Cognitive Therapy or Psychoanalysis?

The goal of all good therapy is, in my opinion, to assist the individual
on his goal of individuation - or self-actualization.

But in order to truly accomplish this, it is my humble opinion that
the therapy must employ the methods of psychoanalysis.
Though psychoanalysis has gotten a kind of bad name over the past few decades, it is still the
only form of therapy that gets the client in touch with her unconscious self.
And it is this unconscious self which houses the complexes which
all too often defeat or frustrate our spiritual growth.

Regrettably, psychoanalysis is no longer the standard in therapeutic circles.
Therapists nowadays have been channeled into practicing cognitive therapy
as the norm. I think this is unfortunate, and largely due to an overpowering negative
influence of the insurance industry.

What’s Wrong with Cognitive Therapy?

The limitation of cognitive therapy is, quite simply this:
It doesn’t address the root-level, unconscious processes
which create the negative thought patterns the cognitivists
try so skillfully to correct.

Only depth psychology (of which psychoanalysis is a species)
can really get to these core, root-level issues. It’s not that
cognitive psychology has no use. It’s just that relying solely on
cognitive psychology to solve psychoemotional problems
is very like pulling an apple off an apple tree and expecting
the apple not to grow back next spring.

Eric Bryant, Philosophical Counseling Consultant
Gnosis Arts Multimedia Communications LLC