Ethics of DA

• STRENGTH

  P: Addresses long term underlying cause of psychological problems

  E: Therapy works on uncovering repressed unconscious desires/conflicts that may have occurred in early childhood, bringing them to the surface + confronting them should result in long term end

  E: Compared to other therapies, e.g. drug therapy which only treat the symptoms
• WEAKNESS

  P: Being made aware of unconscious conflicts may be distressing + cause psychological harm

  E: Therapy works by revealing previously repressed desires of conflicts from childhood, these desires have been repressed because they may be traumatic

  E: There is the potential for the client to experience psychological harm in the process of acknowledging these unconscious issues
• WEAKNESS

  P: Concerns about the power imbalance between the therapist and the client

  E: The therapist takes the expert role, offering the patient insight into their unconscious, they therefore are reliant on the therapist for making progress through the therapy

  E: Unethical as it can lead to the client becoming overly-dependant on the therapist, unable to face their problems on their own
• WEAKNESS

  P: Has the potential to create false memories

  E: Documented case of therapists leading people to inaccurately remember instances of abuse/unpleasant experiences in their past, Toon et al suggests some therapists intentionally encourage false memories so therapy will last longer and they will get more money

  E: False memory syndrome can cause harm as strongly affects people’s identity + relationships, negative repercussions for those falsely accused
• Conclusion for ethical issues

  • Has the potential to cause several issues of psychological harm such as trauma
  • Potential for it to be misused to exploit vulnerable people suffering
  • Does little to empower the individual to help themselves due to the reliance on the therapist to provide interpretations for their dreams