1
Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory Application
Grand Canyon University
CNL-500 Theories and Models of Counseling
2
Ana is a 24-year-old mother of one who was recently furloughed from her job at a bank.
She is married however, her husband is currently deployed, leaving her to raise their son alone.
Ana is also a first-generation immigrant from Guatemala. Having no friends or family for
support, Ana is feeling quite overwhelmed. Although she has a good relationship with her
family, Ana has not been able to see them in the last year. Her family is wealthy in Guatemala,
but Ana does not want to seek financial help from them. Since Ana is willing to commit to the
eight counseling sessions her insurance will cover, addressing her stressors, her goals for
treatment, as well as her cultural and social needs using Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory
will help Ana achieve success in her counseling goals.
Goals of Counseling
With Freud’s psychoanalytic approach, the goal of counseling is to help clients become
aware of conflicts and behaviors that are happening unconsciously (Tarzian et al., 2023). The
purpose of analytic methods is to uncover inner problems that could be disguised as symptoms as
well as promote client integration while uncovering the source of the pain that the client is
, experiencing. This enables therapists to help the client discover what is standing in the way of
appropriate actions.
Psychoanalytic therapy should be used to help Ana discover and work through her
underlying stressors which are her employment loss, solo-parenting due to her husband’s
deployment, and lack of family support. If Ana is presented with multiple resources such as
reuniting with her family, gaining employment, and getting help with childcare, her external
stressors could be removed. Then, Ana can receive help for the conflict she’s experiencing
Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory Application
Grand Canyon University
CNL-500 Theories and Models of Counseling
2
Ana is a 24-year-old mother of one who was recently furloughed from her job at a bank.
She is married however, her husband is currently deployed, leaving her to raise their son alone.
Ana is also a first-generation immigrant from Guatemala. Having no friends or family for
support, Ana is feeling quite overwhelmed. Although she has a good relationship with her
family, Ana has not been able to see them in the last year. Her family is wealthy in Guatemala,
but Ana does not want to seek financial help from them. Since Ana is willing to commit to the
eight counseling sessions her insurance will cover, addressing her stressors, her goals for
treatment, as well as her cultural and social needs using Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory
will help Ana achieve success in her counseling goals.
Goals of Counseling
With Freud’s psychoanalytic approach, the goal of counseling is to help clients become
aware of conflicts and behaviors that are happening unconsciously (Tarzian et al., 2023). The
purpose of analytic methods is to uncover inner problems that could be disguised as symptoms as
well as promote client integration while uncovering the source of the pain that the client is
, experiencing. This enables therapists to help the client discover what is standing in the way of
appropriate actions.
Psychoanalytic therapy should be used to help Ana discover and work through her
underlying stressors which are her employment loss, solo-parenting due to her husband’s
deployment, and lack of family support. If Ana is presented with multiple resources such as
reuniting with her family, gaining employment, and getting help with childcare, her external
stressors could be removed. Then, Ana can receive help for the conflict she’s experiencing
