Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy

Psychotherapy has been concisely described as the 'talking cure'. Speaking about ourselves, how we see the world and how we experience its impact on us, this kind of talking, where we have space to get into the details, get upset, angry and curious can be powerful. The space to take up all the room with the worries of our mind is rare but it is here that we can lay out our troubles and assess them. Pick apart new ways of looking, untangle what it is we really want and how we can set our aims a little more in line with our values and ideals.
This is not like speaking to a friend, partner or family member; a psychotherapist is trained to listen in a very specific way, they have an understanding of how the mind works, how an individual develops and the myriad factors that can shape a person's internal and external experiences. A therapist is also trained to listen objectively, to hear your words without judgement and to support you in this work. 

Sometimes we are drawn to behaviors or patterns that seem to make no sense or we experience an emotional response to an event, or sudden memory that feels irrational. Though we feel certain we know everything about ourselves we are simply and sometimes frustratingly 'not the master of our own house'. This can certainly result in feeling anxiety and/or depression.

A psychoanalytic psychotherapist will listen for the unconscious parts of the story, the pieces of the puzzle we can’t quite see or the threads of our story we are disconnected from. Once a clearer picture is possible we can see which parts no longer serve our life and our selves, which behaviours may have been useful at one time but now get in the way of our progress.