Mary is a 35-year-old mother of four children. She is involved in a lengthy and emotional court battle with her husband due to being separated. Mary complains of feelings of anxiousness and depression. She has indicated gaining 10 pounds in the last two months due to a higher intake of junk food. She dreams of falling down a large, endless hole. Mary indicates two important things. The first is an increasing desire " to be loved by someone who understands and cares". The other is, " I want to feel better about myself as a person and get my life back.".
There are six basic techniques of psychoanalytic therapy. Maintaining the analytic framework, free association, interpretation, dream analysis, analysis of resistance, and analysis of transference (Corey, 2013). Using all of these techniques is important in a counseling role in assisting Mary to regain her life. Maintaining the analytical framework, in particular maintaining neutrality and objectivity, will be helpful for Mary. This will allow her to feel comfortable in expressing her issues and may even eventually help explain why she chose not to elaborate on seeing a counselor previously. Free association clients are encouraged to say whatever comes to mind, regardless of how painful, silly, trivial, illogical, or irrelevant it may seem (Corey,2013). This process can help Mary unlock what is in her unconscious. Interpretation is explaining the clients meaning of behavior (Corey, 2013, pp 80). This will help speed up the process of uncovering other unconscious items. Dream analysis is of importance for Mary. She claims to have recurring dreams of falling into a large hole in the ground that never ends. These dreams could reflect a fear of not being meaningfully employed since the birth of her first child. This could be a piece of the puzzle in order for her to feel like she is getting her life back.
