What is psychotherapy?

Psychotherapy from Soup to Nuts

What is psychotherapy? Washington, DC, (Chevy Chase, MD), psychologist, psychoanalyst, Dr. Lynn Friedman explores the province of psychotherapy.

What is psychotherapy? What happens in psychotherapy? How does it work? For whom is it helpful? And, what sorts of difficulties or challenges does it help people overcome? How might one benefit from psychotherapy? And, what sorts of steps might one take to have a helpful, positive experience in psychotherapy?

What is a psychotherapist? How does one sort through the array of psychologists, psychiatrists, psychoanalysts, counselors, social workers, pastoral counselors, psychiatric nurses and others who offer this sort of help?

What is psychotherapy?

Psychotherapy entails a relationship between a trained psychotherapist and a person who is interested in deepening their understanding of themselves, with the goal of resolving conflicts, overcoming obstacles or addressing unhappiness in their lives. There are many kinds of psychotherapy and each approach conceptualizes or views the individual in different ways.

However, most methods share in common the idea that:

People come to psychotherapy because they are sad, worried or troubled about something in themselves and/or in their lives.

Many difficulties can be understood, resolved through talking with a trained, outsider and gaining perspective.

To be effective, psychotherapy must take place in a safe, respectful & confidential setting.

Beyond this, there are many kinds of psychotherapy (and, counseling), each with their own specialized approach. The most common include: psychoanalytic psychotherapy (or psychodynamic psychotherapy), psychoanalysis, cognitive behavioral therapy (aka CBT) and humanistic psychotherapy. Also, psychotherapists work with people, individually, in marriage counseling, in couples counseling and/or in group psychotherapy.

Psychodynamic (and, psychoanalytic) psychotherapy (and, counseling)

Psychodynamic psychotherapy has several major assumptions. These include:

The notion of a dynamic unconscious. The idea here is that we are driven by forces outside of our awareness. Take for example the outstanding college student who dutifully allows his father to choose his major. As he approaches graduation, he finds himself too anxious to study. He begins to fail his courses. He may be unaware of how frightened his is of being on his own and functioning as an adult. Similarly, he may not recognize how angry he is at his parents for undermining his quest for adulthood.Thus, his symptoms serve dual functions: they allow him to avoid adulthood and they let him express, albeit indirectly, anger and resentment toward his parents.

In the situation, the psychologist's task is to, "make the unconscious conscious". To do this, psychodynamic therapists eschew lists making. Instead, they encourage the individual to say, "whatever comes to mind" and to report day dreams, "flash thoughts" and fantasies. Also, individuals are asked to report dreams. Called by Freud, "the royal road to the unconscious" dreams are understood to provide access to those forces outside the individual's awareness in their waking lives. Read more about what happens in psychotherapy:

The psychotherapists task is to listen and to try to decipher the hidden struggle - and, point it out to the individual. As he comes to understand his feelings, the person can make decisions about his life with greater clarity and comfort.

A focus on human growth and development. Human beings are always growing and developing throughout their lives. Thus, there is always the possibility of change.

Every individual is unique

Each individual is understood in the context of their unique history and current situation.

The past influences the present. Although today's psychoanalytic (psychodynamic) psychotherapists place a heavy emphasis on the relationship between the individual and their psychotherapist. The role of the importance of early childhood experience remains central in understanding the individual's strengths & struggles.

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