Psychoanalytic psychotherapyLike psychoanalysis, psychoanalytic psychotherapy assumes that we act on unconscious motives. Sometimes we are anxious, insecure, depressed… but do not understand where these feelings come from. Or one tries to engage in a relationship, but it doesn’t work, no matter how hard he wants it. It also happens that we have wishes, feelings and thoughts that we do not accept for ourselves.During psychoanalytical therapy, your personal story unfolds, or you are confronted with gaps or contradictions in your story. Therapist and patient will identify together how unconscious patterns influence relationships, behaviors and feelings. They also try to understand how these patterns have developed. Patient and therapist try to listen to hidden meanings and to underlying patterns that shape thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Psychological suffering is understood as a more or less conflicting ensemble of inner forces. During the sessions, elements that play a decisive role in psychic suffering will find their expression. Psychological suffering is understood in the light of the personal (also early) history, in which patterns are often repeated. The inner images someone has of himself and of others steer the way in which someone deals with others. These images can play an important role in different forms of psychological problems. We try to think and speak about frightening, painful, guilty, ashaming and/or unbearable tendencies, thoughts or feelings instead of trying to get them out of the way in all sorts of manners. The therapy aims to achieve a genuine insight in particular repetitive patterns and sensitivities. When insight is genuine, one can understand himself better, verbalize and make conscious choices in different areas. The course of a psychoanalytical psychotherapyTherapist and patient discern and analyse together how unconscious patterns influence relationships, behaviour and feelings of the patient. They also try to understand how these patterns have developed. During sessions, mainly the patient is speaking. The therapist asks the patient to try to say everything that comes to his mind. By surrendering to the inner flow of thoughts, feelings and fantasies, the patient turns away from the external world and directs his thoughts and perceptions more to the inner side. All sorts of thoughts and feelings, where he is ashamed of or rejects as being unimportant or silly (in daily life), can receive more attention.As unconscious patterns in feelings and thoughts get clarified, complaints and symptoms diminish, but more important, one deals in another way with oneself. The patient takes his inner world more seriously and understands it better. This means that the feeling of self-esteem can increase, as well as inner freedom. This creates possibilities to stand firmer in life. Someone who dares to look inside also knows better where he stands and why he makes certain choices. The patient can understand his problems not only intellectually, but also emotionally. Compared to psychoanalysis, the therapist is more active. He asks more targeted questions and sometimes concentrates on certain hypotheses, which may have been discussed with the patient previously. Usually the duration of the therapy is shorter than in psychoanalysis. (text based on a publication of the Nederlandse Vereniging voor Psychotherapie and Nederlands Psychoanalytisch Instituut) |