Pete has sought out therapy to address issues he is having with his boss at work. Pete

struggles to commurſicate with his female boss because she is very daunting. She often barks

orders and intimidates Pete. Pete often feels that he isn't good enough to do what she asks and

struggles with low self-esteem. It doesn't help that Pete's boss reminds him of his mother!

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Describe what aspect(s) a psychoanalytic therapist would focus on when helping Pete.

Describe what aspect(s) a humanistic therapist would focus on when helping Pete.

Briefly talk about the differences between a psychoanalytic therapist and a humanistic therapist.

A)

I - the Psychoanalytic therapist would focus on the subconscious mind of Pete. He or she would attempt to examine thoughts that have become hardwired into his subconscious and try to bring them to the fore. They could be negative emotions that have been repressed or put away a coping mechanism.

The basis of this approach is that every behaviour in the present is formed by experiences from the past, most of which are bottled up in the subconscious. Therefore, if they can be "unbottled" they may help correct current emotional problems which the patient may be going through.

To do this, the psychoanalyst would have to ask Pete a lot of deep self-revealing questions about himself, his past and his relationship with his mother. This will help Pete overcome his current predicament with his boss.

II  - on the other hand, the Humanistic Therapy approach focuses on the possibility of self-realisation and self-actualisation as the cure to most behavioural problems.

The Humanistic Therapist, therefore, will come to the table with the notion that Pete has his own unique world view and that correcting the flaws in this view will help him resolve the conflict he is having with his boss.

According to the Humanistic theory, one's world view can impact their choices and actions. Because the Humanistic therapist looks at Pete's behaviour through his or her own eyes as well as Pete's world view, he or she would most likely identify where the bottleneck is and try to resolve that point of view which is responsible for generating the actions which lead to the results Pete is getting.  

That view could be that in Pete's world view, his boss is just like his mum. Because his mum verbally abused him when he was growing up, his bosses actions are a constant emotional trigger.

The Humanistic therapist is also likely to help Pete see reasons from a positive point of view (because it is believed that people are basically good) that his mother meant good and so does his boss.

B)

The psychoanalytic method deals with unconscious thoughts and conflicts, usually stemming from repressed memories or in some cases, lack of sexual expression. The humanist therapist believes in the ability of the patient to intentionally change their behaviour by changing their world view and that the power of the patient to do this resides in their consciousness, not some unconscious and uncontrollable drive.

Cheers!