Psychodynamic Psychotherapy

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Understanding Psychodynamic Psychotherapy

Psychodynamic psychotherapy is a form of verbal therapy aimed at addressing emotional pain stemming from subconscious conflicts and motives, often rooted in childhood experiences where caregivers made choices for you. Over time, the coping mechanisms developed in response to these situations may become ineffective in adulthood. Recognizing these behavioural patterns from childhood is the first step towards change, enabling the creation of healthier problem-solving approaches and greater independence in daily life.

In psychodynamic psychotherapy, unresolved childhood issues can manifest as emotional challenges in adulthood, leading to emotional shutdowns or other issues. Seeking therapy helps individuals locate the origins of these issues and "re-parent" the wounded parts of their psyche. By providing self-support, comfort, and acceptance of one's emotions, individuals learn to reintegrate these damaged aspects into their adult selves, ultimately improving their ability to feel and express emotions.

A good example of this would be: if you experienced a situation at age three that made you cry and your parents told you to “stop crying or you’ll get something to cry about”. How do you think you’d respond? Most of us would do everything in our power to stop crying and avoid further pain from the punishment they meted out. You would have learned that crying is unacceptable and you would likely take that emotion and put it on a shelf in your mind out of reach. From then on, you would develop elaborate strategies to avoid crying, which was so unacceptable to your parents. You may become a bully, develop an angry defense, withdraw, isolate yourself or become an intellectual.

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While the rest of your psyche develops into adulthood the part of you that was damaged at age three would result in arrested development at that age. Then, somewhere in adulthood you encounter an experience such as a funeral for a dear friend and your emotions shut down. You start finding that every time you begin to feel upset and tearful you automatically shut down emotionally. You identify that something is not right and you should be feeling something very painful and be able to cry. When you seek help from a psychotherapist you to locate the origins of your inability to cry, in this case, from the incident with your parents at age three.

With my assistance you “re-parent” that part of your psyche in the same way you needed your parents to “parent” you when you were in pain. You may have wanted their support, comfort, soothing and acceptance of your tears.

Now, as an adult it is time for you to give yourself all of the things you missed out on in childhood. You need to give yourself permission to cry and learn to accept this emotion as part of your emotional self. Once you accomplish this you have integrated this damaged part into your adult psyche, and you will no longer experience difficulty feeling and expressing your tears.

Therapeutic progress continues until the underlying issues causing distress are addressed, often surpassing the initial reasons for seeking therapy. Some individuals may choose to continue therapy to further personal growth. Termination of therapy is a carefully planned process, allowing clients to process feelings of loss and change. Successful completion of psychotherapy equips individuals with improved interpersonal skills, increased productivity, heightened self-awareness, and new insights, enhancing their ability to navigate life's challenges effectively.

Serving Simcoe County for over 35 years

Conveniently and centrally located, serving our clients with psychotherapy and counselling including but not limited to Barrie, Orillia, Midland, Innisfil, Angus, Bradford, Bracebridge, Gravenhurst.