Psychodynamic vs. Cognitive Theories in Understanding Psychopathology

This essay delves into the field of psychopathology, examining two prominent theoretical frameworks: psychodynamic and cognitive behavioral theories. The author begins by defining psychopathology and its role in diagnosing and treating mental illnesses. The essay then explores psychodynamic theory, tracing its roots to Sigmund Freud and highlighting its focus on unconscious psychological processes and the influence of childhood experiences. The historical and cultural context of this theory is discussed, along with its effectiveness. The cognitive behavioral theory is then introduced, emphasizing the role of cognitive processes in shaping behavior and emotional responses. The essay explains how this theory is used to understand conditions like anxiety and depression, and it highlights the positive cultural adaptation and effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapy. The essay concludes by emphasizing the efficiency of these therapies in the field of psychopathology for diagnosis and treatment.

Running Head: PSYCHOPATHOLOGY
PSYCHODYNAMIC AND COGNITIVE THEORY
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author’s Note

1PSYCHOPATHOLOGY
Introduction
Psychopathology is the study of mental incapability and mental illness that needs to be
investigated and treated. It is observed through the behaviors and the symptoms that give the
diagnosis of the mental condition. The psychological impairment can be indicated through the
process of psychopathology and mental health condition. The differentiation between
psychodynamic theory and cognitive behavioral theories will be given in reference to the
historical and cultural influences.
Discussion
The theory of psychodynamic or psychoanalytical helps in understanding the personality
of an individual through their psychological processes that are under their unconscious control
such as wishes and fears that they are not fully aware of. They also justify that the childhood
experiences of a person frames their outlook and mental condition in the later life. Sigmund
Freud’s theory is related to the psychodynamic theory, which is a type of psychotherapy in which
he finds about a patient’s condition through a consultation session that helped in understanding
the unconscious emotions and thoughts so that it is easier to understand the person. Historically,
this theory has gone under scrutiny from people of the 20th century when these theories were
designed by Freud (Young-Eisendrath, 2015). When he said that people developed sexual urges
during an early stage and it was mostly directed towards parents then people were outraged as
they were not open to accept such ideas. Culturally, they were narrow minded to believe that a
person’s beliefs and mental condition is molded through their childhood experiences. This
therapy is proven effective as it is more accurate than other therapies such as supportive therapy,

2PSYCHOPATHOLOGY
long-term therapy and interpersonal therapy. It has been used for several issues in the past for its
evident merits (Fonagy, 2015).
The cognitive behavioral theory is the concept that an individual’s development and
maintenance of behavioral and emotional responses to daily activities depends on the
fundamental principle of cognition. It is used for understanding the mental condition of people as
it is based on cognitive theory of psychopathology. This model describes the spontaneous
thoughts, people’s perceptions, behavioral and emotional reactions to certain situations in life.
The cognitive processes in the form of judgments, appraisals, assumptions and meaning related
to the life events of an individual and it is the basic determinants of one’s feelings and actions
(Zettle & Hayes, 2015). It is a useful method to understand if a person is suffering from anxiety,
depression and post traumatic disorders as it becomes effective after 8-15 sessions. Around 75-
90% of people are treated with the help of cognitive behavioral therapy. The cultural adaptation
of this therapy has been positive and the expectancy of the effectiveness of this therapy is higher
than other therapies. The stigma regarding previous events of someone’s life was seen as a bad
luck in many cultures but the intervention of this therapy led to a positive outcome (Tyrer et al.,
2014).
Conclusion
The use of such therapies in the field of psychopathology has been proven efficient for
the diagnosis and treatment of mental ill and vulnerable patients from the cultural and historical
perspective. People in the previous centuries have been adaptive of these therapies such as
psychodynamic theory and cognitive behavioral therapy that is based on the respective theories.

3PSYCHOPATHOLOGY
References
Fonagy, P. (2015). The effectiveness of psychodynamic psychotherapies: an update. World
Psychiatry, 14(2), 137-150.
Tyrer, P., Cooper, S., Salkovskis, P., Tyrer, H., Crawford, M., Byford, S., ... & Murphy, D.
(2014). Clinical and cost-effectiveness of cognitive behaviour therapy for health anxiety
in medical patients: a multicentre randomised controlled trial. The Lancet, 383(9913),
219-225.
Young-Eisendrath, P. (2015). Mental structures and personal relations: psychodynamic theory in
clinical social work. In Paradigms of clinical social work (pp. 71-101). Routledge.
Zettle, R. D., & Hayes, S. C. (2015). Rule-governed behavior: A potential theoretical framework
for cognitive-behavioral therapy. In The Act in Context (pp. 33-63). Routledge.