Difference between therapy with psychologist and psychoanalyst

Learn more about psychoanalysis and the other 5 types of psychotherapy listed by the American Psychological Association

Hello friends!

The question about the difference between therapy with a psychologist and a psychoanalyst appears a lot here on the site, as well as the doubt about what psychology is and what psychoanalysis is. In this text, I will try to answer in the simplest way possible about this difference.

How is a psychoanalysis session

1) Psychoanalytic therapy

First, a distinction needs to be made. There is no undergraduate course in psychoanalysis in Brazil. Therefore, you will never find someone with a degree in psychoanalysis. Training linked to the International Institutes of Psychoanalysis (IPA) or Institutes along lines such as Lacan’s will train psychoanalysts, bearing in mind certain criteria.

To be a psychoanalyst, in general, the professional must have a degree in medicine or psychology. (Some formations accept trainees from other areas). However, despite not being a graduation, normally, a decent education will last a good few years.

Training is based on the tripod: in-depth study of theories, didactic analysis – the analyst performs the analysis – and supervision, that is, the analyst is assisted by a more qualified professional in the first consultations.

See also – Training in Psychology or Psychoanalysis – Which should I choose?

With that said, we can clear up a first misunderstanding. A psychologist can be a psychoanalyst or attend within what we call psychodynamic psychotherapeutic approaches. Just as a psychiatrist (a doctor specializing in psychiatry) can also study psychoanalysis and work as a psychoanalyst.

The American Psychological Association website tells us about this type of therapy:

“Psychoanalytic and psychodynamic therapies: “This approach focuses on changing problematic behaviors, feelings, and thoughts through uncovering their unconscious meanings and motivations. Psychoanalytically oriented therapies are characterized by work between the therapist and the patient (transfer). Patients learn about themselves by exploring the interactions of the therapeutic relationship.

While psychoanalysis is strongly identified with Sigmund Freud, it has been expanded and modified since its earliest formulations. Psychoanalytic therapies have a broad base of research confirming their effectiveness.

So psychoanalysis – according to the American Psychological Association and hundreds of research papers – works. But what will a consultation with a psychoanalyst or a psychoanalytic line therapist be like?

Well, the default is that analysis makes use of the couch. After a few initial sessions, known as preliminary interviews, the patient lies down on the couch and the psychoanalyst sits a little behind, so that the patient does not directly see the analyst.

The session time (50 minutes) is used so that the patient can say whatever he wants. The technical term is free association. However, as we know, associations are not free. The patient will talk about what afflicts, bothers, instigates. And, based on what you say, the analyst will lead the sessions with interpretations and questions.

It is important to note that psychoanalysis is not necessarily silent, that is, the analyst will not remain silent all the time. He or she may be quieter than in other types of therapy, but if the silence is total, it is probably someone who is unfamiliar with the principles of roleplaying.

How is a session with a psychologist

Well, answering that question makes us have to explain that there are several lines within psychology. Above, we saw one of them: psychoanalysis or psychodynamic psychotherapy. We can explain the existence of so many lines by the fact that they were developed in different countries and cultures, and also because they have different assumptions about the best way to study human beings.

Given our complexity, we can study our functioning through a series of perspectives: through mental illness, through health, through the body, through speech, through memory, through motivation… etc.

Below, I will mention the types of therapy that are described by the website of the APA, American Psychological Association. The sessions last from 30 minutes to 1 hour and do not use the couch.

See also – Free Psychoanalysis Course

2) Behavioral Therapy:

This approach focuses on the role of learning in the development of both normal and abnormal behaviors.

Ivan Pavlov made important contributions to behavior therapy by discovering classical conditioning or learning by association. The famous experiment with dogs, for example, proved conditioning: after a certain pairing number, the stimulus of the sound of a bell was physiologically associated with the stimulus of food.

Desensitization is another classic form of conditioning. A therapist can help a client with a phobia expose himself to the event that causes him fear so that, little by little, the stimulus that previously aroused anxiety no longer does.

Two other important thinkers were EL Thorndike and BF Skinner who established the concept of operant behavior: behavior is emitted according to earlier and later events. By discovering the working logic of what reinforces (increases) and what punishes (decreases) behavior, it becomes possible to change it.

Within behavioral therapy, we have noticed a number of variations since its emergence in the 1950s. One important variation is cognitive-behavioral therapy, which focuses on changing behaviors as well as thoughts (cognition).

See also – Free Behavioral Psychology Course

3) Cognitive Therapy

According to the APA, cognitive therapy emphasizes what people think more than what people do. Cognitive therapists argue that dysfunctional thinking leads to dysfunctional emotions or dysfunctional behavior. Therefore, by changing the thoughts that gave rise to negative emotions and behavior, people can finally change.

Two theoretical imports of cognitive therapy are Albert Ellis and Aaron Beck.

Video Courses:

Cognitive Anxiety Therapy

Cognitive Therapy of Depression

4) Humanistic therapy

According to the APA, humanistic therapy emphasizes the ability of each person to decide rationally and develop their full potential. Respect and consideration for others is also an important theme.

Humanistic philosophers such as Soren Kirkegaard, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Martin Buber influenced the development of humanistic psychology. Within humanistic therapy, we have, in turn, 3 types of therapy:

client-centered therapy: rejects the idea that the therapist is an authority on the client’s internal experiences (the term client is used, not patient). Thus, therapists are able to help their clients by changing the emphasis of their concerns, cares and interests. Created by Carl Rogers.

Gestalt Therapy: emphasizes what he calls the whole (holistic) organism, through the importance of being aware of the here and now and accepting responsibility for oneself. Created by Fritz Pearls.

Existential or existential-humanist therapy: focuses on freedom, self-determination and the search for meaning. Important authors are Abraham Maslow and Viktor Frankl.

5) Holistic or integrative therapy

In psychology college, we learned that it is important to define a line of action to be a clinical psychologist. The advantage is obvious: with specialization we learn in depth the theory and practice of a therapeutic approach.

However, according to the American Psychological Association – which is similar to the Federal Council of Psychology, in a sense, informs us that several clinical psychologists work in what is called holistic or interactive therapy in the USA:

“Many therapists do not limit themselves to a single approach. Instead, they link elements of different approaches and build the treatment according to the client’s needs”.

Conclusion

After having seen that there are several lines within psychology and even that many psychologists may come to use more than one approach to carry out their clinical care, the question of the difference between psychoanalysis and psychotherapy remains open.

And for two reasons: first, because a psychologist can also be a psychoanalyst. And, second, because we would have to compare psychoanalysis with each line of psychology – which would make our exposition too long.

Another equally important issue for anyone who is choosing or about to choose a therapy is to remember that the therapist’s personality does influence the treatment. Just remember that we can go to an ophthalmologist to have glasses made. But even in a consultation with an ophthalm., theoretically objective, it can go right or wrong according to the interaction with the personality of the professional.

Therefore, if you have not adapted to a therapy, it may be the line of therapy that you did not like. But equally, it could be because you didn’t adapt to the therapist’s personality, that is, there was no empathy.

See also – Psychotherapy: Know the 8 Main Types

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