What Is Psychodynamic Therapy: How Does It Work, Features & Uses

Just like one must stay physically fit, one's mental health is of equal importance too. However, individuals often find it difficult to open up regarding their mental health issues. One might have symptoms of anxiety, depression, or borderline personality disorder but more are the chances of one avoiding it.

Psychodynamic therapy is a very good solution for people who want to treat their mental health issues. To know more about it, read along.

Psychodynamic treatment is a type of talk therapy. It is predicated on the notion that individuals can find relief and solutions by discussing their issues with a professional.

People who deal with a psychodynamic therapist can comprehend the conflicts, thoughts, and feelings that underlie their behaviour more. Additionally, this therapy method can aid in a greater understanding of some unconscious motives that might occasionally affect one's thoughts, feelings, and behaviour.

Understanding your emotional patterns and where they come from will help you better handle your issues and create coping mechanisms that will benefit you both now and in the future.

Few important features that psychodynamic therapy includes are: 

• Identification of Patterns: People are frequently urged to discuss anything that may be on their minds during psychodynamic therapy. These could be memories of events that have already occurred or things they are currently going through. People undergoing psychodynamic therapy will attempt to understand their feelings, beliefs, and childhood experiences with the aid of a therapist. The objectives include recognising self-defeating behaviours, discovering new perspectives, and improving moods.
• Understanding the Emotions: Countertransference and transference are also significant. With this strategy, the client will project their feelings toward someone onto the therapist, who will then turn those feelings around and focus them back on the client. There are numerous therapists that have different perspectives on this idea, and it might happen without the client's knowledge.
• Improvement of Relationships: The relationship between the therapist and the patient is crucial in psychodynamic therapy. It offers a framework in which individuals can gain an understanding of themselves, their pasts, and their emotions. They can have a deeper comprehension of how they perceive the world and how each of these elements influences their experiences.

Psychodynamic therapy can be used to treat a number of mental health issues. These are:

• Depression.
• Anxiety.
• Psychological distress.
• Social anxiety disorder.
• Post-traumatic stress disorder.
• Substance use disorders.
• Eating disorders.
• Personality disorders.
• Interpersonal problems.

Cost-effectiveness, accessibility, patient preferences, and the intensity of the person's symptoms are some variables that could influence the treatment used. Psychodynamic treatment may be just as beneficial for many problems as cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT), despite the fact that CBT is a well-liked and popular method to treat anxiety and depression.

Psychodynamic therapy helps the patients to dig deep into their repressed emotions and unconscious feelings. These affect their current thoughts and behaviour without their knowledge. Sometimes, people act in a certain way that they do not understand. With this therapy, they get a better understanding of the probable reasons behind their behaviour.

This therapy is useful for getting a new perspective regarding their emotional lives, and acknowledge the same. Moreover, it also helps one to learn to express their feelings and emotions in an appropriate manner.

The following key principles are the basis of psychodynamic therapy:

• Unconscious motivations: Biology, psychology, and social pressure can affect an individual’s behaviour.
• Past experiences have a great influence on the present.
• How a person responds to an experience depends on their personality, and this personality is the result of experience.
• Individuals with psychological problems may benefit from developing insight and emotional understanding.
• People can resolve their issues by increasing their range of options and strengthening their interpersonal connections.
• People can have better lives in the future by letting go of their pasts.

If individuals want to try psychodynamic psychotherapy, they can have weekly or biweekly sessions with their therapist. One will see their therapist for several months, with each session usually lasting 45 minutes. One might continue to attend sessions for a year or longer in some circumstances.

The measurement of the effectiveness of this therapy is complicated. However, there are evidences that suggest that this therapy works for the following:

• Social anxiety, panic disorder and social phobia and people who underwent the therapy have improved remission.
• People who face chronic and abdominal pain have also responded well to this therapy.
• This therapy also promotes recovery for patients suffering from anorexia nervosa.
• According to studies, it can assist patients in addressing repeating life patterns that contribute to their sadness.
• Studies have revealed the benefits of structured, comprehensive, and supervised treatment.
• According to research, psychodynamic therapy has been shown to be generally beneficial in easing the symptoms of psychopathological conditions in children aged 6 to 18 years.

Moreover, experts reported that this therapy has also improved the lives of individuals by helping them in:

• Understanding themselves better and breaking self-defeating cycles.
• Changing and improving their perspectives on the dynamics of relationships.
• Address issues with avoidance.

The most significant benefit of this therapy is that with continuous sessions, it keeps on coming. Individuals who undergo this treatment continue to improve and show signs of it even months after completing it.