Psychodynamic therapies

These are a type of talking therapy.

They are the oldest type of talking therapy.

They focus on the individual's past and their deepest thoughts, some of which they might be unaware of.

This type of therapy can take a long time to work through

Psychodynamic therapies have evolved from the work of Sigmund Freud. Freudian therapy is known as psychoanalysis.

Freud believed that lots of probems people had when adults resulted from problems in childhood. Sometimes the person may be unaware of these problems or they had not linked the past problems to current mental ill health. Psychoanalysis has a focus on the 'unconcious'.

Psychodynamic therapy suggests that problems cannot be resolved without a detailed understanding of their unconscious basis in the early relationships with parents and siblings.

Childhood 'fantasies' are seen as important in psychodynamic therapy. As we grow our fantasies become modified by experience but even as adults we can still go back to them, especially at times of stress. This is called ‘regression’.

Transference is the centre of psychodynamic therapy. This is to do with the way the individual relates to the therapist. (‘Counter-transference’ is the way the therapist relates to the service user.)

The way the service user relates to the therapist is often an indication of the way s/he relates to others. It also often reveals the service user’s previous ways of relating, most notably with their parents. This can be a difficult thing for people with a learning disability to do meaning psychodymanic therapies are not often used with the group.

The main aim of psychodynamic therapy is to bring the unconscious (repressed emotions and motives) into consciousness.

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