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Compare and Contrast Psychoanalytic and Person-Centered Therapies

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Running Head: Compare and Contrast Paper

Compare and Contrast: Psychoanalytic and Person-Centered Therapies

Leslie A. White

Central Missouri State University

` The purpose of this paper is to compare and contrast the differences and similarities associated with Carl Roger’s Client-centered theory and Sigmund Freud’s Psychoanalytic theory. The focus of the comparisons will fall into the three main topic areas: that of optimal personality development, that of the nature of problem formation, and that of the process of learning and change. The two theorists differ in approach in that Psychoanalytic theory is basically deterministic while Person-Centered therapy is rooted in humanistic and existential philosophies. …show more content…

The superego operates as a moral center and strives for perfection. (Corey, 1996). Person-centered therapy is similar in that it identifies a specific personality structure, the OVS. When behavior is congruent and in harmony with the OVS, there is a movement towards self-actualization and the enhancement of being. When humans consciously or unconsciously behave in a way that goes against the OVS, behavior is a detriment to the being and hinders the self-actualization process. The personality structures differ in that Freud identifies three distinct personality structures that divide psychic energy. Freud proposed that the division of psychic energy between the personality structures was a result of the level of frustration or satiation of the id. The progression plays a role in socialization as the person moves through the psychosexual stages. Rogerian theory differs in the major personality structure is the OVS. When humans consciously or unconsciously behave in a way that goes against the OVS, behavior is a detriment to the being and hinders the self-actualization process. The process differs in that the individual discordance with the OVS is a lack of trust toward the inner valuing system, as opposed to a lack of balance between satiation of the id personality structure.
The personality structures are similar in that the client must work toward some sense of conscious awareness in order to elicit change in behavior. According to Rogers,

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