Psychodynamic and Intensive Psychodynamic Psychotherapy

Culturally Competent PsychodynamicTherapy in Chicago

At Lakeview, we practice contemporary psychodynamic therapy, which recognizes that issues of power and privilege are internalized and shape a persons life, and are also played out in the therapy relationship. Read more about culturally competent psychodynamic therapy. If you would like to found out more about starting this kind of therapy, please contact us.

Psychodynamic Psychotherapy in Chicago

Psychodynamic therapy is ideal for long-standing problems such as low self esteem, relational trauma, or personality disorders.

Recent research shows this type of therapy works best for many problems. The changes in psychodynamic therapy have been found to last longer than in more symptom-focused treatments. Read about the research in this paper by Jonathan Shedler.

How Psychodynamic Therapy Works

Psychodynamic therapy gets to the emotions you are not aware of. These are problems you can’t think your way out of.

Our therapists work directly with feelings that come up in relationships including those between you and your therapist. This work lets you “show’ your therapist what’s wrong. Then you can work out the problems directly in the room.

Why Go Back to the Past?

You may talk about events from your childhood, such as your relationships with your parents.  Bringing up past emotional memories helps “update” your mind. What you learn about your past will change how you feel and act in the present.

How We Work

Our psychodynamic therapists have advanced training in how to work with the unconscious mind. We get below your conscious thoughts so we can work with old emotions you may not be aware of.

Brain research shows us most of our mind works outside our awareness. This paper by Mark Solms will help you understand the mind-brain connection from a psychodynamic point of view.

Intensive Psychodynamic Therapy

In intensive psychodynamic therapy, you may come to therapy more often.  More frequent sessions (2-3 a week) help you understand yourself better so you can address more complex problems.  This type of therapy may take more time, but it is often the best way to change long-standing patterns.

Please contact us to see if this way of working is right for you!

For an introduction to the basics of psychodynamic therapy watch this short video.