A cacophony of theories: contributions towards a story‐based understanding of analytic treatments

Abstract

The article addresses problems associated with analytic formulations from the founders of psychoanalysis, including C. G. Jung. Although no longer able to claim a scientific basis for these theoretical constructs, analytic practitioners still use this outdated terminology when presenting their work with patients. By now there is a cacophony of theories often concealing rather than explaining. Denial of loneliness, notions of special knowledge, and idealization of the 'The Founder' seem to perpetuate formulations which no longer carry a clear meaning. The article explores three proposals for describing analytic treatments based on the works of the psychoanalyst Roy Schafer and the cognitive psychologist Roger Schank: analytic attitudes, therapeutic narratives and specific treatment perspectives. The first addresses findings from psychotherapy research about the centrality of analytic attitudes. The second applies the findings about story-based memory and narratives to therapy relationships, and the third takes note of the fact that analytic attention often is more complex than can be described with terms such as transference/countertransference.

The mind beyond our immediate awareness: Freudian, Jungian, and cognitive models of the unconscious

“…Also called artificial intelligence, these efforts often cross into cognitive science and the work of Roger Schank of Northwestern University Institute for Learning Sciences is perhaps the most fascinating in this regard. I have reported on his work in some previous papers (Ekstrom 2002a, b). Here I am mainly going to look at some of the conceptualization of the unconscious which has come from his work.…”

“…Freud's and Jung's formulations about the unconscious do not in and of themselves diminish the value of the many clinical approaches which have developed from them. However, most psychoanalytic theories continue to be in use as if they were confirmed by research (Ekstrom 2002a). As a result, we have a cacophony of theories, all claiming superior results on the basis of some type of scientific validation, when, in fact, no analytic formulation, from any of the many schools of thought, can predict clinical outcome with any certainty.…”

Freud, Jung and The Great Chain of Being

“…Nevertheless, the specific terms that therapists use in describing cases ‐ such as ego, psyche, the unconscious, transference, and countertransference ‐ do not tell us what initially transpired between therapist and patient and very little about what the therapist remembered from session to session (Ekstrom ). Case descriptions may rely on a particular master narrative, but they no longer account for a two‐person relational dialogue.…”

Response to ‘The influence of complexes on implicit learning’

“…In my own explorations of findings about implicit memory and their effects on clinical practice, Jung's theory of complexes served as a background for the further pursuit of trauma and images of an archetypal nature. The WAT, however, did not enter into this equation (Ekstrom 2002).…”