Parallelism Between Undergoing Psychoanalytical Therapy and Being a Teacher

Psychoanalytical therapy is the classic and besteknown modality of therapy; a patient, a psychologist and a couch Founded by Sigmund Freud, psychoanalytical therapy (also known as “talk therapy”) is aimed at helping people overcome problems. It has grown popular throughout the last decades and the number of people that seek help in it » along with the number of psychologists – continues to increase on a regular basis. At the same time, teaching is a profession with intrinsic features that make it generate stress and bring about a variety of behavioural pathologies.

With the aim of drawing a parallelism between undergoing therapy and teaching, this essay attempts to explore some of the characteristics of both disciplines and establishes possible connections between them. Mental Health in Education According to Mirta Videla in “Prevention: Intervencién Psicolégica en Salud Comunitaria” (1991) different professionals describe teaching as a profession prone to cause a considerable amount of stress.

The author resorts to the research of Gomez and Serra at the Universidad of Valencia to depict this reality.

The above mentioned research demonstrated that most of the difficulties teachers endure derive from the professional sphere. The vast majority of the teachers surveyed agreed that knowledge of psychological techniques would help them deal with their problems. Although it is true that in every profession people are confronted with problems, the kind of work, along with the satisfaction and stability it causes, may favour, disturb or damage the mental health of those involved. There is a convincing fact in the field of teaching that accounts for the connection between being a teacher and suffering from stress: most of the sick leaves related to mental health occur after fifteen or twenty years of service.

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This might lead to conclude that some time is required in teaching for the symptoms to fully manifest themselves.

In addition, it was concluded that those teachers who are more committed to their job are the ones that suffer the most because of the frustration derived from the sterile efforts made. All things considered, it would be unrealistic to ignore the implications of teaching in the psyche of teachers. Benefits of Doing Therapy Psychoanalytical treatment is a process of discovery and unveiling that allows people to resignify not only events from the past, but also “normal” behaviour patterns that rule their lives every day. However, in order for the treatment to be effective there must be some previous conditions necessary to start analysis. The patient must acknowledge his or her behaviour as dysfunctional and noxious; an indispensable effort is required to heal. Presence, commitment, a lot of patience, will and courage are imperative for the patient to face the truth, while tolerating the emotional instability that is set in motion when doing therapy.

Therefore, positive transference is of utmost importance to establish the bond between therapist and patient and allow the dismantling of the defence mechanisms the patient has utilised all his life for protecting himself from the anguish. Questions are without a shadow of a doubt the cornerstone of talk therapy. Doing analysis is not giving answers dogmatically; conversely, it is the power of interrogation that leads to real learning. In one of Schopenhauer’s letters to Goethe he declared that the key to discover the truth does not reside in conclusive answers but in the novelty of the enquiry because a question should never anticipate the answer for it to be enlightening. Being a Teacher and Being a Psychologist In 2010 Daniel Feldman was requested to write about teaching by the Ministry of Education. There are many interesting concepts and approaches to teaching in “Didactica General” which could be used to establish possible connections between the role of a teacher and that of a psychologist.

Leaving aside the obvious fact that both professionals initiate their careers with different – but ‘not completely’ – instruction, the idea of a teacher with a therapist approach is the starting point chosen to indicate the connection between these fields of knowledge In his words, there are three main approaches that a teacher can adopt . none of them found in reality in a ‘pure form’ – and among them the therapist approach is discussed. Each approach answers two questions: “What does being an educated person entail?” and “What is the role of the teacher?” An appropriate answer to the first interrogation would be, from this therapist approach, anyone capable of setting his or her own goals and accessing the contents which will prove useful in order to accomplish such objectives. The latter question’s answer could be summarized into that ofa facilitator.

When someone is able to seize learning with an autonomous attitude, it could be assumed that the teacher was able to find a way to ensure all the necessary conditions for significant learning to occur. “A person learns significantly only those things that are perceived as being involved in the maintenance of or enhancement of the structure of self”. Therefore, in order for significant learning to happen, students must feel that they are learning something completely relevant; their experiences are seen as sttcculent ingredients in the process of learning. This autonomous process of decision making requires, at least to some extent, intrapersonal intelligence – quoting Gardner‘s theory: the ability to look inward and discover one’s own feelings, motivations and goals. A teacher who encourages significant learning should foster an atmosphere “in which (a) threat to the self of the learner is reduced to a minimum and differentiated perception of the field is facilitated” .

As regards the role of the teacher, the facilitating model shares many features with the role of a psychologist. The goal behind this approach is to be true to oneself, strengthen the Ego and develop self-esteem. As it was mentioned before, making the tight non-coloured question is the key to learning significantly, In Carl Rogers‘ words “A person cannot teach another person directly; a person can only facilitate another’s learning” (1951). For this reason, a possible argument in favour of doing therapy when you are a teacher is to say that when you are going through analysis you are exposed to significant learning about yourself – guided of course by the psychologist – and if you become aware of the techniques being used, you may be able to apply them yourself in the classroom. A last parallelism between being a teacher and being a psychologist could be drawn if the bonding between teacher-student and psychologist‘patient is analysed; in both situations power is held by the professional specialized in the field that deals with the problem being dissected.

Although facilitating learning allows the teacher to bring students to a putative level of equality, it is the teacher who makes it possible. in addition, building rapport is essential in both situations insofar as significant learning can only happen if two conditions take place: on the one hand, the teacher, as well as the psychologist, should see himself or herself as a mentor who guides instead of an expert who owns knowledge and therefore power. On the other hand, the studentepatient needs to embrace this opportunity and actively participate in the learning process. All in all, it could be said that teachers, therapists, students and patients inhabit the same space occupying similar rolesi.  With regard to the articulation between doing therapy and being a teacher, the following conclusions may be drawn. On the one hand, therapy might improve.

A as long as the necessary conditions are present – the mental welfare of the teacher, providing them with tools which may enhance the stressful situations many of the caring professions suffer from. On the other hand, being metacognitive knowledge inherently necessary for inLrapersonal learning to occur, both as a teacher or as a psychologist one should learn how to reflect upon inner well-being and help others learn that as well. In this essay, an attempt has been made to demonstrate that the fields of mental health and teaching should not be thought of as fragmented and inarticulatei. On the contrary, a holistic perception of both areas is here presented to understand the benefits of acquiring intrapersonal skills in therapy when you are a teacher.