Fear as One of the Six Basic Emotions in Respect to Psychopathology, the Patient, and the Therapist

Abstract

In the current paper –with respect to psychopathology, the patient, and the therapist– to begin with, the definition of fear and the differentiation of it from other related emotions and underlying mechanisms of this emotion in accordance with cognitive and psychodynamic theories has been covered. Secondly, in order to analyze the emotion of fear in regard to the patient, two examples have been selected to be discussed. The first one of them is the case of “Little Hans” from the psychoanalytic literature, and the other one is one of the stories of Oğuz Atay, titled “Korkuyu Beklerken” (“Waiting for the Fear”) from the Turkish literature. These two examples have been analyzed thoroughly according to the layering of emotions in order to answer the questions of how fear emerges in the patient and affects his/her functioning. Specifically, from the analysis of the case of “Little Hans”, it may be concluded that all affects are capable of being changed into anxiety, and it is crucial to notice the picture of a child’s sexual life (i.e., infantile sexuality) by uncovering the psychical formations, layer by layer. In the story “Waiting for the Fear”, it should be noted that the protagonist’s moving between paranoid-schizoid and depressive positions, his defense mechanisms, and his relations put that story at an invaluable point in terms of psychoanalytic literature in addition to its importance in Turkish Literature. Last but not least, again considering the layering of emotions; the importance of examining emotions throughout an ongoing therapeutic process, transference, and counter-transference together with the roles of them in therapy, the adverse effects of countertransference, and the management of countertransference have been covered with the case of “Little Hans” and the case of “Laura” from the series named “In Treatment”. In therapy, it is explained by the reflections of client’s sayings which come from the therapist. The client uses those mechanisms, and the role therapist in therapy is to show out that in therapy, there is no need to hide the realities and real emotions, and the fact that the self-conscious emotions are the secondary emotions. Moreover, it is crucial to notice that the therapist must pay close attention to his or her inner workings, while at the same time responding with a reasonable degree of spontaneity and a full degree of humanness. How this kind and degree of responsiveness in the therapist serves to expose him or her to the patient’s conscious and unconscious scrutiny and how self protectiveness is a defense against fear of such exposure have also been discussed in the current article. It is also well-known that countertransference is often a reaction to the patient’s underlying needs, wishes, and fears; thus, understanding therapist’s countertransference facilitates the understanding the patient’s needs, wishes, and fears within the therapeutic relationship as well as other significant relationships of him/her. When all these research and analyses are taken into consideration, appropriateness to both theoretical explanations in cognitive and psychodynamic literature and the layering model mentioned in the paper may signalize that this article might be worthwhile and useful for the mental health professionals of both academic and practical settings.

Keywords

• fear in psychopathology
• fear in patient
• fear in therapist
• cognitive theories
• psychodynamic theories

Psikopatoloji, Hasta ve Terapist Bağlamında Altı Temel Duygudan Korkunun İncelenmesi

Abstract

Altı temel duygudan biri olarak korkunun psikopatoloji, hasta ve terapist bakımından incelenmesi amacıyla kaleme alınan bu makalede ilk olarak korkunun tanımı ve diğer duygulardan ayrımı açıklanıp psikopatoloji literatüründe yer alan bilişsel ve psikodinamik teorilerle korkunun altında yatan mekanizmaların nasıl açıklandığı paylaşılmıştır. İkinci olarak Freud’un “Küçük Hans” vakası ve Oğuz Atay’ın “Korkuyu Beklerken” hikâyesi korkunun bireyde nasıl ortaya çıktığı ve onun hayatını nasıl etkilediği sorularına cevap bulmak amacıyla katmanlı duygu modeline göre irdelenmiştir. Son olarak, yine aynı model çerçevesinde korku duygusunun terapist açısından incelenmesini sağlamak üzere duyguların devam eden terapideki önemi, aktarım ve karşı aktarım ile bunların psikoterapideki yeri, karşı aktarımın engelleyici yanları ve karşı aktarımın yönetim yolları “Küçük Hans” ve “Tedavi (In Treatment)” dizisinde yer alan “Laura” vakası üzerinden ele alınmıştır. Yapılan bu incelemelerin hem bilişsel hem de psikodinamik teorik açıklamalara ve katmanlı duygu modeline açıklama getirip örnek teşkil etmeleri, bu makalenin akademik ve pratik alanlarda çalışan ruh sağlığı uzmanları için faydalı olacağına işaret etmektedir.

Keywords

• psikopatolojide korku
• hastadaki korku
• terapistteki korku
• bilişsel teoriler
• psikodinamik teoriler

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