My Personal Theory of Counseling and Psychotherapy: A Beginning.

Coined by theorist Sigmund Freud, the psychodymanic approach to therapy revolves around the interaction between the conscious and the unconscious. It is believed that the mind is made up for three entities; the Id, Ego,& Superego. The id is known for its pleasure seeking drive and impulsiveness. Often referred to as the “devil on your shoulder” the id exhibits very little self control and is often linked with the unconscious mind. Driven by sex, violence, and impulsivity, the id has been known to encourage risky behavior that normally would not occur. If the id were dominant, a person would behave in a devious, and socially unacceptable manner. Contrary to the id, the superego acts as the “angel on ones shoulder”. As stated in Day,2008, “when the superego is in charge, we are perfectionistic and uptight and demand too much of ourselves.” The superego acts as the conscience by reflecting social standards learned through observation. When the superego is allowed to take control, it sets such high expectations and demands, that is is too difficult to reach such high standards. The only way to stop the pendulum of the psyche from swinging to either extreme is the presence of the ego. The ego is the mediator between the superego and the id, providing moral reasoning and the principal of reality. The reality principle acknowledge that one must not act out id impulses, but also realizes that one cannot live up to the demands of the superego (Day, 2008). The ego helps moderate between these two extremes with the use of defense mechanisms.
Defense mechanism are a critical part of ego psychology. Used as a way to make reality a little less frightening, defense mechanism can be moderately adaptive, or damaging (Day, 2008). In order to...

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... the client is saying may appear to the client as drawing conclusions, it is a way to understand the resistance a therapist may face from a client. It is normally important for the therapist to limit the amount of verbalized interpretation per session but in this case, I think Brianna would benefit from hearing a different point of view. Resistance can come in many forms, from arriving late to a session to missing sessions completely. Opposition is a way for the client to remain in control and avoid revisiting traumatic experiences that may have occurred during childhood.Because Brianna has not experienced any abuse and is a fanatic about being timely, it is unlikely she will deliberate challenge the sanctity of therapy. During the initial stage of the therapeutic process, it is crucial to investigate past experiences because the past can continue into the future.