Compare and Contrast Psychodynamic Theory and Person Centerd

Title – Critically compare and contrast two counselling theories Module code- Cg2030 Module tutor – Phill Goss Word count-2500 Counselling takes place when a counsellor sees a client in a private and confidential setting to explore a difficulty a client is having, distress they may be experiencing or perhaps their dissatisfaction with life, or loss of a sense of direction and purpose. It is always at the request of the client as no one can properly be ‘sent' for counselling. (Counselling central) By listening the counsellor can begin to perceive the difficulties from the client's point of view and can help them to see things more clearly, possibly from a different perspective. Counselling is a way of enabling choice or change or of reducing confusion. It does not involve giving advice or directing a client to take a particular course of action. Counsellors do not judge or exploit their clients in any way. ’(Counselling central). The two main therpaies withi n counselling that I will focus on comparing on contrasting are person centerd counselling.PCT is a form of talk-psychotherapy  developed by  psychologist  Carl Rogers  in the 1940s and 1950s. The goal of PCT is to provide clients with an opportunity to develop a sense of self wherein they can realize how their attitudes, feelings and behavior are being negatively affected and make an effort to find their true positive potential  In this technique, therapists create a comfortable, non-judgmental  environment  by demonstrating  congruence  (genuineness),  empathy, and unconditional positive regard toward their clients while using a non-directive approach.This aids clients in finding their own solutions to their problems. Secondly Psychoanalysis  is a  psychological  and  psychotherapeutic  theory conceived in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud. Psychoanalysis has expanded, been criticized and developed in differe nt directions, mostly by some of Freud's colleagues and students, such as  Alfred Adler,  Carl Gustav Jung  and  Wilhelm Reich, and later by neo-Freudians such as  Erich Fromm,  Karen Horney,  Harry Stack Sullivan  and  Jacques Lacan.The basic tenets of psychoanalytic therapy include the following beside the inherited constitution of personality, a person's development is determined by events in early childhood, human behaviour, experience, and cognition are largely determined by irrational drives, those drives are said to be largely  unconscious. This main aim of this assignment will be taking both person centred and psychoanalytic therapy and critically comparing them I will do this by giving an overview of the two therapies how they were developed, the principles they lie upon, what their relationships are based on.We will then look at how they are similar and also how they differ by looking at the skills used and how they work as therapies to come to both do the same thing which is to help a client overcome an issue in their life. Person centred therapy is based on the idea that humans have a drive to grow towards their potential and will act with the best interest to themselves, if they are provided the right atmosphere (Mcleod,2008). The direction of therapy is guided by the client with the support of the therapist. The client is always the expert on themselves if they are provided with the right atmosphere for self-actualisation to occur.The central component being the client knows best the client knows where it hurts the most. The counsellors main motive is to relate to the client in such a way that he or she can find there sense of self direction. Carl Rodgers was the founder of person centred therapy. The development stemmed from Rodgers experiences of being a client and working as a counsellor (casemore) Rodgers didn’t like the view of behaviourist that humans were organisms that react to stimuli and developed habits from learned experiences.Therefor in his work as a counsellor became increasingly uncomfortable with being â€Å"the expert† so began to develop a different view of what clients needed to experience in counselling, empathy congruence and unconditional positive regard. Rodgers proposed that human beings were always in the process of becoming rather than being in a fixed state. As humans we have the captivity to develop in a basically positive direction given the right conditions.That’s not to say that he thought people are not sometimes cruel or hurtful but every person has the tendencies towords strong positive direction. Rodgers proposed that when the conditions were growth promoting an individual could develop into a fully functioning person. Rodgers described his approach as a basic philosophy rather than a simple technique which empowers the individual and leads to personal and social transformation, grounded in empathic understanding being non-judgemental and congruent .For this reason the person centred approach is often seen as touchy feel relation and seen as soft skilled that lacks structure, sometimes said as a way of preparing the road for real therapy. However it does have a clear theory of self, the creation of distrees and the tehraputic process. It’s aims are transformational and asks the counsellor to be a human and transparent â€Å"be real†(langridge). Freud is regarded as the founder of modern psychology, developing psychoanalysis. The therapy is based on the idea that a great deal of the individual behavior are not within conscious control.Therefor the main emphasis is to help the client get to the deep root of the problem often thought, to stem from childhood. Based on the principle that childhood experiences effect our behavior as adults and effect out thinking processe, Freud belived that these thoughts and feelings can become repressed and may manifest themselves as depression or other negative symptoms. The client is able to reveal unconscious thought by talking freely aboput thought that enter their mind the analysis will attempt to interpratate and make sence of the clients experiances.Deeply burtied experiances are expressed and the opportunity to share tehase thoughts and feelings can help the client work through thease problems. Clients are asked to try and transfer thougts and feelings they have towords people in their life on the analyst this process is called transfernace the success depends on how the analysats and client work together. Psychoanalysis can be life changing if successful howver around 7 years of therpay is needed to discover the full unconcious mind . regular sessions provide a setting to explore there thoughts and make sence of them.Psychoanalytic therapy is based on freuds work of pychoanalysis but less intensive it is found to be bennaficial for clients who want to understand more about tehmselves and useful to people who feel tehir problems have affcted them for a long period of time and need reliving of emotional disstress. Through deep exploration client and therapist try to understand the inner life of the client. Uncovering the uncocncious needs and thoughts may help the client understand how their past experiances affect their life today.It can also help them to work out how they can live a more fulfilling life. Person centred counselling and psychoanalytic therapy are both off springs of two great minded people Sigmund Freud and carl Rodgers the originators of these two approaches. Freud based his framework on his medical background , Rodgers was influenced by excistential phillosphy were the person is there central role in their growth and change. Some similarities can be drawn from a comparison betwewen the two models they both want to widen the concioussness but this is done in different means.Psychonalsis aims to make the unconscious conscious and by doing this helps the person gain controle over their thought and feelings. And the person cneterd approach helps the client to overcome a state of incongruence whilst psychoanalytic objective is two seek the repressed childhood experiances. The person centerd works through the concioussness by focusing on the here and now. Kahn (1985) compares the term incongruence with psychoanalytic defence mechanism repression. To him both are the same thing but different versions.Both prevent the person from being aware of his their own feelings the onluy diffrnece being that Rodgers belives by imputing the core conditions of Two persons are in Psychological contact, The first, whom we shall term the client, is in a state of incongruence, being vulnerable or anxious,The second person, whom we shall term the therapist is congruence or integrated in the relationship,The therapist experiences unconditional positive regard for the client. The therapist experiences an empathic understanding of the clients internal frame of reference and endeavours to communicate this experience to the client.The communication to the client of the therapist’s empathic understanding and unconditional positive regard is to a minimal degree achieved. Then if thease are imputed incongruence will be shifted and psychoanalytic belive through interpretation of childhoon events repression can be acchived. Both psychoanalytic and person centred involve empathy that is applied to client and therapist, enabling the client to gain new understanding and move away from distress and towards harmony with self and others. Therefor potentially both try to increase insight and strength towards the self.Other areas that overlap are also evident simple areas such as setting bounderies, along with assessment for therapy. From the first minuite of contact both persons become aware of their own and others aims, values and lifestyle by empathic attending. Both types of therapist are warm and open minded and accepting. In both therapies the therapist is bidden to provide a non judgemental respe ctful attitude towords the client. Both also share a commitment to the use of silence beliving it is an effective tool for therapy commiting to listening without impediment.The similarities are strongly guided by personal growth and development both have the interest of promoting self-reflection of the client. Their interest is to promote self-reflection of the clirnt. The relationship is very important in both and the main reason for this is to gain a beter insight and clearer understanding of the client. The aim is to build a relationship built on trust honesty and reliance on one another. The relationship is crucial in both therpays as without a tight relationship there is no ground work in place for the client to feel safe to explore.Both models encourage the client to relase emotions and it is through tehase that empathy can be experienced. On the other hand psychoanalytic theory stresses the importance of unconscious procedures and sexuality as the key terms for a deep underst anding of the human pychopathology. Freud thought that dreams were the best way to explore the unconscious since they are disquised as the id whishes repressed by the ego in order to escape from awareness. The goal of counselling to Rodgers is the congruence of personality acchived when the self gains access to a variety of experiances. he need for self actualization can only be atteneded to once counsellor creates an atmosphere of unconditional positive regard and empathic understanding. There are considerable diffrences between the two approaches ialthough stated that they both create a strong knitted relationship between client ancd counsellor . person centers counselling the counsellor takes on a non directice role more like a companion rather than a leader and the client takes lead of the session were as psychodynamic counsellors take more of an authority figure in the relationship.Person centred firmly believes that the 6 core condition are necessary for change. Hoewever psych odynamic use of transference is to make interpretation to the client for effective change. Person centred would see using transference would not create a genuine relationship between counsellor and client. One of the central themes in person centred is the emphasis on the present behaviours of the client. Psychodynamic focuses on the past and how it determines the present behaviours.Pychodyanmic counsellors choose to remain neutral during a session as this encourages transference a major tool in psychodynamic therapy. McLeod (2004) points out that in person centered counselling, questions are only asked to clients when necessary and may also answer questions if asked by clients, as this was supports to create the quality of the relationship. This again differs to the way Psychodynamic counsellors' work; as asking questions are pivotal during therapy as this elps to explore and build up relevant material, furthermore, it would be unlikely for a psychodynamic counsellor to answer any personal questions by the client and instead try to figure out why the question is important. Although both see the relationship as crucial each therapy maintains a diferent way to responding to the client attitudes and values. for instance defences and transferance excist in both forms but handled in different ways. For person centerdit is a requirement that the core conditions are stimuiltaneous for the therapist thease core conditions repersent an openess to self experience and to the experience of another.Rodgers belived counsellors should be egalitarian in their meetings with clinets and a major diffrence concerns pychodynamic interpretations. Appearing as all knowing and going beyond what is un-concious based mostly on theory rather than a clients spacific experiances. Thorne (1996) states that â€Å"pychodynamic therpay may go to early in interpratation to make sence to clients† Pychodynamic interpratation specifically concerns the naming of the unconcious for causeing problems that the clinet may be having.Only in the hermanutic meaning does the word interpratation make sence of things Hermeneutics applies to all persons who make sense of all situations, whereas psychodynamic interpretation in the narrow sense is the most specific ingredient of psychodynamic therapy’s efforts to make positive changes for clients. All in all psychodynamic approaches are based on freuds work based on the unconscious of the ID ego and superego which emphasis on sexual aggression.Person centerd is based on the belief that humans have unique qualities for freedom and growth beliving that we are beyond being controlled by ID ego and superego not controlled by sexual urges. The similarities between both approaches promote and guide the idea of progress and development. There main interest to promote self reflection and awarenss for the client in order to do this they effectively use communication. Both approaches are the result of hypothesis the main diffrences lie at the foundations and what is belived to work best however sometimes they meet for what may be the best too to use at the time of hearapy. prehaps what makes any thrapy work is the belief that they can work if the client wants it to work there emotional needs and expectataions I belive that theory used does play a a very important role but it is the client who has the ability to change which ever root of therapy they take they can change no matter how they recive therapy weather it be in a humanistic approach or psychodynamic because if they expect it to work it will so maybe I am more for the person cneterd view as I belive that self actualisation and awarenss is very important to be able to facilitate growth.

Analysis Of Speech Event Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Analysis Of Speech Event - Essay Example He also expressed his great respect for President Bush, and that â€Å"he had performed magnificently during the crisis†, which had followed the September 11th attacks on the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York, â€Å"and he had shown real qualities of leadership which had been required at that time†. The purpose of the interview was to obtain information on crucial world matters from a world leader. In this interview with only one main interviewee, the criterion of role, status and norm as applied to Tony Blair was one of power, and the questions were also formulated according to the needs of the situation. Since Mr. Blair had on earlier occassions been interviewed by Larry King, (as seen in the welcome given to him by King: â€Å" A return visit for the Prime Minister of Great Britain, Tony Blair†) he had a good rapport with him. He paid less attention to role, status and norm, and hence his responses approached proximity language. He spoke about talking with U.S. President George Bush several times a week, as it was necessary to â€Å"keep closely in contact with key allies and partners, so that we are working things through together, because one of the almost unique features of this crisis is how many different facets it’s got†.

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Motivation at work - Essay Example Thus the organization is able to increase the amount of profits it makes since it increases its level of customer satisfaction and retention (Pinder, 2008). From the article, it is a clear fact that motivation plays a significant role in fulfilling the promise for personal improvement as well as that of the organization. It is shown in the way that the employees at the WestLake Computing Corporation (WCC) are provided with diversity training programs that help them to know how to work within a workforce that is highly diverse. Usually the small problems that are identified within an organization serve as a greater revelation of the main issues that are affecting the overall performance of the organization. One of this is motivation, which although may appear to be a minor issue is a very relevant component towards the success of the organization. It thus reveals that there is a lot of motivation that still needs to be offered below the surface hence an indication of the high capability contained in each individual to perform extraordinarily. For instance, the employees in this organization are given the details, case applications or exa mples and regulation to provide employment regulations with which they raise their capabilities in dealing with different situations within an environment with multiple cultures (Pinder, 2008). The article provides a lot of insight regarding the need for motivation at the workplace in relation to the total organizational performance. It is also encouraging in the sense that it is written on a positive perspective and not with the intention to offer criticisms. In relation to the case, it helps to speed up most important issues within the organization that include the expansion of sales to international levels. According to the author, it is the organizational behavior class that helps individuals to point out towards some of the solutions

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How women experience battering - Essay Example At the same time, social ostracism, shame and sense of hopelessness discourages them to question the violence in the relationship. Another critical issue and probably the key factor that continues to hound women is their lack of confidence in their ability to survive without their partners. They often submerge their identity in order to maintain social norms and therefore become economically and emotionally dependent on partners who abuse them. Moreover, Battered women often fail to perceive the abuse as an act that needs to be addressed urgently and therefore become victims of circumstances. The abuse is also so discordant with their expectations of love filled life that they refuse to acknowledge it as such (Ferraro & Johnson, 1983). This results in low self esteem, depression and apathy that dissuade them to rationalize the violence as such and take corrective measures. Indeed, often lonely future also becomes crucial issue which does not let them take risks and remain in abusive

Ceramics Art Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Ceramics Art - Essay Example The colours move into each other in delicate swirls from greens, browns, blues and turquoise to blacks, whites, beige and mustard. A small spout with brown and pale turquoise glaze is placed on one side of the pot, and a dome shaped lid in shades of brown fits in snugly. A tiny turquoise handle with a minuscule black button is at an angle to the spout, and extrudes out of the surface. The entire egg shape tapers down to a very tiny black foot. The irreducible essence of a teapot is its function, in terms of cultural and human ritual terms. By taking away from this teapot its utility, Swindell does not add a conceptual dimension, or vestigial elements to suggest a different meaning, in the manner of poststructural art, where the lack of function becomes a metaphor for something else in the artist's dictionary. The teapot is still just a teapot, quaint, not functional, but definitely a teapot. This teapot is indeed an example of organic art, in a class of its own. Far removed from post-modern jargon and innuendoes, its expressive criteria are not in tune with the deconstructive and discursive atmosphere of contemporary arts practice. As Bernard Kerr says, " By overly conceptualising our work we run the risk of losing the special somatic and sensual qualities that make the ceramic arts unique and special."(Kerr, 2005). When viewing Swindell's work the correct questions to ask would be whether it is a beautiful, nostalgic piece of evanescence made tangible. Swindell seems to capture the volatile charm of nature in this piece, which emerges with new, subtle meanings every time you look at it. Though out time potters have sought to create man made ceramic forms, which echo the sensibilities of nature, sometimes by mimicking nature or through stylisation and abstraction. The history of ceramics is filled with organic masterpieces. (Thames & Hudson, 2001) It does not have enforced explicit and implicit narratives, and it exists not to faithfully portray the tragedies of existence but seeks to alleviate them through beauty in art. As he himself puts it, "Although political and cultural statements have become fashionable with visual artists I do not make work with a conscious message, preferring to deal with the "abstract" qualities of Art."(Swindell, 2005) To me it is a piece that seems to shift under the eye, to ripple and move if I look at it long enough, and I want to pick it up to trace its contours to assure myself it is real. Its structure is engineered and precise, but the surface and colours bring back memories of sandy beaches, worm casts, patterns seen on sand, and lulling waves. This marriage of the man-made and natural has evolved over time, as some of his earlier exhibits have also exuded similar qualities: His vision is much broader than the size of the work initially suggests. He brings together shapes, motifs and surface qualities that simultaneously manage to be evocative of both the natural and man made worlds. (Jeffery Jones, 2003) Tea and teapots have been a comforting part of our culture ever since they were introduced in England. A teapot evokes warmth, security and reassurance, and the diminutive size reinforces this feeling of intimacy: Teapots traditionally belong in a familiar domestic environment, where potters have always had a significant role in reflecting social fashion and culture by providing ware for

Relationship between Mind and Body Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Relationship between Mind and Body - Essay Example Similarly, the paper discusses whether one is more significant than the other is in a human life. Descartes talks about a possible existence of material outside God and the Self. Accordingly, the author holds that the existence of such objects is only possible because God creates them. Therefore, the author postulates that the materials exist because they relate to pure mathematics. It because Descartes believes that God makes what he thinks in the way it is. Similarly, nothing is impossible for God to create unless someone does not understand a thing (Descartes, Meditation VI: about the existence of Material things from the Body). Consequently, after discovering the possibility of the existence of the objects, the author then turns to the presence of mental pictures as evidence. Therefore, he distinguishes perception and imagination. Accordingly, he asserts that creativity refers to the capacity of knowledge to the body that is immediately present to it, without conception or intellection (Descartes, Meditations, 6), which prevails as a mental image. Understanding is not automatically a picture. He applies an example, that when he has a mental image of a triangle, he does not just perceive it to be a figure with three lines; he says he looks at the lines as if they were present to the mental eye. Therefore, that is what Descartes calls a mental picture. Descartes gives priority to the mind than the body. It is because the mind controls the body. In other words, the body only responds to whatever the mind perceives, conceives, and accepts as reality.  

To What Extent Does the Media Affect Body Image in Teens and Their Perception of Beauty Essay Example for Free

To What Extent Does the Media Affect Body Image in Teens and Their Perception of Beauty Essay There is no question that the Media has a massive impact on how we perceive ourselves, particularly when it comes to our beauty. From my own experience, I have questioned my own body due to articles in magazines promoting a slimmer body type to various audiences. We shape our opinions through what the Media tells us is right and wrong. For instance, women and young girls are judged highly on their weight and appearance where as men are judged more on their masculinity and muscularity. As the Media is a massive topic, I will focus on looking at magazines, in particular adverts, and how they portray beauty and how we then observe the Medias idea of ‘perfection’. I will also be looking at the effects of exposure to these magazines and adverts to teenagers; one particular focus will be the influences of the Media on Anorexia. â€Å"Low self-esteem contributes to a distorted body image, and the distorted body image cant be fully corrected until self-esteem issues are reconciled. If we don’t address the problem (the problem being the Media labelling a certain body type as perfect) then the issue of low self-esteem in women is never going to stop. Over 90% of people diagnosed with eating disorders are adolescent or young women, so why do young women and adolescents feel the need to go to these drastic measures to stay skinny? While the Media is not the only factor that can be contributed to the rise in Anorexia, it is a significant aspect. It’s no surprise that teenagers are obsessed with thinness and weight loss because of the way Media promotes a skinny figure to women through the constant images of celebrities’ bodies and also articles that talk about bettering our lives through our appearance. The Media promotes a skinny figure through constant articles in magazines on celebrities’ figures, for example, Star magazine has shown the same front cover advertising â€Å"45 best worst beach bodies† seven times. I believe that this is going to contribute to women having a negative body image as they constantly compare themselves to the celebrities in these magazines and deciding whether they have an â€Å"acceptable figure† due to the ones advertised as the â€Å"best†. Personally, I think it’s the mix of women’s obsession with celebrities and a low self-esteem that creates a negative body image. Approximately one in every one hundred teenage girls may develop an Eating Disorder. Body dissatisfaction is a reoccurring motif especially in women as they are constantly exposed to celebrities and advertisements from such a young age. I had to create a presentation to my peers based on my topic question earlier this year. I decided that I wanted to get real opinions on whether the content of these magazines were suitable for the magazines target audience. I gave them four popular girl magazines (Bliss, Mizz, Shout and Look), which girls ranging from 10-17+ were reading. I asked them to order the magazines from the lowest target audience to the highest, basing the order solely on the content of the magazines. Surprisingly, my peers put the magazines in the right order. However, they were still shocked by the audiences that these magazines were targeted at because the content of these magazines was not appropriate for children of that age. Bliss magazine, is initially targeted at girls aged 13-17; the class all said that â€Å"It was targeted at 16+ because of the ‘Stone’s style solutions’ that promote platform heels which aren’t appropriate for girls of 13 years. † Furthermore, Bliss magazine shows an article on ‘Pamper perfect’ showing young girls how to get the A-list look ‘without the A-list price tag. My peers decided that Bliss magazine is subtlety influencing young girls on how they can better themselves where as Look magazine, which is targeted at girls from 16-34; manipulate girls into changing their body to better themselves. This shows the diversity between magazines that are targeted at girls below 16 and those targeted at girls above 16. In both Bliss and Look magazine, they use a very slim model to advertise their clothes. Even though Bliss uses a teenage model and Look uses an adult, they both use a particular frame of woman. Mizz magazines’ target audience is from 10-14 years. Mizz’ articles, in my opinion, are suitable for the target audience because they don’t focus on celebrity lifestyle and focusing on a negative body image. Shout magazines’ seems to focus on females between 10-15 years. However, Shout magazine, targeted at females between the ages of 11-14, shows little articles involving models and looks more at celebrities and real life stories. As we live in a society, which is more obsessed with how we look, rather than what we do, it’s no wonder that women are both mentally and physically abused by the Media. This is a gut feeling of mine based on the content of agazines. From my own opinion, I see more articles congratulating celebrities on losing weight rather than their success in their career. How the Media advertises products and articles in magazines have a bigger affect on us than we initially think. On average whilst watching television, women come across around 400 to 600 adverts a day. In light of this, if in only 50% of the adverts we see thin models, then even this could have a negative affect on how we perceive our own body and also how we compare it to what the Media label as â€Å"perfect† which is usually undernourished models. By repetitively using the same figure of model, this will also stay in the sub-conscious mind of the audience. This technique of advertising is called subliminal messaging. When subliminal messages are first seen or heard, we are unable to identify what it is. In fact they may be ignored by the conscious brain and be beyond the level of conscious perception. A new study by Prof. Naomi Mandel, as sited in CBS News, has shown companies that feature normal size women, better known, as â€Å"plus-size† are less effective than those that use thin models. It also found out that overweight and normal-weight females have a lower self-esteem after seeing â€Å"plus-size† models in advertisements. I found these results quite interesting as I presumed that women who saw â€Å"plus-size† models would make them have a higher self-esteem because they have a similar body to the models in the advertisement. Additionally Jeremy Kees, a professor at Villanova University, believes that women expect to see beautiful women in advertisements, even if it makes them feel worse about themselves. In one of his studies, Kees found that even though the women felt bad about themselves after looking at the adverts, they evaluated that the brands were selling higher, and those ads which used average size models, their brands sales has decreased. Although, another source reported that women have lower levels of weight concerns after exposure to average and overweight models than after the exposure to ultra thin and even no models. This could be because women would feel accepted by society for their body size because the Media believes its okay. In my eyes, the Media always promote a very slim figure. Furthermore, a social psychologist’s research has suggested that average sized models are just as effective as thin models. But what do the public really want to see? Karl Langerfield, Head Designer of the Fashion house Chanel, said that: â€Å"the world of fashion was all to do ‘with dreams and illusions, and no one wants to see round women. † After reading both these studies, I decided to create an experiment that was heavily influenced by the experiments that the University of Sussex had conducted on self-discrepancy. One of these experiments was to see if advertisements that use models are more effective than those that don’t use any model. Also, I wanted to see if Prof. Naomi Mandel has the correct theory that advertisements are less effective with ones that use â€Å"plus-size† models or ultra-thin models. Additionally, the experiment that claims women have lower levels of weight concern after exposure to average models wasn’t conducted on teenagers and I wanted to see if teenagers find adverts with â€Å"plus-size† models more or less effective than ultra-thin models. The other experiment that was conducted on children between 5 and 6 years was to see if a specific body image does have an affect on how we perceive ourselves. They had three separate groups of girls who were all told the same story however, one group had images of Barbie, the ultra-thin doll; one group had images of Emme, the average-size doll and one group had no dolls included. Each girl was then told to fill out a self-discrepancy chart and highlighted the body they thought they had compared to the body they would like to have. The results from this showed that the discrepancy was higher in those that saw Barbie compared to the other doll. This shows a link to what heavily influences girls between what they see and their sub-conscious mind. The main objective for my experiment was to see whether adverts that use skinny models are more effective on us as a public, than those that don’t use any type of model and also to explore into the world of subliminal messaging and how it plays on the sub-conscious mind. I wanted to see if this type of advertising really does work. I carried out this experiment twice because I wanted to make sure I had clear and thorough results. I used a group of twenty students between the ages of 14 and 16 of which ten boys and ten were girls. The boys were given adverts targeted at males and the girls were given adverts targeted at females. Half of each gender was given adverts that feature models of the same sex and the other half were given adverts that featured only the products and no models. Each person that had the same booklet was all sat on a table and they would discuss the adverts. As I was walking around, I was listening to what they were asking each other about the adverts shown to them: â€Å"What is your opinion of the advert? What is the focal point for the advert? Whom is this advert targeted at? † I was surprised by the results I got from also the comments I got from both genders. All the girls that had models advertising the perfume in their adverts wanted to lose weight, and out of the 20 girls that took part, 90% overall wanted to lose weight. A lot of the girls described the models as â€Å"plain† and that â€Å"the majority of the models were skinny and blonde. This was a popular opinion with all the girls and I wondered why even though they thought the models looked plain and they weren’t envious of the models, why did all the girls want to lose weight? One girl gave an interesting point that even though Emporio Armani used Beyonce Knowles, who is African-American, to advertise their products; they thought that it was unclear of her skin colour and that they might have used a black and white image so that it would open up to a wider audience. This links back to a previous point that companies always advertise a certain frame of a model to women because this is what they believe as â€Å"perfect. Even though all the girls who didn’t have the models in their adverts had a lower discrepancy, this could be because they might have recognized the adverts from seeing them before or they could genuinely have a low self-esteem. However, what the University of Sussex had discovered was that average size models had no negative affect on body image with women. Even though I had done this experiment on boys too, I decided not to use their results as I felt they didn’t contribute to any of my product. Also, I wanted to focus on teenage girls and their perception of beauty. I was please with how the experiment was carried out and found it was a success with all the participants and the results I received were clear and reliable. However, if I was to carry this experiment out again, then I would do it with adults and also primary school children so then I could compare each set of results with one another and also I would to show how our opinions differ as we mature and also, to show who is more affected by the Medias constant advertise of celebrities and particularly the â€Å"size-0† figure. Also, I wish that I had shown them adverts that used â€Å"plus-size† models to see which one gave them a lower self-discrepancy as this would have been more relevant to the objective of my product. When I first started this topic, I began to realise how much pressure young girls are under to look good through the articles in magazines and the constant need to look at celebrities. After this, I decided that I wanted to find out if young girls and boys are actually affected by this pressure or if it is just my opinion. I created a questionnaire and gave it to secondary pupils between the ages of 11-16. I wanted to keep the questionnaires anonymous because I know these people and it could have influenced the way I interpret their answers. I don’t regret making these questionnaires however I was hoping for more detailed answers. I printed out 100 questionnaires and gave 10 to 10 tutors in my college. I wanted to give them out in tutor because they would have at least half an hour to fill out my questionnaires so they would be able to go into great detail and really think about their answers. However, I had difficulty with my questionnaires and the public doing them. Firstly, I had to print them in black and white to save ink at school; however the images I used were not clear enough in black and white so this could have affected my results. Secondly, when I received the questionnaires, there was minimal detail and also the majority of the participants were pretending to be funny in their questionnaires and didn’t provide the evidence I needed so they were invalid. On the other hand, there were questionnaires that I could use that gave detailed answers. 1% of all the results think the Media are the main cause of having a certain figure however 27% thought their friends pressured them to fit in with everyone else. However, their friends must get this idea of what is acceptable from somewhere. Could this be from the Media? In my appendix, I have included some tables, which include the results from the questionnaires I made. I found the graphs difficult to make, as I wasn’t sure how to break down the categories. Did I do it by year or by gender? The graphs were done on a trial and error basis however I felt like they were done in a correctly in the end. Another study found that 27% of the girls that they carried an experiment out on that felt the Media pressure them to have a perfect body. Even though this shows that other girls in other studies are affected by the Media, it’s not so reliable in my essay as I’m not sure of how many girls were asked, how old they were or where in the world this experiment was carried out. Eating disorders like Anorexia are caused by a physiological disorder within a person and how they view their own body. The sufferer believes that they are overweight so they take extreme actions like dieting, fasting and even starving themselves just so they feel what they believe to be ‘beautiful. ’ There are many reports; mostly around the time of London Fashion Week that fashion models have used this technique. However, it’s not only women in the fashion world who suffer with this disorder, other professions like ballet dancers and athletes show a high number of people who have/had Anorexia. Personality plays a big part in eating disorders. People who suffer with Anorexia Nervosa usually are perfectionists and overachievers’. People who suffer from Anorexia work relentlessly towards a thinner body because they feel that this will promise them beauty, success and happiness. The victims usually want to feel accepted by society however they do not feel valued by others. Anorexia and Bulimia Nervosa are most common in white people in western societies. This shows a direct link to how our society looks at behaviours and expectations of the public compared to eating disorders. Not only in the Western hemisphere is there a link towards the ethnicity of people with eating disorders, a study in Fiji showed a sudden increase in eating disorders among young women since the arrival of television in 1995, (Fearn, 1999). This also shows a strong link between the social and cultural factors. I have seen that there is a number of ways that that the Media can alter teenage girls’ perception of beauty. As I have found, magazines use the same frame of model to promote clothing and will openly slate people’s bodies if they feel they are not â€Å"good enough. Also, magazines will always show articles on how girls and women can change or correct themselves so that they are up to a standard that the Media thinks is acceptable. As humans, it has been known that we always want what we can’ have but is this just apart of our human nature? of this will make girls doubt their own body, even though I found from my own research that girls are not envious of the models in advertisements, they still wanted to lose weight and illustrated they were unhappy with themselves. This was proven through my questionnaires as 79% of the girls admitted to not being happy with their body. Although we as a public may claim to want to see women of a normal size modelling products aimed at us, fashion designers that are in charge decide what we are shown, and this could be where the problem is. Referring back to a point that Karl Langerfield, he claims that â€Å"the world of fashion was all to do ‘with dreams and illusions, and no one wants to see round women†. Even though we may openly say that we want to see designers use curvier bodies to promote their range of clothing or do we as a public secretly see want to see a skinnier frame of model? This links in with a point made earlier about my experiments. Even though all the girls admitted they weren’t jealous of the girls frame, they still wanted a lower discrepancy. So are fashion designers after all giving the public what they can’t admit to wanting? Also, Diane Von Furstenberg claimed that â€Å"To be a model, you have to be skinny. In conclusion, I have found that it’s clear that there are so many different opinions and that it’s hard to identify the general overview to this question without finding exceptions. I feel positive that I have found that the Media can affect teenagers and their perception of beauty but that it varies between person to person as my questionnaires have shown. However, if we are aware of the potential effects, then in theory, we ca n find solutions to these issues; surely that is the most important lesson we can take away from this?