What is Psychodynamic Therapy?
In brief, it is a talking therapy where the relationship between client and therapist fosters talking openly about feelings. The therapist assists with accessing thoughts and processes and interprets how they may be affecting you today. By doing this it is possible to reprocess these thoughts and feelings and improve our current situation. It has been found to be a very effective method of therapy.
If you have been looking through the profiles of therapists on any number of the online directories you will have noticed lots of complicated words and phrases that mean little to the public. You might have seen things like CBT, Person Centred, or Integrative. These are the methods (or modalities) that the therapist uses to help you.
They are based on lots of different theories about how the mind works. In many ways they are often similar and the way that the therapist applies them to you will change depending on these ‘modalities’.
It is sadly a fact that literally anyone can set themselves up as a therapist. At the time of writing, it is not a protected title. When I decided to become a therapist, I was adamant to do so in a way that is professional. I was trained in Psychodynamic Counselling at the University of Essex and obtained a Masters Degree. I am currently also researching a Professional Doctorate at the same institution. UoE is a centre of excellence in Psychoanalytic study in the UK.
The Psychodynamic approach is derived from the idea of Psychoanalysis, pioneered by Sigmund Freud and Karl Gustav Jung. Over time the theory has evolved into the complex and fascinating subject that it is today.
From your point of view as a client, you certainly don’t need to know all of the theories. But as a basic explanation, maybe it would help to think of yourself as an Iceberg bobbing around in the sea.
Icebergs are much bigger than we often think. As we know, they can sink ships. But only a small part is visible above the water. The majority of the ice is submerged.
This is similar to your mind. You will be aware of some of the things going on. For example, thoughts and processes that you can sit and think about. “How do I get to work, what am I having for dinner” etc. These thoughts are going on in ‘the Conscious’ part of the mind. We are aware of them and can work with them fairly easily.
Tucked out of the way, is another part of the mind that we call “The Subconscious”. This is similar to the largest part of the iceberg, the part that is under the water. It is the part that causes damage to ships and pushes other icebergs away.
In many ways this mirrors what goes on in your life. The hidden ice causes damage to relationships and can push others away, causing conflict in relationships and sadness.
The conflicts under the surface are what cause anxiety. Often we are unable to know what is causing our anxieties.
In Psychodynamic therapy, we dig down into the Subconscious and bring to light, thoughts, patterns and behaviours that you may have been completely unaware of. We examine these and look at how they have shaped your behaviours and how they affect relationships with yourself and others.
By examining all of these things it is possible to process those thoughts and correct things that are not right in the present day.
For more information on Psychodynamic Therapy, click here to go to the BACP website.
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