Talk Therapy

Paper Summary:

This paper looks at two different types of psychoanalysis, or 'talk therapy,' as it is known. The author contrasts and compares the work of two different therapists in the field. Molly Young Brown's text on psychosynthesis, entitled "The Unfolding Self: Psychosynthesis and Counseling," deals mainly with the treatment of adults, while Fran Levy's book "Dance Movement Therapy: A Healing Art," covers the treatment of children. The author looks at the differences in their approaches and how important it is to treat each patient as an individual. These two therapists' theories cannot be applied to each other's patients as the author demonstrates how each of their approaches are targeted to specific age-range and take into account the needs of this audience, whether it be adults or children. Children use dance and movement as a way to express themselves, in the same way that an adult uses their verbal skills in therapy.

From the Paper:

"Dance therapy is not only of use to those impaired from birth, however. Levy also uses dance therapy to help children who have sexually abused express what was done to them, their feelings about the abuse, and to recover a sense of empowerment over their bodies. It is important for those who experience damage to their bodies and thus damage to their sense of self and to their sense of sexual well-beings, to experience a newly positive sense of their empowerment, sexuality, and physical self. This issue of empowerment of the self is dealt with in a more extensive fashion Molly Young Brown's book The Unfolding Self. Brown makes it clear that therapists must not only treat the person as a mind, they must also treat the person they are counseling as a body. She stresses the need for individuals who come to therapy to establish a connection with themselves and the larger world, to not see their suffering as an isolated, purely psychological affliction but something that has roots in larger social problems and attitudes."

More papers on Talk Therapy:

• Research Paper # 112711 : "The Influence of Self-Talk"
• Essay # 86883 : "Client Centered Therapy"
• Essay # 42955 : "Behavior Therapy in Counseling"

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