What Is Psychodynamic Therapy?

What Patients Can Expect

A psychodynamic therapy session is built on trust between the patient and therapist. The therapist's job is to create a safe, controlled environment where the patient can explore their thoughts and share without fear. Rather than planning the sessions beforehand, the direction of the session is usually dictated by the patient's current feelings. The therapist will encourage patients to discuss their feelings, fears, desires, and emotions with minimal interruption. Throughout this discussion, behavioral patterns and formative events will both emerge from the unconscious mind. Patients might remember things they hadn't before or make new emotional connections. The sessions may be intense, especially if repressed trauma is touched on. The therapist will talk patients through their remembered experiences and behaviors, helping them understand how these things affect their life now. Once there's an understanding of the root cause, the patient and their therapist will come up with techniques to confront these issues in a healthy way.