Impact of psychoanalytic psychotherapy on the childhood trauma experiences that are causing depression
Introduction
According to Docter et al. (2018), childhood traumatic experiences are shown to be the cause of many depression cases and other comorbidities. This study aimed at investigating the therapeutic outcome of psychoanalytic therapy among depression clients.
Data was collected in the inpatient and those coming for daily treatment of depression, whereby data was collected during treatment. This article was used as a secondary form of data analysis (Docter et al., 2018). The occurrence of trauma among children, the depression cases and destructive symptoms and the therapeutic results of psychoanalytic therapy were compared by using the robust ANOVA, mixed ANOVA, multiple regression and Spearman’s correlation. The results provided a relationship between childhood traumas and depression disorders and other symptoms. It was shown that there were reduced symptoms of depression after the use of psychoanalytic therapy (Docter et al., 2018).
Study significance
From the study results, it is clear that those individuals who received psychoanalytic therapy showed reduced symptoms of depression. Therefore, clinicians should take into account the management of children with early exposure to trauma to reduce the occurrence of depression in later life (Docter et al., 2018). The psychoanalytic theory of Sigmund Freud aims at helping patients understand their unconscious forces that are playing a role in the current thoughts, emotions, and behaviors.
The psychoanalytic therapy looks at the childhood experiences of a client has analyzed the impact on their lives and the way it raises the current concerns. The therapist plays a role in listening to the client’s concerns and look into the patterns of the behavior that causes behavior change (Jarrett & Vince, 2017) the therapy holds the belief that past childhood events are the ones playing a role in causing mental distress. To enable a client to understand and identify the main cause of concern, the therapist applies techniques such as free association, interpretation, and therapeutic transference.
References
Docter, A. L., Zeeck, A., von Wietersheim, J., & Weiss, H. (2018). Influence of childhood trauma on depression in the INDDEP study. Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy, 32(2), 217-234.
Jarrett, M., & Vince, R. (2017). Psychoanalytic theory, emotion, and organizational paradox. The Oxford handbook of organizational paradox, Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK.