Psychodynamic Therapy

Psychodynamic therapy is based on the belief that people have an unconscious and that there are things that drive us that we are not fully aware of or in control of. In this frame, therapy is a neutral space to look at and explore everything –  thoughts, feelings, and fantasies – in an attempt to map out and make sense of what is influencing our experiences and behaviors.

In addition to understanding our drives, this framework also offers us an understanding of how we protect ourselves. Defenses are internal structures and ways of organizing our thoughts and feelings that help protect us and keep us intact. We create defenses using internal strengths that come naturally to us and different people favor different defenses. When people do not have safe, secure, or predictable conditions growing up, they will need to protect themselves in some extra ways in order to make it through. Living through painful and traumatic circumstances should be celebrated and seen as an expression of resilience. However, this can leave someone with a ton of defenses, acting guarded around others, and with an internal structure that ceases to serve them. Especially when certain defenses are created at a young age, it can make you stuck in a primitive place in relationships and in relating to the world. 

It’s common in my therapy practice to meet a patient who is so smart, savvy, and sophisticated in some ways but is a total disaster in others, particularly  in her relationships. This is because there are parts of her that have grown and developed and shined as she has grown older but a young, scared part of her remains stunted, frozen in amber, and needing to be attended to. Therapy provides an opportunity to attend to those younger, stunted parts. To understand the root cause of the frozen to begin with and attend to what that person needs to grow and develop in a more balanced way. Just as defenses form because there is a perceived threat, they can fall away as the person feels more safe and secure in the world and becomes a more whole person.