Who is psychoanalytic psychotherapy for?
Psychoanalytic psychotherapy provides an effective treatment for a range of psychological disorders, both as a treatment in its own right and as an adjunct to other forms of treatment. It can contribute significantly to a person’s mental and physical health, to their sense of well-being and to their ability to manage their lives more effectively.
Sometimes people seek help for specific reasons such as psycho-somatic conditions, obsessional behaviours, or phobic anxieties.
At other times help is sought because of more general underlying feelings of depression or anxiety, difficulties in concentrating, dissatisfaction in work or inability to form satisfactory relationships. It can benefit adults, children, and adolescents.Whether psychoanalytic psychotherapy is the treatment of choice for a particular individual or couple depends on a variety of factors. It is often helpful to have one or more preliminary consultations with an experienced psychotherapist before deciding whether psychoanalytic psychotherapy is an appropriate treatment for the person concerned. Occasionally, the treatment might be of short duration but generally speaking psychoanalytic psychotherapy is best considered as a long-term treatment involving considerable commitment for both patient and therapist.