What are Psychodynamic Therapies?

Psychodynamic thinking assumes that the human mind is complex, layered and multi-dimensional. Our reactions, beliefs and choices are all impacted by internal processes that we are never fully aware of. That is why we often experience "irrational" feelings, make self-defeating choices and desire mutually exclusive things at the same time.  Psychodynamic therapies aim to explore and reveal the motives that are not obvious to us, with the belief that this will ultimately lead to a more creative, realistic and fulfilling life.

According to contemporary psychodynamic therapies, what lies in the center of our internal worlds are relationships. Thus, the unconscious processes which determine the course of our lives are continuously impacted and shaped by the relational dynamics we experience, starting from the day we are born up to the present time. The therapy process is also a relational endeavor, in which the therapist and the patient are thinking together, trying to make meaning of the patient's life. Familiar feelings, repetitive patterns and oppressive relationship dynamics are explored from within the therapeutic relationship, in an attempt to gain a deeper understanding of them in light of the individual's history and internal world.

Delving in to the depths of our minds is not an easy or comfortable process. We may come across aspects of ourselves that we do not wish to face, or go through painful feelings that we do not wish to experience.  Exposing such deep and vulnerable parts of oneself to another person can also be anxiety-provoking. Furthermore, the difficult dynamics that recur in the patient's life tend to come up in the therapy relationship. These difficulties in fact provide an opportunity for an experiential understanding of the individual's relational world in the here-and-now, and can be worked through to gradually lead to small shifts in the way (s)he relates to the world.  

Psychodynamic therapies aim to deeply understand and reconfigure what feels painful or stuck and to experience some openings in one's life and one's mind. The ultimate goal is an enhanced sense of agency and internal freedom.