Psychodynamic Treatments for Anorexia Nervosa

Starter

• Reminder of psychodynamic explanation of anorexia

• Discuss in small groups/pairs the 3 explanations we went through yesterday as well as the strengths and weaknesses

• Try not to look at your notes!

Map to Spec – Page 59

3. Contentg) For one other disorder (anorexia

nervosa) describe and evaluate two treatments. Students must select one treatment each from two different approaches from the five studied in Units 1 and 2.

Psychodynamic Treatment

• Also called psychoanalysis

• We learnt yesterday that the psychodynamic explanation of anorexia focuses on unconscious fears and childhood conflict

• The treatment therefore looks at uncovering these unconscious childhood issues and resolving them

Psychoanalysis Techniques

Ink Blot Tests

Free Association

Hypnosis

Dream Analysis

Your Task

• Look at the information on your particular technique used in psychoanalysis

• Summarise the main points of this technique: What does it involve? How does it work? What is the experience of the patient/therapist? Why is this technique used?

YOU HAVE 15 MINUTES ONLY!

Your Task – New Groups• You are working for the NHS • You’re a marketing team and have been asked to produce

a poster which gives information on psychodynamic therapy for anorexia, to be displayed in a health centre’s waiting room

• Your brief: Must be eye-catching Must have information on all techniques used Must be easy to read and easy to pick out information

YOU HAVE 20 MINUTES ONLY!

Evaluation

• In your groups/pairs, come up with at least two strengths and two weaknesses of the psychodynamic treatment of anorexia

• EXTENSION: Attempt to evaluate the psychodynamic explanation/treatment in terms of your issues and debates section (i.e. Gender bias, Ethnocentrism, Nature/Nurture, Free will/Determinism)

Evaluation

Strengths• Takes all experiences into account• Unique method to uncovering unconscious thoughts• Useful as it can uncover manifestations of underlying

conflicts between the ID and superego.• Idiographic approach – treats each patient as an

individual

EvaluationWeaknesses• Inappropriate for certain people as it may reinforce

thoughts that are already obsessive.• Highly subjective and unfalsifiable.• Due to complicated nature of explanation for disorder,

unable to give a clear point for when a patient has been “cured”

• Lengthy and time consuming • Criticised for trauma it causes patients – looking back

in depth at negative childhood experiences

True or False?

• Thumbs up for true, down for false!

• Psychoanalysis is another term for psychodynamic therapy.

• Psychoanalysis focuses on conscious thoughts and emotions

• Freud labelled dreams as “The royal road to the subconscious”

• What you can recall in your dreams Freud called manifest content

• Ink blot tests are known as projective tests, as they are thought to project your unconscious thoughts/desires

• Free association involves the patient talking only about certain things provided to them by their therapist

• Psychoanalysis occurs over a short period of time

• A strength of psychoanalysis is that it is idiographic

• The psychodynamic treatment to anorexia has been criticised for the trauma it causes patients

REMINDER

• MOCK EXAM IN MY LESSON NEXT WEEK (15/05/13) – ONLY ON CLINICAL, NOT ISSUES AND DEBATES

Exam Question

• Has never come up before!• Devise your own question on the

psychodynamic treatment of anorexia• Have a go at answering it