A consideration of the usefulness of Medard Boss's approach to dream explication, in an attempt to reveal the potential for forward movement
- Authors: Hill, Patricia Margaret
- Date: 1992
- Subjects: Boss, Medard, 1903-1990 , Dream interpretation -- Case studies
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3212 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1012271 , Boss, Medard, 1903-1990 , Dream interpretation -- Case studies
- Description: The purpose of this study is to investigate the value of using a Daseinsanalytic approach to dream explication in order to reveal the essential meaningfulness of behaviourial possibilities for the patient. After discussing the Daseinsanalytic view on dream explication, emphasizing Medard Boss's approach as the major exponent of this view, the study explores the usefulness and validity of the study as a method of investigating the dreams from this perspective. The dreams related in this study are examined individually, giving a phenomenological understanding of each and also providing a possible prospective focus for therapy. It will be shown that the phenomenological understanding of the patient's dreams corresponds with his subjective experience of his emotional existential situation and that any positive changes in the content of the dreams over time corresponds with observable and related changes in his behaviour, ideation and mood. However, if the suggested prospective focus of Medard Boss had been more usefully employed when each dream was explicated in the therapy sessions, it is felt that the progress of therapy would have been greatly enhanced. This study therefore concludes that the use of Medard Boss's approach to dream explication has not only a hermeneutic value in the process of therapy, but also aids the dreamer in becoming aware of the possible modes of behaviour yet unrevealed in his waking life.
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- Date Issued: 1992
Working with the contemptuous client in psychotherapy
- Authors: Hoffman, Elan
- Date: 1992
- Subjects: Psychotherapist and patient -- Case studies
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3213 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1012315 , Psychotherapist and patient -- Case studies
- Description: The purpose of this case study is to explore the issue of contempt in the therapeutic relationship. The aims are twofold; namely, to illustrate to what extent the case studied throws light on existing theories on contempt in psychotherapy, and to enquire about which stance adopted by the therapist is most appropriate in the therapeutic interaction with a contemptuous client. It investigates the validity of using the case study method in examining both the content and the process of this particular course of psychotherapy. Literature on contempt in psychotherapy is reviewed, as well as the foundation-stone on which it rests, namely, the Kleinian approach to envy . The concepts of the superego and false self are also drawn upon in understanding this particular client's dynamics. The client's therapy is then presented and explored, in order to gain insight into how a psychotherapist's understanding of the contemptuous client can clarify the process of therapy. It highlights the limitations and potentialities that exist in working in this sphere of resistance, and raises questions relevant to therapists faced with these clients. The case study shows how theory in this area is helpful in understanding the contemptuous client, and that the ability of the therapist to endure and survive the contempt of the client is a crucial factor in working with the contemptuous individual.
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- Date Issued: 1992
Rites of passage: Substance dependence and the negotiation of development tasks - a case study
- Authors: Roux, Catharina
- Date: 1991
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/193242 , vital:45313
- Description: This thesis is an attempt to provide an understanding of drug addiction in its relation to the tasks and arrests which take place during the developmental process. Current theories of drug addiction are situated within the parameters of developmental theory; Object Relations Theory, Lacanian Structuralism and Freud’s concept of the Oedipus Complex are drawn on. The dual regressive and progressive function of drugs as it relates to developmental tasks and arrests is illustrated, the argument being that a very specific relationship exists between the compulsive use of drugs and the developmental tasks which need to be avoided as well as those which need to be negotiated. The case study research method is made use of in the attempt to illustrate the links between drug addiction and specific developmental tasks. I present an in-depth analysis of the developmental history of Rafiq Jaffer, an inpatient at the drug unit at Lentegeur Psychiatric Hospital, drawing on the material which was collected during nine months of individual therapy. As Borderline Personality Disorder is the primary diagnosis in the case of Rafiq Jaffer, the emphasis is by necessity put on borderline pathology. The primary aim of the thesis is, however, to highlight the need to understand the compulsive use of drugs within the context of the developmental process, thereby developing a conceptualisation against which further cases may be tested. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Psychology, 1991
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- Date Issued: 1991
The usefulness of the story of the alchemical vessel in the understanding and psychotherapy of borderline conditions: a case study
- Authors: Milton, Christopher
- Date: 1989
- Subjects: Psychotherapy , Borderline personality disorder
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3160 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007640 , Psychotherapy , Borderline personality disorder
- Description: The principal intention of this study was to explore the heuristic value of the story of the alchemical vessel in understanding borderline conditions and pursuing their psychotherapy. It establishes the pertinence of the case study as a method of exploring the content and process of psychotherapy. The essential nature of story-telling is examined and the hypothesis is made that psychotherapy, borderline conditions, the myth of the alchemical vessel and the case study all reflect instances of story-telling. Towards the end of examining their mutual reflection, and thus heuristic value, elements of Jungian theory, the phenomenology of borderline conditions and case material are examined. Through the examination of certain shared themes which emerge from the story of the alchemical vessel and the material of psychotherapy it is established that there is indeed a metaphoric resonance between the different stories. Furthermore this resonance is useful in that it provides a secure vantage point as well as guidance towards effecting transformation for the client. The validity of the metaphoric resonance is examined and areas of weakness highlighted. Some suggestions are made concerning further research.
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- Date Issued: 1989
The interpersonal dimension of psychopathology
- Authors: O'Dowd, S A
- Date: 1987
- Subjects: Psychology, Pathological
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2910 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002075
- Description: It is argued that two large groups of disorders can be distinguished in the field of psychopathology, (1) which divide between them the psychoses, neuroses and personality disorders; ( 2) the dynamics of which are those of Klein's paranoid-schizoid and depressive positions, respectively; and (3) which are distinguished by nine basic contrasts in symptomatology and dynamics, all of which are expressive of the opposition self-centred/other-centred. These three hypotheses form the interpersonal model of psychopathology, and are supported by argument from works of Foulds, Jung, Abraham, Fairbairn, Klein, Angyal, Winnicott and Heidegger. It is suggested that the interpersonal model can facilitate the dialogue between psychoanalysis and phenomenology
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- Date Issued: 1987