Psychology

The relationship between the psychological state of being of a person and that persons behavior is a subject that has been studied for a long time and whose insights have been critical in not only understanding human behavior but also how this behavior can be or is responsible for the various disorders that people suffer from. Human beings, unlike animals, have an innate ability to exhibit behavior that is representative of the persons state of mind, past events, and nature of relationships one has been able to have in the past. It is almost as if mankind will never let go of any of the issues one experiences in life (Freud, 2005). Therefore, there comes a time when some unspoken truths or undisclosed secrets seemingly turns against their keeper and forces one to disclose them not by way of speech but through actions. These and many other closely interrelated aspects constitute the wide field of psychoanalysis. Apart from seeking to offer insight into the relationship between human behavior and hisher psychological state of being, psychoanalysis, as it was developed by Sigmund Freud - a renown physician from Austria, is also widely applicable as a method that is used in the investigative study of the working of the human mind and a method applicable in the treatment of ailments which have an emotional or psychological basis (Freud, 2005). In other cases, psychoanalysis has been used to give a generalized description of the many theories that have been formulated and fronted to explain the behavior of human beings. This paper endeavors to offer a concise and succinct description of the psychoanalytic treatment situation, method, and attitude and then to provide a thorough discussion of how psychoanalysis relates to the goals of interpreting transference and resistance.

Psychoanalytic Treatment
Freud, who is undoubtedly the father of psychoanalytic treatment and theory, proposed a set of ways which he believed played a critical role in determining the final state of a client who was suffering from a certain psychological or mental condition (Freud, 2005). A typical aspect in his approach to psychoanalysis is the case where he presumes that a given analytical patient, whom he gave the name of an analysand, is put or finds oneself in a position where one is able to change ones feelings and behavioral pattern into verbal words or statements (Freud, 1989). This is important because only what is put into words or verbalized is able to be communicated to the analyst so that the appropriate methods of treatment can be sought and used on the client. This ability of the analysand to verbalize ones thoughts is in essence the only way through which there can be an uncovering of the underlying state of mind or psychological climate in order to be addressed appropriately.

Human Suffering and the Subconscious Mind
According to Freud, many people who suffer from psychological and mental conditions are not fully able to understand what they are going through on their own (Freud, 2005). Therefore, there is always a need for the analyst to ensure that the client is brought to the point where heshe is able to be made to understand that one is sick or suffering from some condition as proved by ones behavioral patterns or the other symptoms that are either as a result of exhibiting the given behavior or directly attributable to a certain psychological condition that has been studied and documented in the past. This state of suffering by such clients is usually an unconscious one which they can live with andor fail to admit that is indeed a threatening condition in need of being addressed medically (Freud, 1989).

Such clients experience internal conflicts unconsciously and, therefore, require the analyst to uncover the possible causes of these conflicts through a process which allows the client to verbalize ones thoughts. These thoughts can be dreams, fantasies, or free associations which the client might have kept deep within ones heart without necessarily desiring to do so. The analyst, using the training and skills derived from psychoanalysis and the relationship between behavior and mental state, is able to get the client to a point where one is able to actually understand the problem with one or to have an idea of what might be the key contributing factors (Freud, 1989). The most critical factor in psychoanalytic treatment is for the client to cooperate with the analyst throughout the process. Otherwise there is the risk of absolute failure to help the client  this is in spite of the client sometimes claiming to have no problem whatsoever. Over time, it has come to be established and widely accepted in the field of psychoanalysis that clients are in more ways than they think their own worst enemies, often having to bottle up emotions andor feelings that eat them up, causing mental and psychological distress whose symptoms are exhibited by the client (Freud, 2005). 

From Childhood to Adulthood
A key aspect of the theories put forth by Feud was that the past has a great role it plays in the present lives of many people  and that this is the leading cause of many psychological and mental disorders (Freud, 1989). Psychoanalytical treatment, therefore, is committed to uncovering the past encounters of clients as a key part in the process of helping them get over their symptoms and to a normal life. Without planning it, people have tended to bring the past with them into the present. And, surprisingly, there is no selection between good and bad aspects of the past which people bring to the present (Freud, 1989). Instead, any issues that had a particularly significant effect or impact on a person somewhere in the days gone will tend to replay in the present depending on the frequency with which the present aspect related to or resembling a past event is able to appear in ones life and on the nature of the particular situation or phenomenon as far as its impacts on the client then were (Bettleheim, 1984).

In essence, an issue which happened to a client in the past and had a great impact  for instance caused some severe suffering, pain, anger, or even joy  will likely cause the client to respond more vividly to events in the present life which remind one of the past encounters. All issues, both negative and positive, have an equal level of interplay in the later life of the one affected (Freud, 1989).  A good example is a case of a person who was abused or molested by a father while in ones childhood. While one is an adult, this person will tend to be bothered a lot by any acts of violence in society and the symptoms will be likelihood that such a person will resent any man who appears to have the looks or mannerisms of ones father. Therefore, without any warning, such a person will react negatively, even violently to a person of this nature. Given an opportunity, such people can always cause harm to the people who resemble the figures in their earlier lives who hurt them (Freud, 2005). On the positive side, a client will tend to love ladies in adulthood who look like their mother who was all but very caring and loving toward them while they were young. They will seek to defend them, keep them from danger, and literally go the extra mile just to make sure the person is pleased.

Serial killers are typical examples of people who can be helped only when their past is clearly investigated and they are able to verbalize their thoughts (Bettleheim, 1984). It has been established that most serial killers are acting out of anger from the past, where their victims are people who exhibit characteristics that are similar with people in their past lives who did something horrible or detestable. In the present, therefore, these killers are usually reminded of something so bad that if they did not pay back for the atrocities committed against them at that time, then they have a chance to do it now. A typical example is of a serial killer whose mother used to have multiple extramarital affairs when his father was away from home. The mother would threaten him if he dared reveal her illicit affairs with other men. In the present life, this serial killer seemed to have a deep-seated hatred for what he termed as loose women. He daily went ahead and killed any that he came across (Freud, 1989).

Psychoanalytical Treatment Methods
The treatment for any psychoanalytical problem finds its roots in the ability of the client to have an understanding of the problem one has as well to be in a position to at least express verbally what one thinks is the cause of the symptoms. The analyst will never be in a position to fully underpin the possible cause of the symptoms if a client will show a tendency to fail to cooperate with the analyst. Therefore, the treatment is commensurate with the willingness of the client to cooperate fully and to let go of resistances and transference that one may try to exhibit. a key stage is preparation when the analyst prepares a model to be used or followed by the client (Freud, 1989). The analyst also utilizes this time to assess the ability of the client to respond to the treatment. Although the actual procedures followed to treat clients using psychoanalysis differ from client to client depending on their personalities and state of being as far as the conditions are concerned, the main procedure entails first of all identifying the symptoms. These are usually to be found in the behavior of the client andor ones confessions.

Quite often than not, though, it is the clients behavior that drives the analyst to inquire from one about events in childhood or in the past that could have a direct or indirect link to the current observable signs (Fonagy, 2001). Once this has been done and the analyst and the client have come to a consensus regarding the possible cause, a prescription is made depending on the severity of the problem. For instance, clients who are suicidal may require a lot more sessions with the analyst, preferably with several breaks in between the sessions in order for the client to be allowed time to rest and for the analyst to assess the progress and determine the next course of action or approach. Commonly handled or treated conditions using psychoanalysis are hysteria and psychosis, although there has been treatment of other ailments like conversions, phobias, obsessions, compulsions, anxiety, sexual dysfunctions, relationship problems, depression, and  character problems like workaholism, hyperemotionality, hyperseductiveness, meanness, shyness, and obnoxiousness (Freud, 1989). As can be deduced from the wide array of the conditions, treatment can include therapy or even medication for certain conditions. What is paramount and unique about the treatment is that it is based not on medical tests because most, if not all, of the conditions diagnosed using psychoanalytical approaches cannot be medically diagnosed.

There are special models and procedures that have been adopted by various analytical organizations such as the American Psychological Association (APA) to be followed by analysts when treating clients of different problems. As earlier mentioned, the client must first of all express a willingness to know the cause of ones problem (Freud, 2005). This will then be taken by the analyst as the first indication that the client is fit and worthy an analysis. This is an important aspect because unless an analyst is able to recommend one for analysis, nothing can be done (Bettleheim, 1984). Therefore, there relationship between an analyst and the client is key to ensuring that treatment is successful. In all the cases of psychoanalytic treatment, the main approach is the so-called conflict theory, where the analyst tries to figure out what is the cause of the clients internal conflicts leading directly to the observed symptoms. Usually, the analyst would vary conditions in which the client is left. For instance, the analyst would do something that will normally cause anger or irritability on the part of the patient and then watch keenly how the client reacts. Likewise, the analyst can allow the client to lie on a couch or seat in the room, all alone, and then after some time come back to assess any new developments or patterns in behavior (Bettleheim, 1984).

In some cases, play therapy has been used as have been story therapy and art therapy depending on the particular condition of the client and sometimes the age and gender. For instance, psychoanalytical play therapy has been known to greatly assist children who have problems like depression and poor memory (Freud, 1989). Story telling also helps children to replace their negative attitudes about certain people or things with positive ones. For instance, children who are exceedingly mean because they were brought up under deprived situations will tend to recover significantly when they are told stories about fellow children who benefitted or got rewarded for being kind and generous to other people in the society (Freud, 1989). Playing also has the effect of dispelling negative thoughts by occupying the mind and if repeated over time alongside other group therapies, even adult clients have been known to recover from problems like depression and different phobias (Freud, 1989).

Resistance and Transference
Freud never stopped emphasizing that the relationship between the analyst and the client is the most important factor in psychoanalysis. This, said he, was because the analyst is in most cases the only person that will be patient and close enough to the client to allow the client to open up and so assist in pointing out the potential root causes of the problem. There is a direct or indirect relationship between the problem and the behavior of the client and this ought to be uncovered by the client (Bettleheim, 1984). That is why any exhibition of resistance tendencies by the client and the entire process is put into a state of jeopardy. The aim of psychoanalysis has been, among other things, to ensure that there is neither transference nor resistance by the client because this hampers the process. The two are different but closely related.

Resistance in psychoanalysis is no different from that in medicine  the client refusing to cooperate with the analyst for reasons that have been described by Freud as being either primary or secondary (Malcom, 1981). In essence, the client thinks or believes that there is no use or value to be derived from the entire process and so either refuses to answer questions, or to change the behavioral patterns. They can even totally refuse to discuss anything with the analyst, never make an effort to remember any detail, or even refuse to think. Such clients believe that by doing this they gain from their illness. According to Freud, the primary gains from resistance are internal and are having more suffering in exchange for the symptoms being exhibited. Secondary or external gains are those physical, financial, and social benefits the client thinks will get by continuing to be ill. They believe that if they cooperate with the analyst then the illness will somehow be treated and so they will lose these benefits.

On the other hand, transference entails the passing on from the past into the present of feeling that were exhibited then. It is more like having certain nerves excited whenever a certain event or person that reminds one of the past is sensed. Past events play a great role in the lives of people. As earlier mentioned, these things can have a leading role in the determination of the current behaviors. According to Freud, transference is responsible for a lot of problems dealt with in psychoanalysis. This explains the importance of seeking to dig into the clients past and present events. Unless this is done, no worthwhile intervention can be made in their problems, especially when they are resistant. The most serious impediment to psychoanalytic treatment is transference resistance, where the client will not admit that one ever had certain childhood emotions, feelings, desires, and general experiences which could be having a significant impact on the present situation and state of the client (Malcom, 1981).

Conclusion
Owing to the realization by psychologists of the effects the past has on the present (transference) and how clients tend to resist treatment for primary and secondary gains, psychoanalysis was fronted as the tool and approach to treatment of such conditions that cannot be effectively treated without there being an insightful understanding of the underlying causes of these problems. Psychoanalysis has come in handy to deal with cases which medical procedures could not effectively address. The client is left with the analyst who uses all possible approaches  including tricks and other seemingly unethical approaches  to have the client open up or behave in manner that can help find a possible cause of the symptoms. Only then can any form of meaningful intervention psychoanalytically can be applied. All psychoanalytical approaches aim to treat psychological as well as emotional causes of suffering, and Freuds theory on the subject have directed most of them. The underlying factor in the entire process is for there to be cooperation on the part of the client.