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Psychodynamic Therapy

Psychodynamic Therapy for Mental Health Issues

Every day, our actions are influenced by unconscious thoughts and feelings. Psychodynamic therapy provides the tools to understand these unconscious factors and use them to better our life.

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Signs and symptoms

How Can Psychodynamic Therapy Help?

Psychodynamic Therapy focuses on how our unconscious thoughts and biases influence our behavior enable it to address issues such as:
  • Therapeutic relationship

  • Regression

  • Free association

  • Dream interpretation

  • Interpretive intervention

  • Insights

  • Reduction of defense mechanisms

  • Countertransference

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Self-exploration with Psychodynamic therapy

Self-exploration with Psychodynamic therapy

Researchers estimate 95% of our brain's activity is unconscious. This means much of our behavior and choices are informed by unconscious thoughts, biases, and emotions. In order to understand ourselves, why we do things, and how to live in a way that is authentic, we have to understand our unconscious. Psychodynamic therapy encourages deep self-exploration that can uproot unhealthy thought patterns and biases and inform how we behave.

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Internal Barriers & conflicts

Internal Barriers & conflicts

The Psychodynamic theory teaches of the Id, Ego, and Superego of our self, which can create internal conflicts and barriers to our happiness. The Id is the primal, impulsive part of our brain driven by survival and pleasure. The Superego is the part of our brain that is concerned with values and morals. And the Ego is the conscious part of our personality that mediates between the two. However, it's a lot of work trying to understand and meet the needs of the ego and the superego at the same time. Psychodynamic therapy teaches us how to understand our unconscious needs and how we can meet them while still striving for our conscious goals.

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Manage childhood trauma with Psychodynamic therapy

Manage childhood trauma with Psychodynamic therapy

Childhood trauma can leave long-lasting, influential, and unconscious scars on our mind. Some people may not fully remember childhood trauma, because the brain has locked the memories away to save itself the pain of remembering. Others are aware of and actively trying to work through their childhood trauma, but find that the impact of that trauma stretches deep in their unconscious thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and decision making. Psychodynamic therapy acknowledges the impact childhood has on our adult personality and mental health, and seeks to heal any traumatic scars that it left.

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Ego Psychology

Ego Psychology

Ego psychology teaches that just as there is a rich external reality that we can draw from to better ourselves and our lives, we each have a rich internal world that has the resources to aid us in personal development, healing, and growth. Therapists who practice Ego Psychology believe that we need to understand and strengthen our inner self by interacting consciously with both our external and internal worlds. They recommend empowering the inner self thorugh self-reflection, introspection, mindfulness, journaling, and talking to a Psychodynamic therapist.
According to some theorists, the ego is developed independently and without intrapsychic struggle.

They thought that humans, too had a need to discover and shape their surroundings. Ego psychology holds that a person's reality and environment have a significant role in their growth.

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Interpersonal relationship- Psychodynamic therapy

Interpersonal relationship- Psychodynamic therapy

Our social interactions have a big influence on the inner worlds of our thoughts, emotions and beliefs. We are especially influenced by those close to us—our parents, family, friends, and coworkers. This influence can be positive or negative. Some people, however, have a hard time differentiating where the relationship ends and where their own identity begins. Psychodynamic therapy for interpersonal relationships help you maintain a strong sense of self while engaging in healthy relationships.

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Emotional assessment- Psychodynamic therapy

Emotional assessment- Psychodynamic therapy

Intense emotions live in our unconscious. Sometimes, we aren't even aware of the depth of our emotions until they come spewing out in unhealthy ways. Psychodynamic therapy does the work of deeply exploring our history and processing the intense emotions associated with our memories. Many people fid it difficult to go this deep into their emotions, but with the help of a psychodynamic therapist, they are able to do that and more—the work of processing and relinquishing deeply held emotions for greater emotional health and freedom.

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Meet Our Experienced Psychodynamic Therapist

Receive comprehensive care from our team of skilled psychodynamic therapists who specialize in addressing various mental health concerns and disorders. Your path to a brighter future begins now!
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Psychodynamic Therapy & Processes

Believe you can and you're halfway there. Our psychodynamic therapist will create a plan to help you heal.

Transference Approach

In therapy, transference is when you project your feelings about someone onto your therapist. For example, if you're exploring your relationship with your mom, which involves many angry feelings, you might transfer that anger towards your therapist. This happens naturally in many relationships and is not always a sign of a mental health problem. Psychodynamic therapists can use this transference to understand their client's unconscious processes better.

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Free Association Approach

Free association is used to connect separate ideas that would have otherwise been overlooked. Through Free association, we can glean insight into how our unconscious operates. To do so, a Psychodynamic therapist might ask a client to write down or talk freely about anything that comes to mind. It might be jumbled, unintelligent, or seem to leap between topics, but it will help you and your therapist understand your unconscious patterns.

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Dream Analysis approach

Another staple of psychodynamic therapy is dream analysis. Dream analysis has been used by modern-day psychodynamic therapists in person-centered therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, and Gestalt therapy (Gestalt therapy holds the idea that dreams are messages a person delivers to themselves).

Dreams can often give us hints as to what is happening in our unconscious. By analyzing our dreams, a psychodynamic therapist can guide the therapy session in the right direction.

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Acceptance Approach

Denial is a form of self-defense. If an emotion, thought, or memory is too painful or uncomfortable, someone may reject the truth of it to keep themselves emotionally safe.

Learning how to accept the good and the bad of our true selves unlocks self-compassion and understanding, which can foster positive growth forward. The acceptance approach of Psychodynamic therapy teaches that no part of you is completely good or bad, but instead a complex working of thoughts, memories, and emotions.

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Regression Approach

When a thought, memory, or emotion is too painful for a person to handle, they unconsciously push it out of their consciousness and lose awareness of it. This act is called regression, and can impede on our mental health. A psychodynamic therapist can undo the regression by shining a light on these unconscious emotions and working through them.

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Rationalization Approach

When we rationalize a situation, we avoid feeling guilty and losing self-respect by removing our accountability from the situation. Although everyone will rationalize their behavior sometimes, it becomes damaging to mental health when they do so frequently or continually justify hazardous or unsafe behavior, a behavior known as chronic self-deception. A psychodynamic therapist at Lifebulb will help you take accountability for actions and strive to make positive changes to your mental health.

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Psychodynamic Therapy & Processes
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How It Works

We aim to create an inclusive space for you to talk and find the right support system.

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Book Your Online/In-person Therapy Session

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Get Matched With An Experienced Psychodynamic therapist

Connect with your therapist as they strive to deliver holistic care and personalized treatment plans tailored to meet your individual needs.

Online Therapy

Experience a virtual psychodynamic therapy session addressing your mental health challenges conveniently from your home. Our therapists offer comprehensive support to tackle addiction and guide you towards recovery.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Our Therapists | Insurance Coverage | Services Offered | Privacy

 We welcome major commercial insurance plans for short-term psychodynamic therapy, such as Aetna, AmeriHealth, Cigna, Optum Health, United Healthcare, Tricare, and more. If you don't see your insurance listed, we're happy to check your benefits to determine if we can accommodate them. If not, we provide an affordable self-pay option.

 At Lifebulb, we do not impose any recurring memberships or fees. We believe that everyone should have access to top-quality online psychodynamic therapy without the burden of ongoing out-of-pocket expenses solely for participating in therapy. With us, your only costs for psychodynamic treatment sessions will be those determined by your insurance provider or our affordable self-pay rate.

 While numerous practices exclusively cater to self-pay clients or out-of-network benefits, at Lifebulb, we strive to minimize your expenses by accepting the majority of major insurance plans. Typically, the out-of-pocket cost for each online psychodynamic therapy session is a modest copay determined by your particular insurance provider and plan. Additionally, we provide a self-pay rate that is often lower than many practices for individuals without insurance or those who prefer not to utilize their healthcare benefits for in-person or virtual therapy.

 At Lifebulb, we maintain stringent standards when selecting individuals to assist you in reaching your psychodynamic therapy objectives. However, we recognize that not all nearby psychodynamic therapy options may be an ideal fit for every client. If your experience with psychodynamic therapy falls short of your expectations, we are here to assist you in transitioning to a therapist who better suits your preferences.

 We are committed to safeguarding your privacy. Lifebulb operates as a covered entity in accordance with HIPAA guidelines, ensuring compliance with all relevant rules and regulations. If you have any inquiries or suggestions regarding our privacy and security protocols, please don't hesitate to reach out to us at privacy@lifebulb.com.

 When therapists aren't satisfied with their workplace, they may struggle to offer clients optimal counseling and psychodynamic therapy. At Lifebulb, we prioritize the well-being of our psychodynamic disorder therapists. This ensures that your counselor or therapist can deliver the most effective treatments for psychodynamic therapy in your area because they find fulfillment in their work, their session with you, and their colleagues.

 Our online psychodynamic therapy sessions are exclusively facilitated by our therapist to support local psychodynamic therapy in private environments. Additionally, our video platform operates within our HIPAA-compliant Electronic Health Records system, ensuring the privacy and protection of your face, voice, and data at all times.

Lifebulb is considered a covered entity under HIPAA guidelines, which means we are subject to all HIPAA rules and regulations. If you have any questions (or recommendations) about our privacy and security practices, we want to help. Contact us at privacy@lifebulb.com.

 At Lifebulb, our differentiating factor lies in our approach to therapists. Unlike many practices, where business growth often takes precedence over personal growth, we prioritize our psychodynamic disorder therapists as valuable individuals providing invaluable services. What does this mean for our clients? While we believe that therapists and counselors, regardless of their workplace, strive to do their best for their clients, we've observed that psychodynamic disorder therapists who genuinely enjoy their work environment are better equipped to offer effective brief psychodynamic therapy. Therefore, our main objective at Lifebulb is to create the best possible working environment for our therapists. By doing so, we ensure that Lifebulb clients are optimally positioned to achieve their psychodynamic therapy goals, whether through in-person counseling or virtual therapy sessions.

 At Lifebulb, we prioritize careful selection when hiring therapists because finding the right match can significantly impact our clients' progress toward their goals. Our psychodynamic disorder therapists hold master's degrees or higher and undergo extensive hands-on training before attaining full clinical licensure. Even within our pool of highly trained professionals, we choose to collaborate only with those who share our core values. This ensures that your psychodynamic disorder therapist is committed to going the extra mile to assist you and provide the highest quality online or in-person brief psychodynamic therapy.

 Lifebulb offers psychodynamic therapy at multiple locations for in-person counseling, with new locations added regularly. Additionally, we provide telehealth or online sessions to help individuals who are unable to access our offices due to distance.

 All our counselors undergo extensive education and training, earning their full clinical licensure in counseling practice. Moreover, we conduct thorough interviews, background checks, and in-house training for each therapist joining our team. Furthermore, we prioritize ongoing education for all our counselors and psychodynamic therapy therapists to ensure they continue delivering the highest quality in-person and online psychodynamic therapy near me services.

 Our priority is ensuring that our clients find the best possible match with our psychodynamic therapy near me therapists to suit their specific needs. That's why we offer detailed bios of our therapists for clients to review before reaching out to us. If you have a particular psychodynamic therapy therapist in mind, we're happy to schedule your sessions with them. We also recognize that perfect matches don't always happen, and if you find the fit isn't ideal, we'll assist you in finding the right match from our team. If necessary, we'll provide a referral to someone outside our practice who can better address your needs.

 We hire licensed clinical psychologists because they can provide services like top-notch online psychodynamic treatment and psychological testing, which many other types of licenses cannot offer. Frequently, your counselor or psychodynamic therapy therapist collaborates with a psychologist to deliver therapy and psychological testing when needed, ensuring we meet your specific needs or goals more effectively. This approach allows us to cater to a wider range of your needs.

 A professional counselor is a mental health expert with a master's or PhD degree, authorized by a state licensure board to diagnose and address mental health conditions. The specific title of a professional counselor's license may differ depending on the state, but some common ones include Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC), Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC), and Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor (LPCC).

Psychodynamic therapy is a type of psychotherapy that focuses on the unconscious psychological processes that influence an individual's ideas, feelings, and behaviors. It involves looking into the patient's past experiences, uncovering hidden thoughts, feelings, and motivations, prioritizing the therapeutic relationship between the therapist and the patient, emphasizing emotional expression, and providing interpretations and insights into the patient's thoughts, behavior, and emotions. With the help of these components, psychodynamic therapy seeks to promote a better comprehension of a person's psychological functions, resulting in constructive modifications to behavior and interpersonal interactions.

Although Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and psychodynamic therapy are two forms of psychotherapy, they have distinct theoretical principles and treatment objectives. CBT is focused on the present, goal-oriented, and aims to assist individuals in identifying and modifying negative patterns of thought and behavior. Conversely, psychodynamic therapy is centered on the influence of unconscious thoughts and emotions in shaping behavior and relationships. Both approaches strive to promote self-awareness and resolve emotional conflicts and issues, albeit using different methods.

Psychodynamic therapy involves three main stages:

  • Exploration,
  • Insight, and
  • Resolution

There are various approaches to treating mental health issues, all under psychotherapy's umbrella. Psychodynamic therapy is a specific type of psychotherapy that centers on past experiences and unconscious processes that affect a person's emotions, thoughts, and behavior. Through psychodynamic therapy, clients can understand their hidden motivations and cultivate novel ways of thinking, feeling, and behaving. It's essential to acknowledge that psychodynamic therapy is just one among the many psychotherapeutic approaches that can be helpful in treating mental health issues.

Psychodynamic theory suggests that people can experience six core problems due to unresolved conflicts, such as:

  • Repressed emotions
  • Grief and loss
  • Identity issues
  • Intimacy issues
  • Self-destructive behavior

Psychodynamic Therapy aims to help individuals understand and work through these core problems, leading to greater self-awareness and improved mental health.

Lifebulb therapists and counselors specialized in providing in-person or online psychodynamic therapy, counseling, care, and treatment for a wide variety of mental healthcare needs and issues, including, but not limited to, anxiety, depression, grief & loss, trauma, PTSD, couples counseling, marriage counseling, life transitions, adjustment disorders, bipolar, schizophrenia, eating disorders, child counseling, teen and adolescent therapy, anger management, career coaching, life coaching, ADHD treatment, family therapy, panic, phobias, substance abuse, virtual therapy, online counseling, EMDR, EFT, and many more.

Your first session with a Lifebulb psychodynamic therapy therapist or counselor will be something other than a background or demographic information-gathering session. We know deciding to get help is a significant and challenging step. That's why our first offline or online psychodynamic treatment session with you will be about providing you with the service you're seeking and proving that the therapy process can work with the right effort and commitment from both sides.

We believe accessing a psychodynamic therapy therapist or counselor should be quick and easy. So our process is straightforward. Simply browse our therapists' bios to find the right fit for you and schedule a virtual counseling or in-person counseling session online. Or call our office, and a team member can help ensure you're matched with the right psychodynamic therapy therapist or counselor for you and your goals. Whether online psychodynamic therapy or offline therapy, your therapist will help you with an individualized psychodynamic treatment plan to help you reach your specific goals.

If you are experiencing an emergency right now, please call 911 immediately. While Lifebulb is not a crisis center and Lifebulb psychodynamic therapy therapist and counselors are not emergency services, we understand that urgent matters can and will pop up from time to time. You will have direct email and phone access to your therapist or psychodynamic therapy near me, who will make their best effort to be available to you when you reach out. Depending on your specific psychodynamic therapy plan, your brief psychodynamic therapy may provide you with resources to use or contact when situations occur beyond the scope of your online or offline therapy work together.

When you book a session with your therapist or counselor, our team will email you a confirmation of your appointment date and time with a link to the virtual psychodynamic therapy room. Click the link and log in to the virtual therapy room a few minutes before your session, and your brief psychodynamic therapy therapist will meet you there.

Yes. All of our therapists are able to provide the best online psychodynamic therapy and psychodynamic therapy near me services to our clients.

We use a HIPAA-compliant video counseling service integrated into our Electronic Health Records System to provide a smooth process for our clients to engage in online psychodynamic therapy sessions. Booking a session with us is easy. Simply call our office or request a specific session time from our website, and a team member can book you with the best possible fit as a psychodynamic disorder therapist or confirm your online session details. We'll review insurance information and a few simple policies and email you a confirmation of your session date and time, whether in-person or virtual therapy.

Booking a session with us is easy and flexible, with several options. You can call our office, and a team member can book you with the best fit-in therapist. We'll review insurance information and a few simple policies and email you a confirmation of your session date and time, whether in-person or virtual. Or you can select your ideal psychodynamic therapy therapist from our website, select a session time that works for you, and we'll contact you to confirm your appointment details.

We have a flexible cancellation policy. Call our office or contact your counselor or psychodynamic approach to therapy 24 hours or more before your online psychodynamic therapy session time to cancel or reschedule any appointment at no cost.

Psychodynamic therapy is often a long-term process that can help improve overall mental health. It has been demonstrated that therapy can enhance feelings and behaviors and is associated with healthy adjustments to the brain and body. There is never a guaranteed "cure," but therapy helps make positive lifestyle changes.

We have a flexible psychodynamic therapy cancellation policy. Call our office or contact your counselor 24 hours or more before your session time to cancel or reschedule an in-person or virtual therapy appointment.

Our Resources

Look over our expansive list of carefully curated resources to learn about addictive disorders.