I write this paper with much angst. Whether it comes from the unconscious fear as described by Freud or the Existential angst according to all proponents of Existentialism, I do not know. Hopefully by the end of writing this paper I would have reached a conclusion and resolution – of both the paper and the anxiety.
This paper aims to compare and contrast the theories of Psychodynamics and Existentialism. Through preliminary research on Google, Google Scholar, and the UPenn Library Database, I have discovered that there is not much material comparing and contrasting the two subjects. This heightened my interest in continuing with this approach. Though I am daunted by the fact that there is not much related literature to base a compare/ contrast paper on, I am tempted by the rarity of this kind of paper and the contribution it will make.
However, with this in mind, I also acknowledge the fact that I have no scholarly background in the fields of psychology, philosophy or sociology. This paper is based on my views as a student reading the theories of Freud and Sartre and other Existentialists for the first time in my life, struggling to apply them. This paper is limited by the fact that to make a compelling comparison/contrast there must be a full and complete understanding of the theories. Admittedly, this takes a quarter of a lifetime if not longer. Or perhaps in the case of Existentialism, never.
So let us begin perhaps with the first step.
Case Study: Fear and Anxiety
I examine myself to be used as a case study for this paper. What is my general condition? What are my mental and emotional states? How am I? Well, to be honest, I feel dreadful and there is much fear and anxiety in me. I am thinking about the immunizations that I have to take on Wednesday. New students at the University of Pennsylvania are required to comply with the university’s immunization requirements – to get shots to protect oneself against measles, mumps, rubella, hepatitis b, etc. I have been postponing getting the shots since the fall term began. I do not like injections. I find them painful, and I try to avoid them whenever possible. Sometimes, I had chosen not to get injections for my own detriment. I had this fear for getting injections since childhood. In fact, this irrational fear and anxiety have been the cause of why I choose not to get regular doses of growth hormone that could have made me a little bit taller. It is a decision I have to live with. Fast forward to the present. My decision to keep on postponing getting the shots has led to a block in registration for the spring term. This registration hold has forced me to accept the inevitability of having to take the shots so that I can register. Only when the hold took place did I schedule the immunization appointment. After getting the appointment, I forgot about the entire concept. I realize now that I did not want to remember that I had to take shots, and to take a lot of them. So I let it off my mind and I concentrated on getting to school and finishing my papers. It went on well until Monday early morning when I remembered that I will have to go for the shots. I gradually felt fear, anxiety, and dread to the point that there were somatic manifestations of my emotions. I could not eat, I could not sleep, I felt cold sweat. My heart beat was racing and I was panicking. I wanted to run and hide. But there was no enemy or physical threat. And it was three in the morning. So I lay there in bed and looked at the ceiling instead. I tried to expel all the negative feelings out by exhaling. Again, I tried to forget having to take the shots. I tried to see if I could postpone but the registration hold made this impossible. At this moment, the act of sitting down, facing my computer, and writing this all down, is making me see that I am behaving like a frightened child. Whereas my conscience is telling me that I should take the shots as it is the right thing to do and it is for my welfare. To think, I am a thirty year old adult. It is borderline neurosis and it is absurd.
There is a conflict in me. One side is afraid and does not want to get the shots. The other side is calm and reasonable; sees the reality of having to do the right thing or get punished for not complying.
What would a coach say to me and think hearing this case? Following the psychodynamic view, he or she would be thinking that I am behaving irrationally. I might be having a distorted picture of the whole situation and I might be grossly exaggerating. After all, how big an issue is getting vaccinated? It is normal. I might not be accurately accessing the threat. The anxiety is stemming out from the opposing forces of the id, ego, and superego. There might be even an unconscious desire to self-sabotage. I might be sublimating as I redirect the sporadic energy into writing this paper. I might be seeking affiliation as I express my concerns over getting the shots. But then again, I might be in denial and repressing my emotions as well. I might be conflicted as I try to rationalize and intellectualize myself into getting injected. To help me meet the goal of registering for the spring term, the coach might call my attention to the defense mechanisms I am using and help me get an overall understanding of what is really happening. He or she might help me see the real picture and help me trust that the situation will be fine.
What would an Existential coach tell me? The coach would probably tell me that I am not a prisoner of the past. Whereas in the past, I chose not to take injections out of fear and anxiety, I can decide differently and for the better now. The coach might tell me to learn to take risks. Taking shots might be not a risk for others but he/she will honor that it is a big risk for me. He or she will encourage me to go for it. Anxiety is normal, it is part of life. I might be told that I should take the anxiety and learn to proceed to the next. I might also be told that I should commit to life and to living. I might consider that life is bigger than getting shots and that I must not hold back and live half-baked. I should take responsibility for the choices I have made and am not making. I might be told to learn to live with the choices I make. The coach might ask me why am I avoiding and forgetting the conflict that is within me. In order to be real and authentic, in order to be who I am, I should confront the conflict. The coach might encourage me to stop whining and complaining and see the situation as absurd and therefore normal part of life. I just have to learn to be flexible and take things as an adventure. (adapted from Peltier, 2001)
Who would be the more effective coach if I were the client with above issues? But before answering this question, we must first ask what is Psychodynamics and what is Existentialism to get a clearer understanding of both models and the usability of each in the coaching process.
What is Psychodynamics?
“Psychodynamics is a branch of psychology which attempts to explain human behavioral patterns in regards to motivation and emotional drive. Neurology and Neuroscience along with the basic principles of thermodynamics underpin the transient function associated with psychodynamics. Sigmund Freud initially developed the theory of Psychodynamics in the 1870’s.” (
http://www.gl-science.com/2008/06/what-is-psychodynamics/)
According to Freud, psychological processes come from energy flows in the brain. Freud called this energy “libido.” This energy as per the principles of thermodynamics is constant and any emotional changes in a person occur out of displacements in the flow of energy. But whenever there is a disruption, any change in psychic energy comes out as changes in personality.
Psychic energy can be channeled through the id, ego, and superego. The id is the child who seeks pleasure and avoids pain. The ego is the reasonable adult/parent who controls the child and who is grounded on reality. By this, the feeling of anxiety is the signal that the parent is trying to control the child. And finally, the superego is the conscience that “rewards and punishes” the person.
Freud believed that there are “strange and even ugly impulses, and exposed us to the fact that we do not run our lives on a rational basis” (Peltier, 2001). And as a result, Psychodynamics states that there are “deep psychological forces” that are present in the mind that “motivates” a person to act in a certain way. Other factors like emotions, genetic, and environment, also come into play.
Freud introduced the “unconscious.” The unconscious is hidden and in it there are things that we do not know or want to know about ourselves. Psychotherapy attempts to reveal the unconscious so that the person can understand himself or herself more. In order for psychotherapy to be effective in revealing, the person must be willing to reflect on what is inside. Even to attempt this takes extraordinary amounts of courage and resiliency. I think Psychodynamics is a cumbersome but useful tool in coaching. Useful because it is a method of self-discovery and self-mastery is essential to achieving success in the workplace or at home. Given this, I also think Psychodynamics is more effective in Psychotherapy as it is the adopting of a wait and reveal step to recovery, coaching is most often on the fly and play it by ear guide to achieving a goal. Sometimes, we have to be the Jack of all traits and master of none.
What is Existentialism?
To be honest, I believe that even the Existentialists have no clue on the full concept of Existentialism. These Existentialists had defined, redefined, and undefined what Existentialism is. And still continue to. Very typical! However, from what I can infer from the available material, Existentialism follows the norm of authenticity which is necessary “to grasp human existence”.
According to Sartre, “Existence precedes essence.” What this means is that “each human has no fixed essence, except as it is shown through moment to moment behavior, which can always change. Our personality does not define us; that is simply a label. Our choices define us after we make them, and then we are free to make new ones in the next moment” (Peltier, 2001). I would put it as we are ourselves and we are different at each moment in our life.
Sartre’s Existentialism was inspired from the work of Martin Heidegger. Though in 1946, Heidegger would reject the labeling of his work as Existentialist, it is in his inquiry that we find the framework for Existentialism. The foundation of the key ideas and concepts of Existentialism comes from Heidegger’s discussion on:
“the “tension between the individual and the "public"”;
“an emphasis on the worldly or "situated" character of human thought and reason”;
“a fascination with liminal experiences of anxiety, death, the "nothing" and nihilism”;
“the rejection of science (and above all, causal explanation) as an adequate framework for understanding human being”;
Heidegger pursued his work based from Edmund Husserl’s Phenomenology. And most Existentialists pick up Husserl’s view of consciousness as the “transcendental field of intentionality.” Heidegger contributes to Husserl’s interpretation by raising the meaning of being. It is in Sartre, that we find the most fundamental tagline of Existentialism, and that our identity comes from our existence and not from nature or culture.
Though I am unable to fully comprehend Existentialism as a movement or concept or theory or what it is or what it is not, I appreciate the value of “authenticity” that it puts forward. To be authentic is to recognize that I can be and ultimately I am responsible for who I am. In choosing to be responsible, I recover from alienation (another version of the absurd) and absorption with myself. Most human beings “suffer” from an alienation from others and a self-centered sometimes selfish view of oneself.
What draws me is that according to some writers of Existentialism, “the measure of an authentic life lies in the integrity of a narrative, that to be a self is to constitute a story in which a kind of wholeness prevails, to be the author of oneself as a unique individual. In contrast, the inauthentic life would be one without such integrity, one in which I allow my life-story to be dictated by the world” (
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/existentialism/).
Existentialism versus Psychodynamics/Psychodynamics versus Existentialism
I would like to first explore the distinct differences between Existentialism and Psychodynamics. Clearly, the polarity of the two theories that I am contrasting is obvious but for this paper I mention what speaks to me.
· Prisoner of the Past versus Freedom
Existentialism asserts that we are not made to be a specific way, we must choose to be. And because we can choose we are free to define our self. We are not prisoners of the past.
“No one is locked in a previous identity or habit pattern. We are free to learn new ways, to make new kinds of choices. Even when we cannot choose what is happening, or the circumstances, we can still choose how to respond to those circumstances” (Peltier, 2001).
And though we assume different roles as manifested in different contexts we are the same person because we are free to be the person we choose.
By contrast, Psychodynamics promotes that we are the sum of our past, products of our history. We carry the weight of the market index of our life, so to speak. This means that our choices are programmed by our experiences. We are determined as individuals.
· Conflict versus Revelation
In Sartre’s view, the basis of all authentic relationships is confrontation. We should not avoid conflict as it is necessary so that we can forge real relationships on the basis of trust. Just like two stones when rubbed together create a spark, conflict creates truth. Conflict is spontaneous and immediate and so is the discovery of truth.
Whereas according to Freud and Psychodynamics, truth is unraveled through a self-discovery process (self-revelation) as the unconscious comes out of itself (at least in parts). This process takes time as it is dependent on how ready a person is to accept and discover.
· Consciousness
In the world according to Sartre, the consciousness is whatever it chooses to focus on in that particular frame and nothing more or beyond than that.
Sartre himself says “Let us beware then of considering these desires as little psychic entities dwelling in consciousness; they are consciousness itself in its original projective, transcendent structure, for consciousness is on principle”( http://www.janushead.org/8-2/Sandowsky.pdf).
In Psychodynamics, consciousness is caused by experiences. The consciousness makes itself known through nightmares, dreams, slips of the tongue, symbols, self-sabotage, etc.
· Anxiety
In Existentialism, anxiety comes when there is no meaning and certainty in life or in the future. Fear and anxiety are not the same. A person is afraid of something. There is an object (physical threat) of fear whereas there is no object in anxiety.
In Psychodynamics, anxiety is the result of the id, ego, and superego fighting for supremacy. The cause of anxiety in psychoanalysis is the level of “libido” in the person.
· In the moment versus Transference
In Existentialism, human beings are not fixed. We think and behave differently depending on how we see the situation. So every time a coach meets a client, he or she does not see the “same person.” Because circumstances change and so does the person.
In Psychodynamics, a coach sees the “same person” as clients will behave to others in the same manner they behave toward those who are close to them.
The coach must be comfortable with this kind of differentiation. Also, he or she must be flexible enough to adjust and accept the differences.
“Sartre is focused on bringing out the particularity of each individual story, which he contrasts with the Freudian approach and its tendency to universalize… Sartre means to avoid the disappearance of the individual…” ( http://www.janushead.org/8-2/Sandowsky.pdf).
Whereas Psychodynamic therapy is oriented towards insight and self-discovery, it studies the ways the unconscious reveals and unreveals itself and how the past affects the present as manifested in the person’s behavior.
Existentialism and Psychodynamics: What remains the same?
As I read through material on Existentialism and Psychodynamics, I find that what tie them together are their common themes of Irrationality and Passion both appealing to emotions.
To the ordinary person on the street, Existentialism and Psychodynamics are not easy concepts to understand and frankly, they don’t make sense because it presents a suffering person. I might have an appreciation of the two models but that is the emotional side of me revealing itself. However, I also appreciate the fact that life is not just suffering. Life is also beauty and goodness. Life is becoming a parent and seeing a child grow into an adult. Life is watching the world series and voting in the elections. Life is coming to the University of Pennsylvania despite disability restrictions and discovering what is good both outside and inside.
This is why I find that the emphasis of one method over the other is not good for a client. What if the particular method is not effective, how will the client succeed? A good coach knows what tools to use from his or her toolkit and fits models to suit his or her client. One size does not fit all.
References:
Buhler, K.E. Existential Analysis and Psychoanalysis: Specific Differences and Personal Relationship between Ludwig Binswanger and Sigmund Freud.
Sandowsky, L. Existential Psychoanalysis and Freudian Psychoanalysis.
Peltier, B. (2001). The Psychology of Executive Coaching, Theory and Application, New York: Routledge.
http://psychcentral.com/lib/2006/psychodynamic-therapy/
http://starkology.blogspot.com/2007/03/existentialism-as-tendency-important.html
http://www.janushead.org/8-2/Sandowsky.pdf
