What Happens in Psychodynamic Therapy?

You're thinking about booking your first therapy session and may be hovering over the "get in touch" button wondering what might be on the other side if you click. It is totally normal to have a swirl of questions such as "Will I have to lie on a couch?", "Do I need to have experienced trauma to qualify?" or "What if I cry?". You're not the first person to have thought this.

Psychodynamic therapy isn't about fixing you. It's about getting to know the deeper, often hidden parts of yourself. The parts that were shaped by your early experiences and relationships. The feelings you have learned to silence. The stories you've told yourself about who you are and what you deserve.

What Happens in the Room?

The short answer; we talk, I mean, really talk. You might start with what's bothering you in the here and now or you might not know where to start at all. Over time, the space becomes somewhere you can speak freely with no script and without judgement.

Sometimes we'll make links between your past and your present. Sometimes we'll notice patterns; how you relate to others, how you treat yourself or how certain emotions or behaviours repeat. Together we'll explore them to help understand you.

What if I Get Emotional?

You might and that's OK. The therapy room is one of the few places in life where you don't have to hold it all together. You can cry, feel awkward, sit in silence and sometimes we even laugh. You don't need to bring the polished, well-behaved parts of yourself and you don't need to be a "perfect" client.

What is the Goal?

The goal isn't to be happy all the time. That would be unrealistic and unachievable. It's to become more fully yourself, to understand why you feel what you feel and let go of patterns and behaviours that are no longer serving you. Therapy can help you feel more connected, more real and more in control of how you live and love.

In brief:

• You don't have to know what to say

• You don't have to be "sick" enough

• You don't have to do it alone

  
  

Therapy is your space to tell your story and find your authentic self.