Psychoanalysis

Psychoanalysis is an intensive form of psychotherapy, meeting from three to five times per week. This level of intensity can provide more support, and help facilitate deeper personal work and change. Psychoanalysis is practiced less commonly now than in decades past, and it will only be practical for individuals who can invest significantly in time and other resources. We may engage in more typical once-weekly therapy, but then find that more intensive work would be beneficial and consider meeting more frequently.

Many people are unfamiliar with the term “psychoanalysis,” but if you do know the term it may suggest some outdated or negative practices. For example, a psychoanalyst/therapist who is distant and unresponsive, or takes an authoritarian stance. Traditionally the couch was used for psychoanalysis, but this is now uncommon.

I am a “candidate” in advanced standing in a local contemporary school of psychoanalysis (http://micpp.org/), with an emphasis on working in a collaborative, balanced spirit between the client and psychoanalyst. Adult attachment and interdependence with others are viewed as healthy instincts rather than failures to become sufficiently self-reliant. I maintain a focus on listening quite carefully, and suggesting but rarely pushing ideas about your life and interactions. I use a “relational” focus meaning that our relationship is an important part of the psychoanalysis process, a part that needs to be understood and maintained, and plays a key role in change.