Psychoanalytic psychotherapy

Psychoanalytic based treatments are evidence-based forms of therapy which can effectively treat emotional problems and a wide range of mental health conditions such as depression, eating disorders and anxiety.

Psychoanalysis started with the discoveries of Sigmund Freud a century ago, but its methods have changed and developed a great deal since then. It has the most developed theoretical base of all the talking treatments and has had a significant influence on all talking treatments.

Psychoanalytic therapies involve talking to a trained therapist, usually one-to-one, but sometimes in a group or with a partner or family members. This kind of therapy addresses underlying issues and causes, often from your past, which may be concerning you, or affecting your relationships with others. In your sessions you will be encouraged to talk freely and to look deeper into your problems and worries. It differs from many other talking therapies in that it aims to help people make deep seated change in personality and emotional development, alongside relieving troubling symptoms. It can help you discuss feelings you have about yourself and other people, particularly family and those close to you.

Some people seek help for specific reasons, such as eating disorders, psycho-somatic conditions, obsessional behaviour, or phobic anxieties. Some seek help for underlying feelings of depression or anxiety, difficulties in concentrating, dissatisfaction in work or in marriage, or for an inability to form satisfactory relationships. It may benefit anyone. It can help children and adolescents who have emotional and behavioural difficulties which are evident at home or school, like personality problems, depression, learning difficulties, school phobias, eating or sleeping disorders.

It can contribute significantly to a person’s mental and physical health, to their sense of well-being and to their ability to live a more fulfilling life.

Whether psychoanalytic or psychodynamic psychotherapy is the treatment of choice for you depends on a variety of factors. It is often helpful to have one or more preliminary consultations with an experienced psychotherapist before deciding how best to proceed.