ABOUT
PSYCHOTHERAPY

Psychodynamic psychotherapy provides the opportunity for an individual to discuss their emotional concerns and difficulties in the context of a healing relationship with a psychotherapist. The therapist provides emotional support and important insights, which enables the client to see their conflicts in a new light and to gradually let go of old patterns of feeling and behaving. In the initial phase of psychotherapy, my approach is to establish a safe environment through supportive listening and the expression of empathy so that my client will feel comfortable talking about their difficulties. Early in therapy, I also make suggestions to my client about basic steps that they can take to begin to experience symptomatic relief for their particular problems. It is also important early in therapy to help my client create a working model of how their problems developed and what will be required to work them out. A large portion of the therapy that follows consists of the client attempting to gain important insights into their personal make-up and their emotional conflicts. One significant way to do this involves accessing the unconscious mind through the exploration of one's thoughts, emotions, relationships, and behaviors, and through the interpretation of dreams.
 

Perhaps the most difficult aspect of psychotherapy, but also the most rewarding, is the experiencing of feelings related to one's emotional conflicts in a deeper way, and using the insights gained during therapy to process these feelings until they are resolved. This is a time in therapy when the client can put old patterns to rest, and develop new ways of feeling and relating to the world. Having moved through the many phases of therapy, the client has finally reached the point of not only understanding their difficulties but being able to transform them into something healthier and more satisfying. The commitment to self-exploration over the course of one's treatment can lead to significant rewards, such as experiencing a greater degree of direction and self confidence, improving one's connection to work and personal relationships, experiencing greater physical and emotional well-being, and feeling a greater degree of personal fulfillment and life satisfaction.