What Is Psychodynamic Therapy?

When It Is Used

Psychodynamic therapy is most often used as a treatment method for depression and other debilitating psychological disorders. It's particularly recommended for patients who can't find meaning in their lives, and who struggle to maintain or form personal relationships. Research indicates psychodynamic therapy is also effective when applied to social anxiety disorders, eating disorders, and addiction. With depression, the goal is often to understand why these feelings are persisting. The theory is formative experiences may have caused patients to become detached from the world and those around them, especially in cases of child neglect or abuse.

Addiction is often a way of self-medicating another mood disorder, but the form of self-medication might have subconscious roots that can be found in memory. With disordered eating, an affected individual might have internalized body image issues at a very young age because of their parents or the media. Social anxiety disorder is sometimes rooted in a fear of a past embarrassment or painful interaction repeating itself. Isolating these formative memories can help patients work through the trauma of them and start to move on.

Goals Of Psychodynamic Therapy

With any form of therapy, the client should set specific goals before beginning. A depressed client might set a goal of finding a hobby that brings them pleasure, while an individual with social anxiety might set a goal of having an impromptu conversation with a stranger. The client goals should be progress-based; when the client achieves them, it should be a measurement of the therapy's efficacy. On a more abstract note, though, psychodynamic therapy's goal is to help the client become more self-aware and to help them understand how their current feelings are influenced by their past experiences.

The premise is that unresolved conflicts and significant or traumatic events can unconsciously influence how an individual's mind works now. There's a goal of helping clients recognize patterns they previously hadn't acknowledged. When they see those patterns and understand what causes them, it's much easier to break said patterns.