Psychodynamic Frame of Reference

  • Psychodynamic Frame of Reference (psychodynamic FOR) is based on Dr. Sigmund Freud’s idea that human has the initiative to invest emotions and psychic energy to achieve basic needs and maintain relationship. When an individual fails to maintain healthy relationships due to the conflicts or insufficient ego defense mechanism, dysfunction will occur. Occupational therapists can base this psychodynamic FOR to help treat the dysfunction using two main approaches including explorative and supportive approach. Explorative approach is to bring the conflicts in the unconscious mind to the conscious level, and so potential ways can be found to resolve the conflicts and the feelings can be expressed. On the other hand, supportive approach is to keep the conflicts hidden. It tries to resolve the conflict by strengthening the ego defense mechanism of the clients to prevent the conflicts from going up to the conscious level. Both the explorative and supportive approaches under this psychodynamic FOR aim to help clients satisfy the needs and to enhance healthy and normal psychosocial development. It should be noted that there may not be a clear division between the assessment and intervention by using the two approaches. Therapists can implement the assessment and treatment by selecting activities that provide appropriate level of social interaction, and by using activity analysis to analyze the activities before the implementation. Individual- and group-based activities can be used. However, individual-based activities may be easier to create the client’s active engagement, whereas supportive group-based activities can be further used to provide chances for mutual support, exchanging information, and figuring out the ways to solve the problems together.

Summarized by

  • Louise Pang

Type

  • Frame of reference

Population

  • Child
  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Elderly

Disability

  • Psychological disorder

Domain of occupation

  • Unspecified

Application Note

  • This FOR may be more difficult to be applied in severely handicapped clients, and group size at eight to ten people is optimal.

Key Reference

  • Creek, J. (2014). Approaches to practice. In W. Bryant, J. Fieldhouse, & K. Bannigan (Eds.), Creek's occupational therapy and mental health (5th ed., pp. 50-71). Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone.

Year Published

  • 2014

Primary Developer

  • Unknown

Related Models

Occupation-specific Community Development Model for Family Mental Health

  • This model consists of a continuum with five steps, each facilitating change for subsequent stages of mental health in families that are socially isolated. The five steps are (1) developmental casework, (2) mutual support, (3) coalitions of mutual interest, (4) pro-active community participation, and (5) social movements. Development casework is an individual therapy focusing on occupational behavior and role acquisition through participating in daily activities.

Psychospiritual Integration Frame of Reference

  • Psychospiritual integration frame of reference (FOR) emphasizes the nature of spirituality, the expression of spirituality in every occupation behavior, the nature of spiritual occupation, and the influence of spirituality and spiritual occupations on health and well-being. This FOR defines that spirituality is constructed of an integral harmony of six qualitatively distinct dimensions and each dimension is considered as an ever-expanding continuum with increasing depth and vastness. The six dimensions are:

Canadian Occupational Therapy Inter-relational Practice Process (COTIPP) Framework

  • The Canadian Occupational Therapy Inter-relational Practice Process (COTIPP) Framework, drawn from previous Canadian practice frameworks (i.e., the CPPF and CMCE), aims to describe the collaborative, inter-relational, and rights-based practice of occupational therapy. The COTIPP places ‘build and sustain relationship’ in the centre of the framework, indicating as the essential underlying process of occupational therapy practice. The outer edge of the framework contains an additional three foundational process that occupational therapists engage in throughout practice.

Dynamic Model of Occupation-Based Practice (DMOBP)

  • The model explains the ever-changing state of therapeutic interactions along a continuum between a discrete model and occupation-based practice. Occupation-based practice is defined as the use of occupation in assessment and therapeutic intervention approach working toward occupational outcomes. In contrast, discrete models are measurement and intervention approaches that follow an agenda other than health through occupation and could be recognized as a medical, educational, psychological perspectives.

Occupational Therapy Delineation Model of Practice for Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

  • This model of practice is based on the theoretical concepts relating to the child, environment, task, and the interaction among these key factors and the child’s participation in different occupations. A goodness-of-fit of those factors is necessary for successful participation in occupations.

Model Type

Population

Disability

Domain of Occupation

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