Psychoanalytic psychotherapy is an evidence based form of talking therapy which has been shown to be effective both generally and in a wide range of conditions such as depression, anxiety, and eating disorders. Click here for links to external evidence and research on the BPC website.
The way we see and relate to the world develops through relationships made in childhood and later life and disturbances in these can leave us with vulnerabilities and symptoms which may be affecting our adult relationships. Psychoanalytic psychotherapy addresses the underlying causes of these difficulties by allowing thoughts, feelings and fears present at an unconscious level to emerge. Unlike some other forms of talking therapies psychoanalytic psychotherapy aims to help people make deep seated changes and emotional development, as well as relieve symptoms, by enabling a deeper understanding of themselves and what is troubling them. The therapeutic relationship offers a safe environment to explore feelings of dissatisfaction, depression, anxiety and repeating patterns of unhelpful behaviour in a way that can free people to make changes and shifts in their ways of relating to other people. Feelings of sadness and isolation and difficulties in personal and work relationships can be thought about without fear of being judged allowing greater insight over time.
People can come to therapy for a wide range of emotional problems or events affecting the way they live their lives, or the way they behave in relation to other people. Some people can experience a sense of loss of meaning in their lives, or seek a greater sense of fulfilment. Others may need help with things which they are finding hard to cope with and to deal with on their own. Psychotherapy fosters self-reflection, and the understanding and self-awareness needed to bring about change in a meaningful way which, in turn, contributes to an ability to live a more fulfilling life and help deal with the realities of life.
Therapy sessions are for 50 minutes on the same day and time each week and provide a space for you to talk about whatever is on your mind, your thoughts, feelings, and dreams. You and the therapist think together about what may be present at a deeper level. A psychoanalytic psychotherapist is interested in what you have to say and in exploring any difficulties which might be getting in the way of you being able to do that. They will help you to think about why you feel unable to solve a problem or what is preventing you from knowing what to do. Old relationship patterns can be repeated in the consulting room, and strong emotions, such as anger, can be triggered. The ways of relating to the therapist when this takes place can be helpful with understanding troubling relationships in your life. Because it can be very difficult to talk about emotional problems things can sometimes feel temporarily worse but this is a part of the process of facing painful feelings. The work of the therapy is to work through such difficulties and to try to understand what is taking place and the impact this has on you and how you live your life.
It takes a lifetime to develop the troubling attitudes and behaviours that contribute to emotional distress so the process of addressing the sources of deep seated difficulties in psychotherapy also takes time and commitment. It can vary from many months to several years depending on the individual circumstances. The process is gradual and generally open ended and the timing is usually agreed by discussion.