Clinical Psychology

CHAPTER SUMMARY

The psychodynamic approach to therapy evolved
from the work of Sigmund Freud. It focuses on the
analysis of past experience and emphasizes uncon-
scious motives and conflicts in the search for the
roots of behavior. Even today, a significant percent-
age of clinicians identify their therapeutic orientation
as psychodynamic. According to this viewpoint, psy-
chological problems result from the conflicting
demands of the id, ego, superego, and reality. Tech-
niques of psychodynamic psychotherapy are aimed at
uncovering unconscious conflicts and motivation.
For example, dreams are analyzed, as are free associa-
tions and the nature of the transference.

Psychoanalytictheoryandtherapyhavebeenmod-

ified considerably over the years by neo-Freudians, ego

analysts, and others. Brief psychodynamic psychother-

apy is also an important development. Here, the length

of treatment is much shorter, and the focus is more on

thehereandnow. Interpersonal psychotherapyisa form

of brief psychodynamic therapy that has good empirical

support for treating depression and other conditions.

Research evidence suggests that traditional forms

of psychodynamic psychotherapy are moderately

effective with adults and that brief, manual-based

forms are more effective. The major curative factor

appears to be the quality and strength of the

BOX12-6 Graduate Student Perspective: Joseph E. Beeney

Joseph E. Beeney is an advanced doctoral candidate in

clinical psychology at The Pennsylvania State Univer-

sity. He completed a B.A. at University of California,

Santa Cruz, and a second B.A. at Humboldt State Uni-

versity. He focuses on using neuroscience methods,

predominantly fMRI, to understand aspects of border-

line personality disorder (BPD), including interpersonal

and identity disturbance, social cognition, and anger.

He was awarded an NIMH R36 grant for his dissertation

research, which utilizes EEG to examine aspects of

interpersonal functioning with individuals with BPD.

What has graduate school in clinical psychology been

for you?

Graduate school has been transformative for me. I am

consistently thrilled with where I find myself in my

research, in my clinical work, in my professional develop-

ment, and even my personal development. This program

has helped me get to places I never expected to be.

What things have you least expected about graduate

school?

It has taken me in many surprising directions, particularly

in my clinical work. My experience with psychodynamic

psychotherapy pre-grad school was that it was often

maligned by others and dismissed as an approach akin to

quackery that had no empirical evidence. It was a tired

relic of the past. When I began actually learning about

psychodynamic theory in grad school, I was a bit surprised

that it resonated with me greatly. Rather than quackery,

I found an approach that was rich because of its history,

supported by science, and that served as a clearly defined

and effective framework for working with individuals

with a variety of disorders and levels of functioning.

Has graduate school changed you? If yes, how so?

Out of necessity, my capacity to juggle multiple proj-

ects and areas of responsibility has improved dramati-

cally. I’ve grown much more organized than I thought

could be summoned from my former“chaotic-

piles-all-over-the-desk”self. Also, because I love the

work I do, I say“yes”frequently. But, I’ve also learned

that sometimes it’s very important to say“no”in order

to keep myself from becoming an unresponsive sloth

who has to habitually wipe the drool from my chin.

Are your professional or research interests similar or

different now than they were when you started

graduate school?

My research and clinical interests changed quite a bit.

Before graduate school, I only had a vague inkling of

what borderline personality disorder was. I began work-

ing with people with the diagnosis and became fasci-

nated with better understanding the disorder and

finding ways to be more helpful and effective with my

clients. This led me to research on a psychotherapy

process for BPD, and because of my interest in neurosci-

ence, a desire to eventually evaluate functional brain

activity as a marker of change in psychotherapy.

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