What Is Psychodynamic / Psychoanalytic Therapy?

Psychoanalytic or psychodynamic therapies are schools of talk therapy based on Sigmund Freud’s theory of psychoanalysis. By focusing on childhood experiences, relationships with parents, and the influence of the unconscious mind on a person’s behavior, they aim to overcome psychological distress and disorders.

Freud argued that the unconscious is made up of unsatisfied desires that are constantly waiting to surface. According to him, when these unconscious forces come up against the laws of society, they can create conflicts within the person and lead to disturbances.

In psychoanalytic therapies, the therapeutic relationship between therapist and client has particular importance. The therapeutic relationship that is established provides a working space for the therapy process. The client’s attitudes and behaviors toward the therapist carry clues about their internalized relationships. This attitude is the client’s transference toward the therapist. The therapist, on the other hand, remains inquisitive throughout the session about their own attitudes toward the client and what the client stirs up in their mind. The feelings and thoughts evoked in the therapist refer to the concept of countertransference.

For Which Psychological Problems Is Psychodynamic / Psychoanalytic Therapy Effective?

Psychodynamic / psychoanalytic therapy involves the processes of helping the person develop awareness of past experiences that affect their current feelings, thoughts, and behaviors, bringing the unconscious into consciousness to make sense of it, and integrating it with their personality. In general, psychoanalytically oriented psychotherapies are very useful for gaining insight, but some of the psychological disorders they can help with include:

Psychodynamic / Psychoanalytic Therapy Session Process

Psychoanalytic therapy sessions are held once or twice a week. The aim of the session process is to bring to light the unconscious material that the client has repressed and tried to distance from the self for various reasons, and to help them gain insight. With the insight they gain, the client will become aware of their true wishes, desires, and dreams, and in this way free themselves from recurring patterns in their life.

In psychoanalytically oriented psychotherapies, a rapid process is not expected. The person who must gain awareness is the client; the surfacing of the unconscious’s unacceptable wishes and desires can be a long process, and this emergence can only occur when the client is ready. Individual differences and different resistance mechanisms can change the duration of psychoanalytic therapies.

Concepts and Techniques Used in Psychodynamic / Psychoanalytic Therapy

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