What is Psychodynamic Psychotherapy?
Broadly speaking, psychodynamic psychotherapy is about knowing oneself better by exploring inner experience. This usually involves thinking about the impact of formative relationships in childhood and beyond, as well as current life and relationships.
The term psychodynamic in this context relates to the dynamic interplay between conscious and unconscious mental processes, and considers how past experiences and emotions, some of which might be obscured even from ourselves, may influence behaviour, feelings and relationships in the present.
Psychodynamic psychotherapy trainings are rooted in psychoanalytic theory but many, such as those I have undertaken, integrate modern developments such as attachment theory or mentalization. The terms psychodynamic and psychoanalytic psychotherapy tend to indicate the frequency of sessions, (psychodynamic one or two; psychoanalytic three times weekly). The therapist often tends to be more responsive in psychodynamic psychotherapy, although this varies.
This article by Johnathan Shedler and this one by Orna Guralnik of the TV series Couples’ Therapy may be helpful. The following videos also give a simple overview of psychotherapy:
Psychotherapy by the School of Life
Please note that the wider views or perspectives of the organisations or individuals with which these links and videos are affiliated are not my own
and do not necessarily reflect my views.
What’s the evidence?
Interestingly, evidence shows that it’s less important what type of psychotherapy people have in terms of efficacy. Research has suggested most types of psychotherapy can be helpful. Most experienced therapists would agree however, that it’s important that you and your therapist are a fairly 'good fit’. This can be complicated, as it’s common to have all sorts of feelings about your therapist, but to me it means that you feel reasonably comfortable with me overall, from the start. If not, it’s best to try someone else.
There’s plenty of recent research on the efficacy of psychodynamic psychotherapy, some of which can be explored here.