Psychodynamic Psychotherapy
Can we look at the hurt together?
Simply put, we all need therapy at this time, right? I mean we’re all seeking it. In a recent poll by the American Psychological Association (APA) conducted in November 2020, therapists reported seeing a surge of new patients coming to therapy because of anxiety and depression. However, seeking help for our pain is no easy task. You have to spend hours typing in keyword searches on Google like “psychotherapy in my area” or scroll through the lists of faces on sites like PsychologyToday, InclusiveTherapists, or the National Queer and Trans Therapists of Color Network. We think to ourselves things like, “This person’s face and shirt look trustworthy.” However, once you have done the work to select a therapist and booked a first session, there is always the thought, “Do I really want to do this?” It’s intuitively understood for most of us that in order to get rid of the hurt and pain we need to process it, but the actual idea of sitting with someone to do that can be quite intimidating and pretty daunting. Psychodynamic psychotherapy, you know the therapy originated by Freud, by its very nature can help us to make the process of healing from our pain and hurt more accessible.
So, what is psychodynamic psychotherapy? According to Jonathan Shedler a researcher, consultant, and therapist:
Psychodynamic or psychoanalytic psychotherapy refers to a range of treatments based on psychoanalytic concepts and methods that involve less frequent meetings and may be considerably briefer than psychoanalysis proper. Session frequency is typically once or twice per week, and the treatment may be either time limited or open ended. The essence of psychodynamic therapy is exploring those aspects of self that are not fully known, especially as they are manifested and potentially influenced in the therapy relationship. (1)
Shedler purports that psychodynamic psychotherapies have seven distinctive features:
-Focus on affect and expression of emotion
-Exploration of attempts to avoid distressing thoughts and feelings
-Identification of recurring themes and patterns
-Discussion of past experience (developmental focus)
-Focus on interpersonal relations
-Focus on the therapy relationship
-Exploration of fantasy life
No matter how we spin it, we usually need to talk about mom and dad at some point, right? Psychodynamic psychotherapy is accessible because it allows us the freedom to say whatever is on our mind--free associate, and also identify themes or patterns in relationships with others. The therapist has no expectation of us except that we speak our mind about our experience at that time. I mean who doesn’t need a nonjudgmental person to bear witness to our pain that we can open up to, where things are kept confidential, and who we can even be brave enough to cry in front of at some point?! The freedom to say and experience all of this is what makes psychodynamic psychotherapy so accessible. We have room to explore, identify, experience, and be with our thoughts and feelings while a trained psychodynamic therapist guides us in the process. The psychodynamic psychotherapist not only acts as a guide but also aids us by pointing out our defenses, feelings that we are avoiding, and can help us to experience and be with painful feelings, in a way that we realize we can tolerate them and are not alone with them.
So I ask again, who doesn’t need therapy? More specifically, who doesn’t need an accessible therapy like psychodynamic psychotherapy? With all that is happening in the world it is even more important to take the time for ourselves in an effort to tend to our hurt and pain to ensure that we are alright. As I’m sure we already know, if we don’t take care of ourselves and tend to our pain, it usually only gets worse.
Reference:
(1) - Shedler J. The Efficacy of Psychodynamic Psychotherapy. American Psychologist. Feb-March 2010. http://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/amp-65-2-98.pdf
Aaron Skinner-Spain, PhD Student at ICSW