Social Work Theories: Psychodynamic Theory, Practice and Reflection

This report delves into psychodynamic theory within the context of social work. It begins with a brief overview of the theory, emphasizing the role of the unconscious mind and childhood experiences in shaping personality and behavior. The report then connects the theory to various practice examples, such as obsessive behaviors and anxiety, and discusses the critical role of the social worker, including core skills like emotional intelligence, critical thinking, and active listening. The report identifies limitations of the psychodynamic framework, such as the lack of symptom substitution, overdependence on fantasies, and a lack of definitive conclusions. It evaluates the effectiveness of the theory in practice, citing research on its effectiveness in treating various mental health issues. Finally, the report includes a critical reflection of social work theories, highlighting their importance in enabling social workers to evaluate experiences and treatments, and their application in practice. The report concludes by emphasizing the value of psychodynamic theory in social work, despite its limitations, and the benefits of critical reflection in the profession.

Running head: SOCIAL WORK THEORIES 1
Psychodynamic Theory
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Institutional Affiliation

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PSYCHODYNAMIC THEORY
Introduction
Psychodynamic theory is based on psychological forces and drives within an individual
which explains human personality and behaviour. Psychodynamic theory was derived from
Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalysis, which states that the unconscious mind is the origin of
psychological dysfunction and distress. Freud’s theory provided the need for psychoanalytical
therapy which aims at uncovering the unresolved issues developed during repressed trauma or
childhood which may be the effect of the underlying problems (Cohen & Kaplan, 2019).
Psychodynamic theory addresses the motives of the unconscious mind that supports an
individual’s personality or behaviour. Childhood experiences are critical in the development of
Psychological thinking in later life, personality and behaviour development and occurrence of
psychological dysfunction. In social work, psychodynamic theory is useful in assessments that
explore past experiences of the client and help to hypothesize how the experiences are linked to
the client’s present problem and how it can be addressed. Therefore, Psychodynamic theory
influences assessments of social work and interventions employed which include crisis
intervention and psychotherapy (Thyer, 2015).
Various practice examples are connected to psychodynamic theory. They include
behaviours that may have been developed due to childhood experiences or trauma that was
experienced at an early age. For example, obsessive handwashing may be as a result of trauma
experienced during childhood such an infection that was caused due to lack of hygiene (Lak,
2018). Another example is biting of nails may be linked to anxiety experienced during
childhood. Whenever a person was anxious, he/she would bite the nails to ease the anxiety and
happens unconsciously. Hair-plucking is another key example that is linked to psychodynamic

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theory, it can be triggered by stress, tension anxiety or boredom. This may develop a behaviour
following the experiences of stress, anxiety, boredom or tension during childhood. Sexual
compulsion and behaviours related to it are linked to psychodynamic theory in that this
behaviour may be due to childhood experience or repressed trauma that makes an individual to
behave in such a manner. Social workers roles are linked to the skills needed in this field. The
major role of a social worker is encouraging the client to freely talk about their emotions and
helps them to recognize the reoccurring pattern of their thoughts, behaviours, and emotions and
thereafter can help the client discover the cause of underlying problems in relation to the
information they have shared (Berrett-Abebe et al., 2019). Another key role that a social worker
plays is probing the client’s past by discussing with them their childhood experiences as well as
early life experiences. This enables the social worker to link the experiences with the current
issues since the experiences have a significant impact on the client’s current problem. By this,
the social worker demonstrates the skill of emotional intelligence by being able to read between
the lines from the information given by the client. Other skills portrayed are critical thinking and
active listening which are essential techniques required in the social worker profession (Tompsett
et al., 2016).
There are three limitations of working within the framework of psychodynamic theory.
Firstly, this framework shows a lack of symptom substitution. According to Freud Sofe Ahmed
(2012), this is when one symptom replaces the symptom which had already been treated and it
may occur if the original symptom was not dealt with. Psychodynamic theory does not address
the issue leaving it unresolved this may lead to the occurrence of the problem in the form of
more symptoms. The second limitation of this framework is overdependence on fantasies and
ignores some of the biological components involved. For example, for the treatment of sexual

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addiction using psychodynamic therapy, it focuses on past experiences and fantasy rather than
considering the psychological damage that might have occurred to the individual and biological
predisposition. Lastly, Psychodynamic, not probative, it does not give an exclusive conclusion to
the current issue. It is only suggestive since it relies on a necessary condition thesis (Werkmeister
Rozas & Grady, 2011).
According to Idusohan-Moizer (2013) and his colleagues, psychodynamic theory is
effective in health and social care though there is an extent to its effectiveness because it is not
empirical. This theory has been used to manage a wide variety of illnesses such as symptoms of
mental illness which are anxiety and depression and ailment related to stress. The effectiveness
of psychodynamic psychotherapy is always seen after the treatment. According to the meta-
analyses on psychodynamic psychotherapy and other psychotherapies such as cognitive-
behavioural therapies, the desired effect that was brought about by psychodynamic
psychotherapy was 0.97 while the effect brought about by other psychotherapies was 0.8. This
shows that the use of Psychodynamic theory in treatment is more effective. Psychodynamic
theory has also been criticized for lack of generalizability, not all the issues involve the
application of psychodynamic theory. The theory is way too diverse to give definitive
formulations of the client underlying issues (Midgley et al., 2017). The formulations include
identifying maladaptive defences, unconscious expectations and personality development deficit
among others. Instead, psychodynamic theory assumes conscious influence limitation, conflict of
ubiquity among other complex meanings that are attached to the childhood or early life
experiences. To formulate the issues, the theoretical orientation of psychodynamic. Therefore,
psychodynamic psychotherapy is somehow dysfunctional and will be soon replaced with more
empirical psychotherapies.

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Critical reflection of the theories of social work is the core concept in this profession and
the most familiar theoretic approach (Beddoe, 2018). Reflection on the social work theories such
as psychodynamic theory, system theory, psychosocial development theory, and transpersonal
theory enables the social workers to evaluate their experiences as well as the client’s experiences
concerning the treatment method. Formulation on how the professionals engage in reflection
action through thinking of their experience and what they expect and in turn link their knowledge
to the practice. Morley (2020) states the thought of social workers concerning the social theories
they employ in their profession gives them easy work on their simultaneous therapy sessions. It
relieves the anxiety level and enable them to know which theory to use in every circumstance.
When a social work theory applied by the social worker produced an undesired effect, the social
worker will know where he went wrong through critical reflection of the social work theory he
had used. Critical reflection in social work also helps in addressing the issues that were left
untended in the previous treatment, it gives room for symptom substitution. For example, when a
practitioner uses psychodynamic theory and realizes that it does not address all issues, the
practitioner will use another theory like transpersonal theory. Thus, a critical reflection of social
work theories is vital in the social work profession (Watts, 2018).
In conclusion, psychodynamic theory is helpful in social work and it is effective in social
work practice despite its adversities. It focuses on the internal experiences which determine a
person’s personality development which is linked to the current underlying problem.
Psychodynamic theory is applied in social practice to help determine why a person behaves in a
certain manner and how the unconscious personality is affected by childhood experiences.
Critical reflection on the social work theories benefits the social workers by making their work
easy in the future when they encounter the same problem.

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References
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Social Work, 72(1), 105-108.
Berrett-Abebe, J., Donelan, K., Berkman, B., Auerbach, D., & Maramaldi, P. (2019). Physician and
nurse practitioner perceptions of social worker and community health worker roles in primary
care practices caring for frail elders: Insights for social work. Social Work in Health Care,
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Cohen, J. N., & Kaplan, S. C. (2019). Understanding and treating anxiety disorders: A
psychodynamic approach. Clinical Handbook of Anxiety Disorders, 5(2), 315-332.
Idusohan-Moizer, H., Sawicka, A., Dendle, J., & Albany, M. (2013). Mindfulness-based cognitive
therapy for adults with intellectual disabilities: An evaluation of the effectiveness of
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Tompsett, H., Henderson, K., Mathew Byrne, J., Gaskell Mew, E., & Tompsett, C. (2016). On the
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