What is psychodynamic counselling?

There are several different theoretical approaches to counselling. Each of these have their place and each client will resonate more or less with the approach used by the clinician.

Psychodynamic counselling looks to find out the root cause of what ails you today by looking at what happened to you earlier in life to shape your beliefs, defenses and overall view of the world. Whilst looking at your history, there will likely be an emphasis on formative experiences. This is because when we are young, we form a view of the world based on our experiences. So if we have a loving and emotionally regulated family life, we are likely to see the world as a safe place to explore. However if we have grown up in a family where there is very little emotional regulation and we are maybe neglected or abused, we are likely to see the world as an unsafe place to explore. We may then develop coping mechanisms to help us to feel safer. These may serve us well while we are in that situation, but often we don’t let go of these behaviours when we are in a safer space. These go on to become maladaptive because they are inappropriate for our current relationships. Through exploration of these unconscious behaviours, we can bring these into conscious awareness allowing us to adapt our behaviour to be more aligned with our life as it is in the present.

I am trained as a psychodynamic counsellor based in Kings Hill, Kent. I draw on training in DBT, CBT, EMDR and Flash Technique and I like to think of my variety of training as a toolkit from which to draw upon the resources that will best suit each client I see. Ultimately, it has been shown that the most important factor for successful therapy is the relationship you create with your therapist. As such, taking time to choose the therapist you feel you can speak to openly and create a bond with is really important.

If you would like to have a brief discussion about whether counselling with me might suit you, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with me to arrange an initial consultation.