What is Psychoanalytic Therapy?
Psychoanalytic therapy focuses on the ways people see themselves, and how they relate with one another. It helps people change their thinking, behavior, and more importantly, their feelings. This tradition of psychotherapy began in the late 1800’s and has been continuously modernized as our understanding of mental life has grown.
Psychoanalysis draws on developments in the biological and psychological sciences. The central theory is that most mental and emotional struggles are deeply rooted in patterns of interacting with others that develop early in life. A person’s history, as well as their biological predisposition, sets the tone for the core ways they feel about themselves and others. This is where problematic habits of emotion, thought, and behavior begin, during early personality development, or during formative life experiences later on. Each person's past influences the ways they live now.
Talking with a therapist who is trained in psychoanalysis helps a person change these deeply engrained mental and emotional habits. People find freedom from their lifelong reactivity and feel more self-control. This enables patients to make better decisions, improve their relationships, and get more of what they want out of life.
Issues such as depression, anxiety, obsessions and compulsions, self-defeating behavior, trauma responses, and destructive relationship patterns can be understood and changed in psychoanalytic therapy. People struggle with all kinds of strong feelings, particularly when they are overburdened. Psychoanalytic therapists see mental and emotional distress as signals that personal development is needed. Symptoms are understood as gateways to positive change.
This type of therapy has a substantial, time-tested tradition of research, innovation and scholarship.
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE RESEARCH:
Division 39, American Psychoanalytic Association
Denver Psychoanalytic Society
International Psychoanalytic Association
How Does Psychoanalytic Therapy work?
Many people wonder about how talking with a therapist can change their outlook, the ways they feel, and their behavior. For most, talking with friends and family members can be supportive. Psychoanalytic Therapy facilitates change on a deeper level.
Psychoanalytic therapists are trained to develop a specific kind of working relationship with their patients. The boundaries are clear and discussions are completely private. The therapist is committed to protecting the privacy and interests of their patient, and is not involved with patients outside of the therapy. This creates a safe, comfortable environment for looking closely at potential areas of growth and particular types of distress.
From this platform, the therapist uses Psychoanalytic methods to investigate in depth how a patient functions mentally, emotionally, and relationally. Discussions reveal themes in patients’ language and expression that depict a great deal about their struggles, and point the way to change. This undercurrent in the discussions is called latent material, because it is mental experience that is under the surface, or unconscious.
Thoughts and memories are always connected to some sort of feeling. Research shows that most mental activity is influenced by emotion. People tend to become overwhelmed by certain feelings and memories, so they protect themselves in various ways. These are called defenses. Defenses may be conscious or unconscious.
The influence of emotion is often more subtle than overwhelming distress. Learning about their unique ways of motivation and defense helps patient and therapist begin to make mental and emotional improvements. Progress involves learning more adaptive ways to express and protect your self.
As an individual’s motivations and defenses are better understood, their identity and sense of self become stronger. Patients feel more confident and grounded. The alliance between patient and therapist is used to initiate personal growth in real-life. It is not about dwelling on the past. It is about finding better ways to function in the present. Former problems transform into sources of strength, self-knowledge, and maturity.
