Psychodynamic & Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy

 VICKI O’DWYER

Psychodynamic therapy has had its effectiveness proved in rigorous controlled studies which show that people who receive psychodynamic therapy actually continue to improve after therapy ends—presumably because the understanding they gain is global, not targeted to encapsulated, one-time problems.  

“My working definition of psychoanalysis is that it’s the disciplined study of whatever it is people do not want to know about themselves.” Warren Poland  

Most problems Vicki treats are embedded in, and inseparable from, personality – a persons’ characteristic and enduring patterns of thinking, feeling, fantasizing, desiring, fearing, coping, defending, attaching, relating and of experiencing self and others. Personality style has an impact on the symptoms developed, treatment and recovery. The secret known to psychoanalytic/psychodynamic therapists is that meaningful and lasting change comes from focusing not just on symptoms and obvious behaivours, but on the personality and the personality patterns that underlie the symptoms. Such patterns typically are related to concerns with intimacy, relatedness, commitment, assertiveness, aggression, passivity, separation, abandonment, rejection, self-esteem, self-worth, regulating emotions, authority, dependency, shyness, making friends, perfectionism or high self-criticism for example.

It is understandable to want a professional who will tell you how to go about fixing things, but this is rarely the best approach. As the word suggests, psychotherapy is a therapy of the mind. The aim is to help you to change internally so that you can live more productively. Having a therapist solve problems for you or tell you what to do 'out there' might feel nice, however may be a red flag and foster dependence. Be prepared for the process to unfold gradually, to work together with your therapist, and to take risks as you feel ready and able to. This includes things like being open to feeling vulnerable, acknowledging the part you might be playing in something, or allowing yourself to trust your therapist. 

If you are seeking help, it is probably because you have been suffering. Therapy involves talking about this and so stirs up painful memories, feelings of frustration, and sometimes shame-filled disclosures. Vicki will guide you through this and will understand that this is difficult and takes time. Feel free to let her know how you are feeling, even if this involves your negative or positive feelings towards me. It's okay to have mixed feelings about therapy and to let her know if you have doubts about the sessions. 

The therapy is intensive, weekly sessions at a minimum, more commonly twice weekly or more frequently over a period of time. The therapy is designed to help improve the way we meet our needs, how our emotions operate and how we relate. It opens up possibilities for increased understanding of ourselves, trusting others, communicating successfully, honouring our potential and feeling adequately serene, confident, authentic, direct and unashamed.

Vicki’s active listening may seem meandering, however what underpins it is an attempt to understand what the subterranean operations of the past are doing to the present. Vicki’s questions, attention, careful probing and investigative inquiry means I try harder, perhaps harder than anyone has yet done, to discover how your presenting problem might be related to the rest of your existence and in particular, the turmoils of childhood. Over many sessions, a succession of small discoveries contributes to an emerging picture of the sources of our emotional wounds – and of the way in which our character slowly evolved in response to them in a way that hampers our possibilities today. It is not work that can be hurried.