Psychodynamic Psychotherapy

What is Psychodynamic Psychotherapy?

Psychodynamic therapy, the oldest modern therapy, focuses on unconscious processes as they are manifested in a person’s present behaviour. The goals of psychodynamic therapy are a client’s self-awareness and understanding of the influence of the past on present behavior. A psychodynamic approach enables the client to examine unresolved conflicts and symptoms that arise from past dysfunctional relationships.

Introduction

Several different approaches to brief psychodynamic psychotherapy have evolved from psychoanalytic theory and have been clinically applied to a wide range of psychological disorders. There is a body of research that supports the efficacy of these approaches.

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History

History of Psychodynamic Therapy

The theory supporting psychodynamic therapy originated in and is informed by psychoanalytic theory. There are four major schools of psychoanalytic theory, each of which has influenced psychodynamic therapy. The four schools are: Freudian, Ego Psychology, Object Relations, and Self Psychology.

Each of the four schools of psychoanalytic theory presents discrete theories of personality formation, psychopathology formation, and change; techniques by which to conduct therapy; and indications and contraindications for therapy. Psychodynamic therapy is distinguished from psychoanalysis in several particulars, including the fact that psychodynamic therapy need not include all analytic techniques and is not conducted by psychoanalytically trained analysts. Psychodynamic therapy is also conducted over a shorter period of time and with less frequency than psychoanalysis.

Process

The healing and change process envisioned in long-term psychodynamic therapy typically requires at least 2 years of sessions. This is because the goal of therapy is often to change an aspect of one’s identity or personality or to integrate key developmental learning missed while the client was stuck at an earlier stage of emotional development.

Practitioners of brief psychodynamic therapy believe that some changes can happen through a more rapid process or that an initial short intervention will start an ongoing process of change that does not need the constant involvement of the therapist. A central concept in brief therapy is that there should be one major focus for the therapy rather than the more traditional psychoanalytic practice of allowing the client to associate freely and discuss unconnected issues.

The number of professionals who practice an exclusive form of psychodynamic therapy today is a small percentage of psychotherapists. Many psychotherapists use components of psychodynamic theories, however, in their formulation of a client’s issues, while employing other types of psychological techniques (most often, cognitive-behavioral techniques) to affect change in the individual.

References: Haggerty, J. (2013). Psychodynamic Therapy. Psych Central. Retrieved on June 4, 2015, from http://psychcentral.com/lib/psychodynamic-therapy/