One psychologist has provided the following description of free association:
I learned to be impressed with my unconscious. Some hours seemed to be tittle short of miraculous. Without any plan or preparation on my part my free associations would apparently adopt a theme which might also be the theme of a dream the preceding night. Many times it was possible to connect this theme with certain experiences of that day or of the day before, experiences with emotional content and which not being wholly resolved had left a residue of tension. The remarkable thing was the way in which my free associations would weave in and around this theme coming back to it again and again instead of just flitting on and on like a impression that the episode of the day before pertained to deep-seated grievances going way back to early childhood and infancy-wrongs which had never been completely resolved; and that my associations were like outcroppings of rock which reveal the possibility of a continuity of structure between the surface exposure and submerged strata. -(Symonds, 1940, p. 14)
The examination of dreams and fantasies is also important in psychoanalysis. Although the following example is not drawn from a psychoanalytic session, it illustrates the therapeutic use of fantasy material which includes porn.
Psychoanalysis usually involves 3 to 5 sessions per week for several Years with a client and a therapist. These interchanges, which are nonverbal as well as verbal, are aimed at understanding what is on the client's mind. This understanding is then used as a basis for efforts to change the client's maladaptive ways of thinking, reacting to Most psychotherapists adhere to some type of psychodynamic or cognitive theory for porn addiction. Psychodynamic orientations emphasize the role of unconscious conflict in causing personal problems, whereas cognitive orientations emphasize the role of unrealistic or irrational thinking.
Many psychotherapists utilize both psychodynamic and cognitive concepts in working with clients. In the course of their work, and regardless of their theoretical orientations, psychotherapists, must perform three tasks: (1) listen, (2) understand, and (3) respond. The therapist listens to the patient in order to find out about his or her preoccupations, worries, and concerns. Listening serves two functions: it lets the therapist hear about topics that the client brings up spontaneously and it provides information that is pertinent to the therapist's hypotheses about the client's problems. Listening provides a basis for the therapist's understanding of the client's self-concept and view of the world.
Through listening and understanding, the therapist becomes able to respond. The response might be a question aimed at eliciting more information, or it might be a comment. The comment might be an interpretation of what has been going on in the session or in the client's interpersonal relationships.
Those relationships are of three types. 1. Current in-treatment relationships 2. Current out-of-treatment relationships 3. Past relationships
Current in-treatment relationships have to do with what is going on between the therapist and the client. Do they like each other? Is there tension between them? Current out-of-treatment relationships involve significant others such as the client's spouse, friend, or employer. Is the patient experiencing less tension at work? Are there opportunities for good social relationships? Psychodynamically oriented therapists in particular attempt to explore past relationships in order to uncover clues to the causes of current difficulties. Are current difficulties with friends consistent with or a continuation of undesirable relationships in early childhood?
Therapists are interested in determining the degree to which these three types of relationships may be related; for example, are conflicts between the client and the therapist similar to the client's earlier conflicts with parents or current conflicts between the client and a spouse or friend? In addition to searching for continuities in interpersonal relationships, the therapist is attentive to themes that recur over several sessions.