Jump to:
Unlike other forms of therapy, these aim to help create deep-seated change in your emotional development. Helping you to understand and resolve your problems by increasing your awareness of your inner self and how this can influence your relationships, a number of different psychoanalytic and psychodynamic therapies are available.
Psychoanalytical and psychodynamic therapies look at how your unconscious thoughts and perceptions developed throughout your childhood, and how this may affect your current behaviour and thoughts.
What therapies are available?
Dynamic interpersonal therapy (often referred to as DIT) is a type of interpersonal therapy, meaning it looks at the way we relate to others (and how this affects the way we see ourselves).
Jungian psychotherapy is a specific branch of psychodynamic therapy that works from the theories of Carl Jung, considered to be one of the forefathers of psychology.
Psychoanalysis was developed by Sigmund Freud and focuses on an individual’s unconscious, deep-rooted thoughts that often stem from childhood. Through free associations, dreams or fantasies, clients can learn how to interpret deeply buried memories or experiences that may be causing them distress.
Based on psychoanalysis, psychoanalytic therapy also focuses on how an individual’s unconscious thoughts are influencing them. However, psychoanalytic therapy is usually less intensive than psychoanalysis.
Psychodynamic therapy evolved from psychoanalytic therapy and seeks to discover how unconscious thoughts affect current behaviour. Psychodynamic therapy usually focuses on more immediate problems and attempts to provide a quicker solution.
Who can benefit?
These types of therapies can be especially helpful for those looking to resolve issues from their past. Instead of addressing a set of symptoms, psychoanalytical and psychodynamic therapy focuses on the individual’s personality, exploring the motivations and reasons behind specific characteristics and recurring difficulties they may be experiencing in day-to-day life.
When is it used, and what can it help with?
Primarily used to help treat serious psychological disorders, depression, and to help those who feel like they may have lost meaning in their lives (or are having trouble with personal relationships). Psychodynamic therapy has also be found to be effective in helping with social anxiety disorders, addiction, and eating disorders.
If you are experiencing emotional struggles, have experienced emotional trauma, exhibit self-destructive behaviour patterns, ongoing relationship issues, or have a personality disorder, psychoanalytic therapy may be able to help.
Psychoanalytic therapy is a form of talk therapy based on Sigmund Freud’s theories of psychoanalysis. The approach explores how the unconscious mind influences your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.
Specifically, it examines how your experiences (often from childhood) may be contributing to your current experience and actions. Psychoanalytic approaches to emotional disorders have advanced a great deal since Freud’s time.
Freud described the unconscious as the reservoir of desires, thoughts, and memories that are below the surface of conscious awareness. He believed that these unconscious influences could often lead to psychological distress and disturbances.
Techniques
People undergoing psychoanalytic therapy often meet with their psychoanalyst at least once a week. They can remain in therapy for months or even years.
Psychoanalysts use a variety of techniques to gain insight into your behavior. Some of the more popular techniques include:
- Dream interpretation: According to Freud, dream analysis is by far the most important psychoanalytic technique. He often referred to dreams as “the royal road to the unconscious.” Psychoanalysts may interpret dreams to get insight into the workings of your unconscious mind.
- Free association: Free association is an exercise during which the psychoanalyst encourages you to freely share your thoughts. This can lead to the emergence of unexpected connections and memories.
- Transference: Transference occurs when you project your feelings about another person onto the psychoanalyst. You’ll then interact with them as if they were that other person. This technique can help your psychoanalyst understand how you interact with others.
Psychoanalysts spend a lot of time listening to people talk about their lives, which is why this method is often referred to as “the talking cure.”
What Psychoanalytic Therapy Can Help With
Psychoanalytic therapy may be used to treat a number of different psychological conditions, including:
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Emotion struggles or trauma
- Identity problems
- Self-esteem issues
- Self-assertion
- Psychosomatic disorders
- Relationship issues
- Self-destructive behavior
- Sexual problems
Benefits of Psychoanalytic Therapy
What makes psychoanalytic therapy different from other forms of treatment? A review of the research comparing psychoanalytic approaches to cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) identified seven features that set the psychoanalytic approach apart.
- Focuses on emotions. Where CBT is centered on cognition and behaviors, psychoanalytic therapy explores the full range of emotions that a patient is experiencing.
- Explores avoidance. People often avoid certain feelings, thoughts, and situations they find distressing. Understanding what a client is avoiding can help both the psychoanalyst and the client understand why such avoidance comes into play.
- Identifies recurring themes. Some people may be aware of their self-destructive behaviors but unable to stop them. Others may not be aware of these patterns and how they influence their behaviors.
- Exploration of past experienced. Other therapies often focus more on the here-and-now, or how current thoughts and behaviors influence how a person functions. The psychoanalytic approach helps people explore their pasts and understand how it affects their present psychological difficulties. It can help patients shed the bonds of past experience to live more fully in the present.
- Explores interpersonal relationships. Through the therapy process, people are able to explore their relationships with others, both current and past.
- Emphasizes the therapeutic relationship. Because psychoanalytic therapy is so personal, the relationship between the psychoanalyst and the patient provides a unique opportunity to explore and reword relational patterns that emerge in the treatment relationship.
- Free-flowing. Where other therapies are often highly structured and goal-oriented, psychoanalytic therapy allows the patient to explore freely. Patients are free to talk about fears, fantasies, desires, and dreams.
As with any approach to mental health treatment, psychoanalytic therapy can have its pluses and minuses. Before deciding on this approach, it’s important to take these factors into account.
Effectiveness
Success often hinges on the ability to confront potentially stressful or triggering experiences. While some critics have derided the success rates of psychoanalytic therapy, research suggests that both long- and short-term psychoanalytic therapy can effectively treat a range of conditions.
Long-term psychoanalytic therapy is usually defined as lasting one year or 50 sessions. Short-term psychoanalytic therapy, on the other hand, is defined as fewer than 40 sessions or less than one year of treatment.
Symptom Reduction
One review of the effectiveness of long-term psychoanalytic therapies found moderate to large success rates for reducing symptoms of a variety of psychopathologies.
A 2021 review of studies found that short-term psychoanalytic therapy led to lasting improvements in somatic symptoms, depressive symptoms, and anxiety symptoms.
Lasting Improvements
People who receive psychoanalytic treatment tend to retain these gains. Most continue to improve even after therapy ends. On the other hand, the benefits of other evidence-based therapies tend to diminish over time.
A 2010 review published in the American Psychologist suggested that psychoanalytic therapy was as effective as other evidence-based therapies.
Things to Consider
As with all treatment methods, there are also potential downsides that should be considered. This form of therapy tends to require ongoing sessions. Traditional psychoanalysis could involve three to five sessions a week for several years, however psychoanalysis psychotherapy is less frequent and may be undertaken once to twice a week. Depending on how long your therapy lasts, the costs can mount up.
Psychoanalytic therapy can also be an intense process. It involves evoking emotional responses and often challenges established defense mechanisms. While the process can sometimes result in uneasiness, it can also help you understand the unconscious forces that exert an influence over your current behavior.
The Best Online Therapy Programs
We’ve tried, tested and written unbiased reviews of the best online therapy programs including Talkspace, Betterhelp, and Regain.
How to Get Started
If you think you or someone you love would benefit from psychoanalytic therapy, the first step is to seek out a trained professional. To find a qualified psychoanalyst, start by asking your primary care physician for recommendations. You can also search the directory available on the American Psychoanalytic Association’s website.
Friends who have had a good experience with psychoanalytic treatment can also be another good source of recommendations. If you do not have a good referral from someone you know, there are a number of online psychoanalyst networks and directories that can point you in the right direction.
Once you have identified a potential psychoanalyst, make a call to set up an initial consultation. During this consultation, you can further explore if psychoanalytic therapy is the right approach for you.
Psychoanalytic therapy is just one mental health treatment approach that you may want to consider. Always talk to your doctor or therapist to determine which psychotherapy method might be the most effective for your individual needs.
