Psychodynamic therapy: a neurobiological perspective

Psychodynamic therapy, a concept that immerse from psychoanalytic theory and knowledge, is a way of thinking that includes unconscious conflicts, failures and distortions of intrapsychic structures, mental representations of oneself and others, emphasizing the communicative function of the symptom and behavior.

Psychodynamic therapy: working the unconsciousness

The child develops emotionally and adapts to the world and to others through dependence on their parents and a marked absence of emotional ties. These unconscious learning methods may no longer be effective when you become an adult. For this reason, childhood and relationships with parents or other people of crucial importance for the person’s emotional development are often the starting point of the therapeutic encounter.

It’s the relationship with the therapist, throughout the Psychotherapy process, that will allow you to become aware of the feelings that protect you from your pains and traumas. Probably this mechanism of operation has been very useful in the past, however, it can be obsolete and even prevent greater adaptability to a new reality of life in the present.

With Psychotherapy the person will be able to know the multiplicity of new resources, being able to become more able to solve current problems. As your emotional maturity develops, you will become more aware of your way of connecting to yourself and to others. Your well-being will reflect a better quality of life, freedom and flexibility to face future life challenges.

Benefits of Psychodynamic therapy

Psychodynamic therapy has proved its effectiveness in rigorous controlled studies. Not only that, but research shows that people who receive psychodynamic therapy actually continue to improve after therapy ends—presumably because the understanding they gain is global, not targeted to encapsulated, one-time problems.

Psychodynamic therapy is not the psychoanalysis of Freud’s day: patients sit on a chair instead of lying on a couch, have sessions once or twice—not four or five times—a week, and may finish in months as opposed to years.

Though often dismissed as too open-ended to solve specific problems, psychodynamic therapy alleviates symptoms as effectively as newer, more targeted therapies.

People who undergo psychodynamic therapy continue to make gains after the therapy ends, perhaps because it addresses underlying psychological patterns that affect many areas of life.

A brief list with some areas in which Psychodynamic therapy can help:

• Depression;
• Anxiety;
• Repeatedly being drawn to unhelpful or demeaning relationships;
• Difficulties with anger;
• General sense of dissatisfaction or distress;
• Trauma;
• Bereavement difficulties;
• Difficulties with making commitments to relationships;
• Sexual difficulties;
• Personality patterns or tendencies to repeat difficulties in work relationships;
• Difficulties with learning (where there is no evidence of an organic learning difficulty);
• Psychosomatic conditions;
• Shame and humiliation;
• Trust;
• Impulsiveness.

Work with a Psychodynamic Psychotherapist allow the unbearable feelings of trauma to be thought about and worked through in a safe environment. Doing so allows the person seeking treatment to develop a feeling of being more in control of their mind and feelings, developing greater feelings of safety in their environment and their emotional relationships as a result.

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