Psou (Psychoanalytic and Psychodynamic Therapist) (S)

1. #1Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy (AEDP)

   Keys: Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy, AEDP

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   Overview: Accelerated experiential dynamic psychotherapy (AEDP) is a form of talk therapy that aims to help people overcome trauma, loss, or other serious emotional challenges. Drawing on attachment theory, body-focused approaches, and other related disciplines, AEDP posits that humans are wired for resilience and have an inborn ability to cope with emotional pain; however, many people who have undergone trauma are unable to access the skills that would allow them to navigate these emotional challenges. AEDP aims to help clients uncover and draw on these innate coping mechanisms to manage their trauma and move toward flourishing. During AEDP, clients work with the therapist to process painful past experiences by uncovering and experiencing difficult emotions as well as identifying and working through the defenses they’ve built over the years to manage their distress. Over time and with the therapist’s close support, clients may develop new coping skills, restore their ability to trust, and be more comfortable feeling their own emotions and more capable of conveying them to those around them.

   When it is Used: AEDP is designed to treat trauma, especially that which occurred in childhood, as well as PTSD. It may also be used to help someone manage the aftereffects of childhood neglect or being raised by distant, disinterested caregivers, which may have interfered with attachment and/or created relationship difficulties in adulthood. Trauma, loss, or attachment challenges may manifest as other symptoms such as depression, anxiety, or interpersonal challenges, all of which can be helped by AEDP.

   What to Expect: AEDP is a relatively active therapeutic modality, meaning the therapist will participate in discussions and explorations with the client. Over the first few sessions, an AEDP therapist will likely work to establish a trusting relationship with the client by being curious about their past experiences and allowing them to express painful emotions without being judged. Next, the therapist will typically help the client look deeper inward, identifying problematic defense mechanisms and exploring emotions or experiences that may have been ignored or buried for long periods of time. Along the way, the therapist will stay attuned to the client’s movements, facial cues, tone of voice, and other body language signals; at some point during sessions, therapist and client may discuss these signals themselves and what they might mean, as well as explore how it feels to share difficult emotions openly and consider one’s relationship with them (a process known as metaprocessing). Throughout, the therapist will work to “undo aloneness,” or the painful feeling many trauma survivors experience that they are alone with their overwhelming emotions. Ideally, clients will feel deeply seen and understood by their therapist, strengthening their ability to trust others or express emotions without fear that they will be received negatively.

   How it Works: Trauma or other painful emotional experiences can lead someone to experience overwhelming emotions in 'utter aloneness', and undoing that aloneness, through a supportive and encouraging relationship with one’s therapist, is seen believed to be key to healing. As this relationship is forming and has been solidified, the client will feel supported and understood, ideally gaining confidence and becoming more willing to explore their emotional experience. While it can certainly be difficult at times, this exploration is not intended to be entirely unpleasant; indeed, AEDP therapists often look for moments of joy during sessions and encourage the client to sit with them and focus on their accompanying sensations. AEDP therapists maintain that this process will lead to further positive experiences and personal discoveries that are necessary for the individual to flourish. AEDP draws on theories of emotion processing and the idea of neuroplasticity to argue that creating and nourishing positive emotional experiences will lead to changes in the brain that bolster psychological resilience.

2. #2Adlerian Therapy

   Keys: Adlerian Therapy

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   Overview: Adlerian therapy, also called individual psychology, is a short-term, goal-oriented, and positive psychodynamic therapy. It is believed that feelings of inferiority can result in neurotic behavior but, in the right setting, can also be used as motivation to strive for greater success. Adlerian therapy focuses on the development of individual personality while understanding and accepting the interconnectedness of all humans.

   When it is Used: Adlerian therapy is an evidence-based approach that can be applied successfully in the treatment of any type of psychological disorder or mental illness.

   What to Expect: Adlerian therapy proceeds in four stages: Engagement, Assessment, Insight, and Reorientation. Stage 1 - Engagement: Engagement involves developing the relationship between client and therapist. This therapist is supportive, encouraging, and empathetic, which helps to forge a collaborative partnership. The pair works together to address the client’s difficulties. Stage 2 - Assessment: Assessment involves learning about the client’s past to understand their present challenges. Adlerian therapy emphasizes the influence of birth order and early childhood memories, but the therapist may also seek to understand the client’s family dynamics, important past experiences, and the nature and origins of various patterns of thought. Stage 3 - Insight: After learning more about the client, insight involves uncovering why the client acts the way they do and helping the client to see themselves and their circumstances differently. The therapist asks questions to explore the client’s perspective and guides them toward greater awareness and understanding. The therapist may offer their own interpretations about how the client’s past may inform their present, and what may be causing unhelpful or dysfunctional tendencies. Stage 4 - Reorientation: Reorientation involves change. The therapist helps the client develop new ways of thinking and active strategies to use outside of therapy that encourage more flexible and adaptive ways of thinking and that reinforce the new insights gained in session. Overall, the focus is on reframing the attitudes, beliefs, and lifestyle choices that block success, so that clients are more effective at reaching their desired goals.

   How it Works: One of the core tenets of Adlerian therapy is that individual behavior must be explored within the context of a client’s sense of “fitting in” with their community, and society at large. In some cases, this extends to birth order and how one’s role within the family affects the development of one’s personality and future relationships. Adlerian therapists often work in schools, clinics, corporations, and other community settings, helping to create learning environments that provide a sense of belonging and respect for all. These therapists work especially with those people who are most in need of positive, future-oriented counseling and encouragement.

3. #3Imago Therapy

   Keys: Imago Therapy

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   Overview: Imago relationship therapy is a form of couples counseling and coaching designed to help relationship partners work out misunderstandings, reduce conflict, and rediscover ways to bond, communicate, and generally find common ground. A primary goal of the Imago approach is to help partners stop blaming, criticizing, and negatively reacting to each other and instead become more understanding and empathetic. Imago therapy is derived from the theory that feelings the client experienced in their childhood relationships are bound to resurface in their adult relationships. The term Imago is from the Latin word for “image,” and refers to an “unconscious image of familiar love,” developed in childhood, and remaining as yet unchanged in adulthood. As clients address these childhood relationships, they come to recognize their personal imago as “the image of the person who can make me whole again.” Much of the work that takes place in Imago workshops and private therapy sessions involves learning to recognize how early childhood relationship experiences have affected how the client relates, behaves, and responds within committed relationships. Imago therapists see conflict between partners as the result of their circumstances and believe that, through examination of the conflict, the couple can not only find a solution, but heal themselves and achieve personal growth.

   When it is Used: Couples dealing with communication struggles, consistent conflict, intimacy challenges, and trust issues may want to work with an Imago therapist, and couples that are not in crisis may also benefit by learning how to manage conflict and enhance their dynamics. For couples experiencing frequent disputes in particular, the Imago approach, which perceives conflict as an opportunity for growth, may be beneficial. Imago relationship therapy can benefit partners trying to become closer or to bolster their relationship, as well as individuals who need to develop stronger communication skills to improve their relationships in general. Individuals hoping to find ways to make better choices in their dating life and gain perspective to help them recognize the traits they desire in future partners may find benefits in Imago therapy as well.

   What to Expect: Imago therapy is based on the idea that the client's early relationships not only shape their personalities and attachment styles, but also what could be called a 'love identity' is derived from how they were treated by important figures in childhood, and the lessons they learned about what they need to do and how they need to act to receive love from those closest to us. In adult intimate relationships, these dynamics are likely to re-emerge, as clients choose adult partners who are 'familiar' to them - in other words, with whom clients interact in similar ways as they did with significant figures from their childhoods. Recognizing these patterns is precisely what can lead clients to progress. As its founders recognize, 'People are born in relationships, people are wounded in relationships, and people can be healed in relationships.'

   Aspects of Imago Therapy: Expectations of Clients: The Imago technique is focused on 5 core principles which play out over the course of therapy. An Imago therapist is likely to ask clients to (1) re-imagine their partner as a wounded child; to (2) re-romanticize their relationship through signs of appreciation, pleasant surprises, and even gift-giving; to (3) restructure disappointments or frustrations by transforming complaints into requests and eliminating negative, hostile language from interactions; to (4) resolve lingering feelings of anger; and finally to (5) re-envision the relationship as a source of safety and happiness in their lives. What clients find most challenging about the Imago approach tends to be surrendering their self-rejection and self-hatred, and letting themselves be accepted and loved. Therapist's Role: An Imago therapist generally does not act as an authority figure who will pronounce verdicts about a couple’s relationship, but as a partner who recognizes that couples are the experts on their own relationship, who will work with them to facilitate improved communication and connection and who will help them look more closely at their interactions and potential for healing. The therapist plays an active role in facilitating the dialog between partners in a way that helps each understand how the other reacts and responds to conflict or stress, ideally enhancing empathy and reducing a recurrence of the same arguments or types of arguments. Imago Dialogue: The Imago dialogue is the core technique of the Imago therapeutic approach, in which partners ideally learn to avoid hurtful words and statements, create a safe environment for sharing, and establish a means of interacting in which each partner has equal space and power. In the Imago dialogue, partners take turns as the 'sender' (the one sharing their thoughts), and the 'receiver', who takes in those words. A key step for the receiver is 'mirroring' (paraphrasing what their partner has just said, nonjudgmentally and without a response or rebuttal). For example, the receiver may paraphrase what they have heard by framing it as “What I’m hearing you say is…” The receiver next will be asked to validate their partner’s statements, letting the other know what they understand, asking for clarification on what they do not understand, and, importantly, acknowledging their understanding of why the sender’s position makes sense, even if they do not personally agree with it. Finally, the receiver should display empathy by stating what they imagine the other is feeling as they express their take on their experience in the relationship, and showing their appreciation for it. Couples may work on the dialogue process until it becomes familiar and they can do it on their own outside of therapy sessions when facing conflicts.

   How it Works: By understanding how negative experiences and feelings from childhood carry over into adult relationships and form the client's particular imago, the client can better understand their reactions to their partner, and vice versa, and develop the skills and empathy necessary to transform themselves and their relationship. Marriage itself, as a forum for addressing old wounds and fostering healing and growth, may actually be the most effective form of therapy.

4. #4Internal Family Systems (IFS) Therapy

   Keys: Internal Family Systems Therapy, IFS

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   Overview: Internal Family Systems (IFS) is an approach to psychotherapy that identifies and addresses multiple sub-personalities or families within each person’s mental system. These sub-personalities consist of wounded parts and painful emotions such as anger and shame, and parts that try to control and protect the person from the pain of the wounded parts. The sub-personalities are often in conflict with each other and with one’s Core Self (a concept that describes the confident, compassionate, whole person that is at the core of every individual). IFS focuses on healing the wounded parts and restoring mental balance and harmony by changing the dynamics that create discord among the sub-personalities and the Self.

   When it is Used: IFS is suitable for treating depression, anxiety, panic, phobias, trauma, substance abuse, and physical health conditions. It can also help to improve general functioning and well-being.

   What to Expect: The client works with the IFS therapist to identify and understand the specific sub-personalities or families that make up their internal mental system. Once these parts are identified, the therapist will help the client acknowledge their feelings about these suppressed emotions, learn how to release these feelings so that the client is freer to address the actual problem, and ultimately find more positive ways to manage conflicts on their own. The therapist may suggest certain tools to help the client do this, such as relaxation exercises, visualization, keeping a journal, and creating a chart that illustrates the relationship between the client's Self and the different parts of themselves.

   IFS Model: Parts of a Person: IFS suggests that each person has three Parts that comprise their internal mental system. Managers are protective Parts of the client that function to control the client's surroundings, and to manage the client's emotions and tasks so that they can navigate daily life. Exiles are Parts of the client that hold hurt, fear, or shame from experiences, and they carry the difficult emotions and memories associated with those experiences. These Exiles are contained and hidden from conscious awareness by Managers to avoid distress and pain. Finally, Firefighters are Parts of the client that are activated when Exiles produce overwhelming, painful, or threatening emotions. These Firefighters aim to inhibit these difficult emotions by any means necessary, even if the coping mechanisms are unhealthy. The Client's Core Self: IFS believes that every person has a Core Self, which is a genuine and undamaged Core Self that is waiting to be accessed. This Core Self can identify, observe, and help the Manager, Exiles, and Firefighters Parts of the client to be less extreme, more productive, and to coexist effectively and peacefully. The person's Core Self is believed to have many positive traits, including the eight Cs and 5 Ps. The presence of these Core traits help to identify how much of the Self is available at a given time, and how much more of the Self may need to emerge. The eight Cs are Confidence, Calmness, Creativity, Clarity, Curiosity, Courage, Compassion, and Connectedness. The five Ps are Presence, Patience, Perspective, Persistence, and Playfulness. IFS Goals: The three goals of IFS are (1) helping the client to free the Parts from their extreme roles, (2) restoring the client's trust in their Core Self, and (3) Coordinating and harmonizing the Core Self with the client's Parts, so that they can work together as a team with the Core Self in charge. Through meeting these goals, the client's Parts can be healed, transformed, and better managed by the Core Self.

   How it Works: The IFS therapist helps clients identify their parts and release the burdens that these parts carry using the six step IFS process. This involves Finding (Helping the client identify the Parts of their mind and body that need attention), Focusing (helping the client focus and pay attention to the relevant Part), Fleshing Out (fleshing out the Part by having the client describe the Part and their experience of the Part), Feeling (helping the client explore how they feel towards the Part), Befriending (helping the client develop and express curiosity towards the Part with the goal of helping the client accept the Part's presence), and Fear (helping the client ask what the Part fears, and what the client would fear if the role of the Part was changed). It is through learning to recognize and explore these Parts that the client is able to shift how their Parts function, and create positive change.

5. #5Jungian Therapy

   Keys: Jungian Therapy

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   Overview: Jungian therapy is designed to bring together the conscious and unconscious parts of the mind to help the client feel balanced and whole. Jungian therapy calls for clients to look at their “real” self rather than the self they present to the outside world.

   When it is Used: Jungian therapy can be used to treat depression, anxiety, grief, obsessive-compulsive disorder, phobias, relationship problems, low self-esteem, and a lack of purpose or direction in life.

   What to Expect: In Jungian therapy, a client is asked to explore both their conscious and unconscious minds with the help of the therapist in order to bring into balance the areas of their personality that are misaligned and create unity between the conscious and unconscious minds. The Jungian therapist suggests several techniques for learning what the unconscious mind contains, and these may include the client exploring their 'shadow' self that has unpleasant parts of their mind, or painful previous experiences, with the aim of fully understanding what their true problems are, and how to resolve them to the greatest extent possible.

   Jungian Techniques: Dream Analysis: Dreams are interpreted as communications from the unconscious mind. Through analysis of a client's dreams, Jungian therapists believe that these messages can be interpreted and used to explain why the client is ill at ease, and which aspects of the client need to be worked on in order to bring about balance and unity. Word Association: In word association exercises, a Jungian therapist will say specific words and record how long it takes the client to respond with the first thing that comes to mind. The therapist might run through the list a second or third time, noting changes in responses and response times. Changes in responses between the tests, or anomalies in the time it takes for the client to respond, are believed to be instructive in indicating areas about which the client feels distress. Art or Dance Therapies: Jungian analysts believe that painting, drawing, and dancing are conduits through which the unconscious mind can express itself and that the exercises themselves may help repair the areas of a client’s ailments that come through their art-making.

   How it Works: Jungian therapy focuses more on the source of a problem than on its manifestations or symptoms. In Jungian therapy, it is believed that the 'shadow' self (an individual’s repressed experiences and memories), in combination with the 'collective unconscious' (the inherent hidden beliefs that everyone in a given society at a given time has) result in an imbalance between conscious awareness and the unconscious mind that has a detrimental effect on one’s emotional life. Through Jungian therapy, a client can explore these forces and influences to achieve unity between the conscious and unconscious mind. Success in this endeavor is termed 'individuation', or wholeness. It is believed that individuation represents one’s true nature, and that a client will feel satisfied and complete upon its achievement. In contrast, if the client tries simply to relieve the symptoms, it is believed that the underlying issues will not be resolved and are bound to resurface.

6. #6Psychoanalytic Therapy

   Keys: Psychoanalytic Therapy

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   Overview: Psychoanalytic therapy is a form of in-depth talk therapy that aims to bring unconscious or deeply buried thoughts and feelings to the conscious mind so that repressed experiences and emotions, often from childhood, can be brought to the surface and examined. Working together, the therapist and client look at how these early hidden and stifled memories have affected the client’s thinking, behavior, and relationships in adulthood. The goal of psychoanalytic therapy is to help the client bring their unconscious thoughts to the forefront so that these conflicts can be resolved. Otherwise, if the buried conflict is not brought to consciousness, clients will continue to suffer neurosis and internal strife.

   When it is Used: Psychoanalytic therapy can be used for clients with mood disorders, as well as clients suffering from depression, emotional struggles, emotional trauma, low self-esteem, neurotic behavior patterns, self-destructive behavior patterns, personality disorders, identity or sexuality problems, and relationship difficulties.

   What to Expect: The therapist may use specific techniques such word association, dream analysis, and transference analysis.

   Psychoanalytic Techniques: Dream Analysis: Dream analysis uncovers repressed feelings that may be hidden in symbols that appear in the client’s dreams. The therapist helps the client discover the meaning and significance of these symbols. Word Association: In word association exercises, the client says whatever first comes to mind when the therapist says a word. The therapist then looks for and interprets patterns in the client’s responses so they can explore the meaning of these patterns together. Transference Analysis: Transference analysis explores the transfer of the client’s feelings and emotions from one person to another. For instance, the client’s repressed childhood feelings toward a parent may be transferred to a partner in an adult relationship later in life, or towards the therapist during the psychoanalytic process.

   How it Works: The therapist focuses on building a strong therapist-client relationship, as well as understanding the client's attachment styles. The therapist may then explore the client's transference, which is the client's unconscious transfer of emotions and needs from an earlier time to people and events in the present time. As the client explores their past repressed experiences, they may feel overwhelmed by the release of these painful feelings and thoughts, and seek out ways to avoid dealing with these. However, as clients become more comfortable and less resistant to facing their issues, they are better able to understand their own motives and behavior, thus allowing true healing to begin.

7. #7Psychodynamic Therapy

   Keys: Psychodynamic Therapy

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   Overview: Less focused on the therapist-client relationship, psychodynamic therapy focuses instead on the client's relationship with their external world. It recognizes that talking about problems in a therapeutic setting can be extremely valuable for the client. Psychodynamic therapy is more focused on problem-solving and achieving outcomes compared to psychoanalysis therapy's focus on delving into issues arising from early life experiences.

   When it is Used: Psychodynamic therapy is useful for treating depression and serious psychological disorders, especially for clients who have lost meaning in their lives or have difficulty forming or maintaining personal relationships. Psychodynamic therapy can be effective in treating anxiety and relationship difficulties. Individuals who have the capacity to be self-reflective and who seek to obtain insight into themselves and their behavior are best suited for psychodynamic therapy.

   What to Expect: With help from the therapist, the client is encouraged to speak freely about anything that comes to mind, including current difficulties, fears, desires, dreams, and fantasies. The goal is to experience a remission of symptoms but also derive such benefits as increased self-worth, better use of a client’s own talents and abilities, and an improved capacity for developing and maintaining more satisfying relationships. The therapist may use specific techniques such word association, dream analysis, and transference analysis.

   Psychodynamic Techniques: Dream Analysis: Dream analysis uncovers repressed feelings that may be hidden in symbols that appear in the client’s dreams. The therapist helps the client discover the meaning and significance of these symbols. Word Association: In word association exercises, the client says whatever first comes to mind when the therapist says a word. The therapist then looks for and interprets patterns in the client’s responses so they can explore the meaning of these patterns together. Transference Analysis: Transference analysis explores the transfer of the client’s feelings and emotions from one person to another. For instance, the client’s repressed childhood feelings toward a parent may be transferred to a partner in an adult relationship later in life, or towards the therapist during the psychoanalytic process. This may reveal their own patterns of behavior and how to address them.

   How it Works: Psychodynamic therapy focus on helping the client in recognizing, acknowledging, understanding, expressing, and overcoming negative and contradictory feelings and repressed emotions. These are done with the goal of improving the client’s interpersonal experiences and relationships. These include helping the client understand how repressed emotions from the past affect current decision-making, behavior, and relationships. Psychodynamic therapy also aims to help clients who are aware of, and who understand the origins of their social difficulties, but are not able to overcome problems on their own. Clients learn to analyze and resolve their current difficulties, and to change their behavior in current relationships, through deep exploration and analysis of earlier experiences and emotions.

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