The therapist as a "bad object": the use of countertransference enactment to facilitate communication in therapy
- Authors: Webster, Penny
- Date: 2005
- Subjects: Countertransference (Psychology) Countertransference (Psychology) -- Therapeutic use Communication -- Psychological aspects Psychotherapist and patient Psychoanalysis
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:3083 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002592
- Description: Psychoanalysis as it exists today is not constituted by a single theoretical framework describing pathology and indicating a specific set of interventions. Since Freud originally conceptualised psychoanalytic understanding of pathology and psychoanalysis as a mode of intervention, there have been many revisions and reformulations of his theory. This thesis has attempted to integrate some psychoanalytic ideas regarding personality formation, psychopathology and psychotherapeutic intervention (Fairbairn, 1952; Ogden, 1992, 1994), with interpersonal (strategic / structural) ideas regarding intervention (Minuchin, 1974; Sullivan, 1940, 1953, 1964). In order to do so, the thesis used the relational psychoanalytic perspective, as depicted by Aron (1996) and Mitchell and Aron (1999), as an overarching conceptual framework. The focus from these points of view is the patient's internalized relationship patterns and the therapist's participation in their repetition. It is held that internalized relationship patterns are not only based on, but can be changed by, lived experience. From this perspective, the goal of therapy is to enhance the patient's capacity to reflect and think about experience, and therefore, to communicate about it. This means a change in the patient's predominant mode of communication. Ogden's (1994) modes of communication were described. The thesis suggested that Ogden's modes of communication can be stretched or translated into the types of communication outlined by Langs (1978). This thesis aimed to explore the deliberate use of countertransference responses to facilitate communication in the beginning stages of therapy with patients functioning predominantly in the paranoid-schizoid mode (Ogden, 1992). Patients who operate in this mode are often unable to tolerate interpretation and therefore traditional approaches to intervention are not effective. A "strategic / structural relational psychoanalytic" approach to treatment was proposed. It was suggested that therapists utilize joining and accommodation techniques as described by Minuchin (1974) and alter their style of interaction to match that of the various object relational constellations that they have managed to identify within the patient via their countertransference responses. It was hypothesized that patients need their therapists to be similar to their original objects in order to feel safe in the therapeutic environment and that this may facilitate communication in the beginning stages of therapy. The research utilized a qualitative research approach. Qualitative research methods attempt to use data gathered phenomenologically, always acknowledging the researcher's biases when gathering the data. The data gathered is then interpreted according to various theories or hermeneutic lenses. The hypothesis mentioned above has been investigated by analyzing three cases in terms of the research questions based on Langs' (1978) classification of communication. The thesis described the difficulties inherent in collecting clinical data from psychologists working from within a psychoanalytic framework. Eventually three sets of therapy details and verbatim therapy transcripts were obtained, provided in the thesis and analyzed in terms of the research questions. However evidence for the success of the hypothesized alternate approach was not found in this research study. It was suggested that other possible methods might be useful to investigate the hypothesized approach further.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2005
- Authors: Webster, Penny
- Date: 2005
- Subjects: Countertransference (Psychology) Countertransference (Psychology) -- Therapeutic use Communication -- Psychological aspects Psychotherapist and patient Psychoanalysis
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:3083 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002592
- Description: Psychoanalysis as it exists today is not constituted by a single theoretical framework describing pathology and indicating a specific set of interventions. Since Freud originally conceptualised psychoanalytic understanding of pathology and psychoanalysis as a mode of intervention, there have been many revisions and reformulations of his theory. This thesis has attempted to integrate some psychoanalytic ideas regarding personality formation, psychopathology and psychotherapeutic intervention (Fairbairn, 1952; Ogden, 1992, 1994), with interpersonal (strategic / structural) ideas regarding intervention (Minuchin, 1974; Sullivan, 1940, 1953, 1964). In order to do so, the thesis used the relational psychoanalytic perspective, as depicted by Aron (1996) and Mitchell and Aron (1999), as an overarching conceptual framework. The focus from these points of view is the patient's internalized relationship patterns and the therapist's participation in their repetition. It is held that internalized relationship patterns are not only based on, but can be changed by, lived experience. From this perspective, the goal of therapy is to enhance the patient's capacity to reflect and think about experience, and therefore, to communicate about it. This means a change in the patient's predominant mode of communication. Ogden's (1994) modes of communication were described. The thesis suggested that Ogden's modes of communication can be stretched or translated into the types of communication outlined by Langs (1978). This thesis aimed to explore the deliberate use of countertransference responses to facilitate communication in the beginning stages of therapy with patients functioning predominantly in the paranoid-schizoid mode (Ogden, 1992). Patients who operate in this mode are often unable to tolerate interpretation and therefore traditional approaches to intervention are not effective. A "strategic / structural relational psychoanalytic" approach to treatment was proposed. It was suggested that therapists utilize joining and accommodation techniques as described by Minuchin (1974) and alter their style of interaction to match that of the various object relational constellations that they have managed to identify within the patient via their countertransference responses. It was hypothesized that patients need their therapists to be similar to their original objects in order to feel safe in the therapeutic environment and that this may facilitate communication in the beginning stages of therapy. The research utilized a qualitative research approach. Qualitative research methods attempt to use data gathered phenomenologically, always acknowledging the researcher's biases when gathering the data. The data gathered is then interpreted according to various theories or hermeneutic lenses. The hypothesis mentioned above has been investigated by analyzing three cases in terms of the research questions based on Langs' (1978) classification of communication. The thesis described the difficulties inherent in collecting clinical data from psychologists working from within a psychoanalytic framework. Eventually three sets of therapy details and verbatim therapy transcripts were obtained, provided in the thesis and analyzed in terms of the research questions. However evidence for the success of the hypothesized alternate approach was not found in this research study. It was suggested that other possible methods might be useful to investigate the hypothesized approach further.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2005
Access to land as a human right the payment of just and equitable compensation for dispossessed land in South Africa
- Authors: Yanou, Michael A
- Date: 2005
- Subjects: Human rights -- South Africa , Compensation (Law) -- South Africa , Right of property -- South Africa , Land reform -- South Africa , Land tenure -- South Africa , Constitutional history -- South Africa , Restitution -- South Africa , Land tenure -- Law and legislation -- South Africa , Land reform -- Law and legislation -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:3699 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003214 , Human rights -- South Africa , Compensation (Law) -- South Africa , Right of property -- South Africa , Land reform -- South Africa , Land tenure -- South Africa , Constitutional history -- South Africa , Restitution -- South Africa , Land tenure -- Law and legislation -- South Africa , Land reform -- Law and legislation -- South Africa
- Description: This thesis deals with the conceptualization of access to land by the dispossessed as a human right and commences with an account of the struggle for land between the peoples of African and European extractions in South Africa. It is observed that the latter assumed sovereignty over the ancestral lands of the former. The thesis discusses the theoretical foundation of the study and situates the topic within its conceptual parameters. The writer examines the notions of justice and equity in the context of the post apartheid constitutional mandate to redress the skewed policy of the past. It is argued that the dispossession of Africans from lands that they had possessed for thousands of years on the assumption that the land was terra nullius was profoundly iniquitous and unjust. Although the study is technically limited to dispossessions occurring on or after the 13th June 1913, it covers a fairly extensive account of dispossession predating this date. This historical analysis is imperative for two reasons. Besides supporting the writer’s contention that the limitation of restitution to land dispossessed on or after 1913 was arbitrary, it also highlights both the material and non-material cost of the devastating wars of dispossessions. The candidate comments extensively on the post apartheid constitutional property structure which was conceived as a redress to the imbalance created by dispossession. This underlying objective explains why the state’s present land policy is geared towards facilitating access to land for the landless. The thesis investigates the extent to which the present property structure which defines access to land as a human right has succeeded in achieving the stated objective. It reviews the strengths and weaknesses of the land restitution process as well as the question of the payment of just and equitable compensation for land expropriated for restitution. The latter was carefully examined because it plays a crucial role in the success or otherwise of the restitution scheme. The writer argues that the courts have, on occasions, construed just and equitable compensation generously. This approach has failed to reflect the moral component inherent in the Aristotelian corrective justice. This, in the context of South Africa, requires compensation to reflect the fact that what is being paid for is land dispossessed from the forebears of indigenous inhabitants. It seems obvious that the scales of justice are tilted heavily in favour of the propertied class whose ancestors were responsible for this dispossession. This has a ripple effect on the pace of the restitution process. It also seems to have the effect of favouring the property class at the expense of the entire restitution process. The candidate also comments on the court’s differing approaches to the interpretation of the constitutional property clause. The candidate contends that the construction of the property clause and related pieces of legislation in a manner that stresses the maintenance of a balance between private property interest and land reform is flawed. This contention is supported by the fact that these values do not have proportional worth in the present property context of South Africa. The narrow definition of “past racially discriminatory law and practices” and labour tenant as used in the relevant post apartheid land reform laws is criticized for the same reason of its uncontextual approach. A comparative appraisal of similar developments relating to property law in other societies like India and Zimbabwe has been done. The writer has treated the post reform land evictions as a form of dispossession. The candidate notes that the country should guard against allowing the disastrous developments in Zimbabwe to influence events in the country and calls for an amendment of the property clause of the constitution in response to the practical difficulties which a decade of the operation of the current constitution has revealed.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2005
- Authors: Yanou, Michael A
- Date: 2005
- Subjects: Human rights -- South Africa , Compensation (Law) -- South Africa , Right of property -- South Africa , Land reform -- South Africa , Land tenure -- South Africa , Constitutional history -- South Africa , Restitution -- South Africa , Land tenure -- Law and legislation -- South Africa , Land reform -- Law and legislation -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:3699 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003214 , Human rights -- South Africa , Compensation (Law) -- South Africa , Right of property -- South Africa , Land reform -- South Africa , Land tenure -- South Africa , Constitutional history -- South Africa , Restitution -- South Africa , Land tenure -- Law and legislation -- South Africa , Land reform -- Law and legislation -- South Africa
- Description: This thesis deals with the conceptualization of access to land by the dispossessed as a human right and commences with an account of the struggle for land between the peoples of African and European extractions in South Africa. It is observed that the latter assumed sovereignty over the ancestral lands of the former. The thesis discusses the theoretical foundation of the study and situates the topic within its conceptual parameters. The writer examines the notions of justice and equity in the context of the post apartheid constitutional mandate to redress the skewed policy of the past. It is argued that the dispossession of Africans from lands that they had possessed for thousands of years on the assumption that the land was terra nullius was profoundly iniquitous and unjust. Although the study is technically limited to dispossessions occurring on or after the 13th June 1913, it covers a fairly extensive account of dispossession predating this date. This historical analysis is imperative for two reasons. Besides supporting the writer’s contention that the limitation of restitution to land dispossessed on or after 1913 was arbitrary, it also highlights both the material and non-material cost of the devastating wars of dispossessions. The candidate comments extensively on the post apartheid constitutional property structure which was conceived as a redress to the imbalance created by dispossession. This underlying objective explains why the state’s present land policy is geared towards facilitating access to land for the landless. The thesis investigates the extent to which the present property structure which defines access to land as a human right has succeeded in achieving the stated objective. It reviews the strengths and weaknesses of the land restitution process as well as the question of the payment of just and equitable compensation for land expropriated for restitution. The latter was carefully examined because it plays a crucial role in the success or otherwise of the restitution scheme. The writer argues that the courts have, on occasions, construed just and equitable compensation generously. This approach has failed to reflect the moral component inherent in the Aristotelian corrective justice. This, in the context of South Africa, requires compensation to reflect the fact that what is being paid for is land dispossessed from the forebears of indigenous inhabitants. It seems obvious that the scales of justice are tilted heavily in favour of the propertied class whose ancestors were responsible for this dispossession. This has a ripple effect on the pace of the restitution process. It also seems to have the effect of favouring the property class at the expense of the entire restitution process. The candidate also comments on the court’s differing approaches to the interpretation of the constitutional property clause. The candidate contends that the construction of the property clause and related pieces of legislation in a manner that stresses the maintenance of a balance between private property interest and land reform is flawed. This contention is supported by the fact that these values do not have proportional worth in the present property context of South Africa. The narrow definition of “past racially discriminatory law and practices” and labour tenant as used in the relevant post apartheid land reform laws is criticized for the same reason of its uncontextual approach. A comparative appraisal of similar developments relating to property law in other societies like India and Zimbabwe has been done. The writer has treated the post reform land evictions as a form of dispossession. The candidate notes that the country should guard against allowing the disastrous developments in Zimbabwe to influence events in the country and calls for an amendment of the property clause of the constitution in response to the practical difficulties which a decade of the operation of the current constitution has revealed.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2005