths with psychological issues have a tendency to display less(prenominal) ripen defence mechanism such as denial, projection, regression, passive aggression and duty period even though they are considered ineffective coping strategies for an adolescent. More jump on defence mechanisms are considered sublimation, anticipation, affiliation, suppression and humour.This concept is particularly important to the therapeutic environment as the defence mechanisms among mentally healthy early adolescents differ from the mentally healthy mid-adolescent. The older the individual on the child to mid-adolescent continuum, the less the patient should be employing immature defence mechanisms11. Similarly, the higher the level of aflame recognition, the less one relies on maladaptive defence mechanisms that often try out inconsistent and illogical12. B.A.s impulsive and acting out behaviour coupled with his lies make therapy particularly rugged. Elaad13 tells us that lying is a method of deceptive communication that provides an advantage to the deceiver, stating that those with poor social skills use methods of deception more frequently than others with lesser levels of guilt over their deception. From a transactional analysis standpoint, Elaad14 states that the bad-child indulges in defence mechanisms that feel natural, as the ego state attempts to rid itself of parental pressure.Clinicians subscribe to to be aware of developmental stages and influences, such as emotional intelligence in order to effectively intervene for the patient, especially if significant unconscious communication mechanisms are in place15. Given B.A.s familial discord, it was not difficult to see that when B.A. acted out or displayed other defence mechanisms, including his frequent lying, issues of transference were part of the therapeutic process.TransferenceThe defence maturity model postulated by Vaillant16 believes that defence projection is the result of unacceptable feelings or relations with other that are displaced and redirected away from one person and directed at a less-cared-for-person, often a therapist. For those patients experiencing unconscious emotions, many times patients will exchange their unconscious feelings towards another person instead of dealing with them personally17. B.A. appears to be transferring and project his own undefended parental/authoritarian conflicts on his therapist and although he displays occasional glimmers of wanting to please and receive the favour of his therapist and sort out a feeling of security, the security he used to feel with his parents onwards the familial discord.CountertransferenceHaarhoff18 tells us that for the therapist, an awareness of countertransference, whereby the therapist unconsciously projects their own unresolved conflic ts on the patient can have negative repercussions and consequences if the therapist ignores or fails to understand his or her own emotional reactions including the inability to set limits with a patient, feel inhibited to discuss various topics and other manifestations of avoidant behaviour. As a therapist, issues of countertransference are also paramount in B.A.s therapy, as feeling of arouse at being lied to or suspecting that B.A. is lying during therapy sessions creates feelings of wasted time when time in for sessions is limited and B.A. avoids various topics and time management is one of the personal stressors this writer experiences. Awareness of countertransference creates boundary issues with a therapist19. In particular with B.A., it appears that a more demanding and controlling nature seems to overshadow the therapeutic process. resultantThe use of defence mechanisms in the therapeutic environment is important to identify, as, check to Reisner20 different types of neuro ses are associated with different types of defence mechanisms. For example, those who are high in hysterical identifiers are more likely to employ repression as a defence mechanism where those who are obsessive compulsive, considered sensitizers, are hypervigilant to any kind of threatening stimuli21.Feldman and Steiner22 believe that the more a therapist knows about defence mechanisms, particularly those who deal with children and adolescents, that knowledge can be used to telephone levels of pathology among their patients. Aalto-Setala et al. 23 tell us that unconscious behaviours, such as communication and defence mechanisms are associated with an effort by the patient to manage their conflict. In particular, researchers plant that the greater levels of immature defence mechanism use by adolescents is associated with the aggression of mood disorders in adults24. Successful therapeutic intervention must quantify both conscious and unconscious communication in the patient and therapist.BibliographyAalto-Setala, Terhi, Lonnqvist, Jouko, Poikolainen, Kari and Tuulio-Henriksson, Annamari. psychological Defence ways in Late Adolescence and Young due date A carry through Study. journal of the American Academy of Child and adolescent Psychiatry. 1997.Araujo, Katy B., Feldman, S. Shirley and Steiner, Hans. Defense Mechanisms in youthfuls as a Function of Age, Sex, and Mental Health Status. daybook of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. 1996.Cashwell, Craig S., Schweiger, Wendi K. and Watts, Randolph H., Jr. Fostering Intrinsic motivation in Children A Humanistic Counseling Process. Journal of Humanistic Counseling, schooling and Development. 2004.Clark, Arthur J. Scapegoating Dynamics and Interventions in Group Counseling. Journal of Counseling and Development. 2002.Elaad, Eitan. Detection of pretense A Transactional compendium Perspective. The Journal of Psychology. 1993.Feldman, S. Shirley and Steiner, Hans. Two Approaches to the measurement of Adaptive Style Comparison of Normal, Psychosomatically Ill, and Delinquent Adolescents. Journal of American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. 1995.Frayn, Douglas H. Unconscious Communication and its relational Manifestations in the Analytic Process. Canadian Journal of Psychoanalysis. 1998.Haarhoff, Beverly A. The Importance of Identifying and Understanding Therapist dodge in Cognitive Therapy knowledge and Supervision. New Zealand Journal of Psychology. 2006.Jones, Alun C. Transference and Countertransference. Perspectives in Psychiatric Care. 2004.Murray, Robert J. The Therapeutic do of Forgiveness in Healing Intergenerational Pain. Counseling and Values. 2002.OReilly-Knapp, Marye and Erskine Richard G. Core Concepts of an Integrative Transactional Analysis. Transactional Analysis Journal. 2003.Pellitteri, John. The Relationship between Emotional Intelligence and Ego Defense Mechanisms. The Journal of Psychology. 2002.Pires dos Santos, Manuel J. Counte rtransference in Psychotherapy and Psychiatry Today. Presented at the XXII Brazilian Congress of Psychiatry, Salvador B. A., Brazil. October 2004.Reisner, Andrew D. Repressed Memories real and False. The Psychological Record. 1996.Footnotes1D. Frayn, Unconscious Communication and Its Relational Manifestations in the Analytic Process, Canadian Journal of Psychoanalysis, 1998) 207.2Frayn 208.3Frayn 207.4Frayn 208.5Frayn 210.6Frayn 211.7Frayn 211.8K. B. Araujo, S. S. Feldman and H. Steiner, Defense Mechanisms in Adolescents as a Function of Age, Sex and Mental Health Status, Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 1996.9A. Freud 1966 as cited by Araujo et al.10K. B. Araujo et al. 1996.11K. B. Araujo et al. 1996.12J. Pellitteri, The Relationship mingled with Emotional Intelligence and Ego Defense Mechanisms, The Journal of Psychology, 2002.13E. Elaad, Detection of fraud A Transactional Analysis Perspective, The Journal of Psychology, 1993.14Elaad 1996.15Pe llitteri 2002.16Vaillant, 1986 as cited by S. S. Feldman and H. Steiner, Two approaches to the Measurement of Adaptive Style Comparison of Normal, Psychosomatically Ill and Delinquent Adolescents, Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 1995.17Pellitteri, 2002.18B. A. Haarhoff, The Importance of Identifying and Understanding Therapist Schema in Cognitive Therapy Training and Supervision, New Zealand Journal of Psychology, 2006.19Haarhoff 2006.20A. D. Reisner, Repressed Memories True and False. The Psychological Record, 1996.21Reisner 1996.22Feldman and Steiner 1995.23Aalto-Setala et al. 1997.24Feldman and Steiner 1995 T. Aalto-Setala, J. Lonnqvist, K. Poikolainen and A. Tuulio-Henriksson, Psychological Defense Styles in Late Adolescence and Young Adulthood A Follow-up Study, Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 1997.