PSYCHOANALYSIS
What is Psychoanalysis?
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All psychotherapy began with psychoanalysis and as psychoanalytic clinicians, we have witnessed significant changes in the practice of psychoanalytic therapy today. Today's psychoanalytic therapy is far more accessible in terms of time and cost, while retaining the things that have always made it the most life-changing and lasting of all treatments.
By resolving the causes of problems rather than just their symptoms, studies have repeatedly shown that psychoanalytic treatment is the most effective approach to lifelong freedom from the troubles with which we all suffer from time to time: problems in love and relationships, anxiety, sadness, loneliness, compulsive behaviors, and much more.
What remains unique about psychoanalytic treatment is its foundational idea: that talking about life with no limits, manuals, or workbooks, and looking beyond the surface for the meaning in one's thoughts and actions, creates an unparalleled opportunity for lasting growth.
Today’s psychoanalysis is indeed evidence-based. Modern research has repeatedly showed that psychoanalytic work not only effectively deals with immediate symptoms but produces lasting results that cannot be achieved with more superficial therapies (a summary of the many studies showing the evidence-based practice of psychoanalysis is on the "Evidence" page of this website)
Who Practices Psychanalytic Therapy?
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Today's psychoanalysis is also known as psychodynamic therapy. It is practiced by people with specialized training in psychoanalysis or psychoanalytic/psychodynamic therapy. They are all first certified in a primary clinical field as psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, or another clinical area.
Why Psychoanalysis?​
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Besides specific behavioral problems, everyone has troubles that keep occurring. Depression comes back, anxiety comes back, difficult relationships continue without getting better, or new relationships turn out as badly as old ones. Why is this? Circumstances may change, but the problems remain.
That kind of repetitive pattern is exactly what psychoanalysis is made for, because psychoanalysis has always focused on people’s complexity. Unlike other approaches, psychoanalytic/psychodynamic clinicians don’t label people. We understand that there is more to you than a behavior or a symptom which can be given a name.
