Psychodynamic Counseling for a Biracial Adolescent: Morgan's Case

Morgan's Case Overview

Morgan is a biracial 16-year-old adolescent male whose mother is Japanese-American and whose father is African-American. His parents divorced when he was 3 years old and harbor negative feelings toward each other, even though both love him. Morgan's parents have since remarried and have additional children. He has very good relationships with his father, stepmother, and younger sisters, but has struggled to maintain a good relationship with his mother since her remarriage. The family situation is quite stressful: it is difficult for Morgan to see his mother, who relocated to another state, while his father lost his job and the family is experiencing tremendous financial challenges.

While Morgan has developed feelings for one young woman in his social group, he is skeptical about asking her out for fear of rejection. In the past year, he has demonstrated several behavioral changes, including identifying himself as African-American rather than biracial, increased absenteeism from school, failure to complete assignments, withdrawal from social settings, and depression linked to lack of contact with his mother. He has also experienced bullying in the form of verbal attacks and online harassment.

Theories and Therapeutic Approach

Morgan's family and behavioral problems indicate a need for a suitable intervention plan—one that focuses on helping him develop coping strategies for dealing with his challenges. When counseling Morgan, it is important to consider theories and therapeutic approaches suited to his situation. The use of multiple theories and therapeutic approaches reflects an integrative counseling and psychotherapy model, which is a widely used approach when working with clients (Neukrug, 2012).

One theory that can be utilized when counseling Morgan is psychodynamic theory. Psychodynamic theory, also known as psychoanalysis, is rooted in the work of Sigmund Freud and is based on the belief that unconscious internal forces drive an individual's behavior. Consequently, an individual can address his or her condition by identifying these unconscious forces. Two additional applicable theories are behavioral theory and cognitive theory. Behavioral theory holds that desired behaviors can be achieved through conditioning, whereas cognitive theory focuses on how changes in an individual's thoughts can produce changes in feelings and behaviors (Counseling Staff, 2015).

Based on these theories, the most suitable therapeutic approaches for Morgan include:

Psychodynamic therapy, which focuses on in-depth analysis of an individual's thoughts and unconscious psychological processes. Humanistic therapy, which can help Morgan focus on the present, identify coping strategies, and work toward realizing his full potential academically and in life generally. Integrative therapy, which combines elements from several theoretical frameworks within counseling practice.

In light of the case information, psychodynamic therapy is the most suitable approach for Morgan. This therapy explores a client's thoughts and psychological problems by examining unconscious processes. It will help identify how Morgan's past has contributed to his current psychological difficulties and will help him better understand himself by exploring the unconscious thoughts and emotions driving his behavioral changes.

Using this therapeutic approach, Morgan will need counseling in several areas: (1) his self-identity, given that he is increasingly identifying as African-American rather than biracial; (2) the stressful family situation, which appears to be the root cause of his behavioral changes; (3) his withdrawal from social situations and friends, which is partly affecting his education; and (4) the bullying he has experienced through verbal attacks and online harassment.

Techniques in Psychodynamic Therapy

There are several psychodynamic therapy techniques that can be utilized when counseling Morgan to address each of the challenges identified above.

Free Association

One key technique is free association, an approach that encourages a client to explore underlying unconscious factors (Ivey, D'Andrea & Ivey, 2012, p. 201). According to Jones-Smith (2012), free association is a core psychoanalytic technique that enables a client to say anything that comes to mind, regardless of how meaningless, painful, or unusual it may seem. Free association helps identify deeper underlying thought processes that cause someone to edit or censor their thoughts.

Applying this technique will involve creating a safe environment for open interaction with Morgan and permitting him to say whatever comes to mind in an unstructured manner. For instance, free interaction will enable Morgan to share his feelings toward the young woman in his social group and what he intends to do about those feelings. Free association will also help clarify the psychological processes that have contributed to Morgan's self-identification as African-American rather than biracial—he will freely share his views about the various racial identities and why he identifies as he does. Additionally, this technique can help identify the reasons for his withdrawal from social situations at home and school, as well as his anxiety. Because the technique is grounded in a strong client-therapist relationship, Morgan will more comfortably express his thoughts about probable depression and bullying. The therapist will thereby gain a complete understanding of Morgan's family, psychological, emotional, and behavioral dynamics.

Analysis of Resistance

The second technique is the analysis of resistance. Resistance is likely to occur as the client begins to encounter uncomfortable thoughts and feelings during self-exploration in the counseling process (Jones-Smith, 2012). Since the goal of psychodynamic therapy is to explore unconscious thoughts and psychological processes contributing to behavior changes, a client is likely to become uncomfortable when examining these dynamics. Probable forms of resistance include censoring or editing thoughts and interfering with the free association process. Morgan is a likely candidate for these resistances because he currently prefers not to open up about his feelings.

When utilizing analysis of resistance, the therapist will uncover Morgan's unconscious motivations and defensive mechanisms—particularly those underlying his self-identification as African-American despite his biracial heritage. The therapist will also identify the defense mechanisms Morgan uses to cope with family stress, social withdrawal, and bullying. Once these factors are identified, the therapist will help Morgan become aware of them and learn how to confront them, thereby enhancing the counseling process.

Analysis of Transference

The third technique is the analysis of transference, through which the client re-experiences early conflicts and may substitute the therapist for his parents (Jones-Smith, 2012). During this process, the client is likely to transfer love and resentment for his parents onto the therapist, potentially hindering therapeutic progress. The therapist will examine and interpret these distorted displacements of important relationships in Morgan's life. This process will be particularly beneficial in addressing his withdrawal from social situations and his reluctance to open up to parents.

The therapist will interpret Morgan's hidden feelings, unconscious preoccupations, and early childhood conflicts. Following these interpretations, the therapist will help Morgan understand the impact of his past on his present life, enabling him to navigate earlier conflicts and unconscious fixations that have affected his psychological growth and capacity to build good relationships with family and friends.

Interpretation

The final technique is interpretation, an intricate process that entails integrating knowledge of the therapeutic approach with clinical data from the client-therapist interaction (Ivey, D'Andrea & Ivey, 2012, p. 205). During this process, the therapist will encourage Morgan to reinterpret his life experiences and worldview based on insights from the counseling sessions. As Morgan becomes aware of the therapist's interpretations of his psychological and behavioral problems, he will learn new coping strategies. Consequently, Morgan will be better equipped to overcome the limitations created by his unconscious fixations and foster his personal development and growth.

References

Counseling Staff. (2015, June 1). Five counseling theories and approaches. Retrieved from The Family Institute at Northwestern University website: https://counseling.northwestern.edu/five-counseling-theories-and-approaches/

Han, H. S., West-Olatunji, C., & Thomas, M. S. (2011). Use of racial identity development theory to explore cultural competence among early childhood educators. SRATE Journal, 20(1), 1–11.

Ivey, A. E., D'Andrea, M. J., & Ivey, M. B. (2012). Theories of counseling and psychotherapy: A multicultural perspective. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Jones-Smith, E. (2012). Theories of counseling and psychotherapy: An integrative approach. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.

Neukrug, E. (2012). The world of the counselor: An introduction to the counseling profession (4th ed.). Belmont, CA: Cengage Learning.