Psychodynamic therapy vs others

I'm curious, off the top of your head, what do you think psychodynamic therapy is to you? I have been seeing a T who works in this way for a year and a half, and just had a first session with a new T, a CBT T, and she told me her thoughts on psychodynamic.

I'm wondering what it means to others? I really have nothing to compare my therapy to, except what I read here.

Let me just say the CBT T I saw said that psychodynamic Ts in general tend to work with/encourage attachment/transference and act more maternal/care-taking, then gradually start to back off on that as the client improves through therapy. I must say, she was right on in describing my T, and encouraging so much dependence/attachment and then abruptly taking it away, and having a hard time coping with that even 9 months later, is the reason behind meeting with this new T. CBT T says that T1 severely triggered my PTSD with her actions. I think I can see that as true. And my continued work with her has not helped me overcome this. My T was VERY motherly/maternal/loving, and abruptly took it all away with no warning or discussion. I'm going to, for awhile anyway, see both T's, and if I find CBT T helpful, will eventually cut back T1 to once a week (instead of twice), and if need me, eliminate her all together. I do NOT want to do this...but I need to do what's best for me, and it makes sense what CBT T said in that her actions triggered my PTSD, and I have been unable to recover from that.

CBT is a top therapy for PTSD. I cannot say I've heard the same about psychodynamic, nor has it been all that helpful in healing my PTSD in the past.

I agree that psychodynamic encourages attachment/transference. And that detaching can be really painful. CBT and especially DBT do not encourage that and instead focus on building new skills so that the client can interact with the world in a more healthy way.
IMHO everyone should have basic CBT/DBT skills. I also think that for some mental illnesses more is needed. EMDR and SE are more in depth but also do not encourage dependance. In my case, CBT/DBT are and have been very important and helpful. I am currently doing Internal Family Systems/psychodynamic and EMDR and SE. At this point I think they are all necessary-but I am reserving judgement until I am done. There certainly have been painful times for me with psychodynamic.

Thank you for the input. Really, my psychodynamic T is my first "real" therapy experience and it has been incredibly painful to me. INCREDIBLY. So, comparing the two, should I be seeing my CBT T as more businesslike...maybe even "cold" compared to my psychodynamic T?

Because of my experience with my psychodynamic T, I'm hoping I don't feel my CBT sessions being more hurtful. I've only had one session, and that was just a interview/getting to know you type session. I have my second session scheduled with her next week. My T1 doesn't know I'm doing this yet. I am just hopeful that I won't feel coldness/rejection from CBT T because of what I was used to with T1.

I do believe her when she said she believes T1's behavior triggered my PTSD/rejection response....and I'm hopeful this CBT T can help "fix" it. I see T1 twice a week. I will be seeing CBT T once per week. I'm hoping, as we get to know each other and work together, to cut T1 down to once per week. If I find CBT T helpful, I may quit with T1 all together. I'm just not ready yet. I need to feel comfortable with CBT T first, and be assured that we will work well together, and I also need to somehow reduce my attachment to T1. Even with all the hurt she has caused me, I'm still attached. She really DID encourage it. Now she's backing off. I wish I had done my research on "types" of therapy before I started. I may have never started with her to begin with. But it's too late for that....I'm hopeful that CBT T can perhaps help me move on and get back on track. It is her belief that psychodynamic therapists rely heavily on the "therapeutic relationship," and honestly, I've been focusing more on that with T1 than bettering myself. Ugh. This sucks. Merry Christmas to all who celebrate.

My T used a combination of approaches but was clearly heavily behavioral in his approaches with aspects of CBT/REBT/etc. He wasn't purely CBT, and I think that was a good thing. I'd say he was probably 60%ish or so behavior (no worksheets, no constant labeling of thought distortions -- that would have driven me batty) and the rest some form of psychodynamic and other approaches as needed to work through historical issues that were interfering in my present. Probably the aspects of therapy that I have taken with me since I've finished therapy and use every single day are those behavioral skills I learned. They are truly useful and extremely helpful in maintaining balance, managing depression and anxiety, etc.

I never found my therapist in any way cold. But he was not "motherly"/parent-like, did not foster dependence (on the contrary, he fostered independence and autonomy), never spoke of transference nor encouraged it in any way. But we had a great working relationship. We cared about one another and got along extremely well -- just none of that messy transference stuff to complicate things; therapy stayed centered on me and my goals and needs. It wasn't about our relationship. Personally, I liked that. I already have plenty relationships in my life to navigate; I didn't need another one dominating my thinking. I needed my therapy to be about my needs and goals and moving forward.

I've had two CBT Ts and one did not encourage attachment/dependency. The other did I think a little. My current T has a more eclectic approach. She is trained in CBT and EMDR. She also has a more psychodynamic approach and into depth psychology. I feel she tries to encourage attachment, but not so much dependency. I don't feel like she want me to be dependent on her. She encourages outside contact via email if I need to. I find her to be care-taking but not really motherly. I so far like her approach better than CBT so far. Like lolagrace, I feel like my T and I have a good working relationship and the talk for transference hasn't come up which is nice.

I thought CBT treated clients like they were idiots. I knew the things weren't real, if they had been real, I wouldn't have gone to see a therapist - I know how to handle real situations. But I do recognize not everyone has my response to it and if it helps, good.

The two psychodymanic ones I see don't encourage attachment as far as I can see (or perhaps they do and I just ignore it).

The problem with your first therapist is that she abruptly took certain things away instead of doing it gradually. Thus triggering any PTSD.

I guess my No. 1 is all psychodynamic (she has an alphabet-soup specialty, but it seems just a form of psychodynamic). And yes, she encouraged attachment, which I resisted.

No. 2 is clearly not into attachment but does do psychodynamic therapy as well as other approaches.

I love your posts....thank you!! I have an article I read that really helps me feel validated. I'll start a new post for it.

my t is an eclectic mix of psychodynamic, jungian depth therapy and shamanic practice. i think sometimes it must be very interesting being her. although at the moment my face is al ittle numb from the wine ihave been drinking so i may not be quite coherent ha.

Mine is not psychodynamic, but def not cbt/dbt either. I think those work well for certain people, but not all who have been through trauma. You might end up really liking the structure of it.

IMHO the therapeutic relationship is extremely overrated. Ask people on the street if they think it's a good idea to pay another person for a fake relationship that can end at any moment on a whim where all of the power is in the hands of one person. They'd look at you like you were CRAZY and tell you to run like the wind. However, psychodynamic therapy encourages exactly this and hoodwinks people into thinking that forming fake bonds in paid relationships is the way to heal IRL. Yeah, break down psychodynamic into what it really is and you'll see it's not a good thing. IMHO this mode of therapy will become outdated and antiquated. It will be looked back on as being primitive.

I have recently started seeing a psychodynamic T. My previous two Ts were CBT and ACT focussed and that helped me to an extent but I'm at the point now where I really can't deal with anymore worksheets haha. I become very attached to my previous T she did nothing to encourage this but she didn't really discourage it either. I am quite certain the reason I became so attached to her is because I don't really open up to anyone else and as a result none of my relationships have a lot of emotional depth. I know I need to work on my attachment issues and lack of openness with others so that is why I chose to see a psychodynamic T. I haven't had a chance to discuss this with her in depth yet as we have only had one session but hopefully once I explain this to her she will be able to help and not do anything "abrupt" like some of you have mentioned... I'm kind of worried now though!

I've done CBT, which was helpful in keeping me functioning in daily life for a long period of time - I saw someone for about 6 months and the skills learned were helpful. I didn't however get anywhere near the issues that were underlying my problems, I just learned how to effectively work around how I was feeling. I've not done psychodynamic but understand the focus on therapeutic relationship and how hard that can be.

I'm working with a person centred therapist where the relationship is central to the therapy. Not talking about and understanding the dynamics of the relationship but in her providing a very secure, accepting relationship for me to explore difficult stuff.

For what it's worth, I think the issues with your first therapist were caused by her very poor professional boundaries rather than the modality she uses. Her initiating between session contact and use of touch were unprofessional and aren't, to my knowledge, part of psychodynamic therapy. I hope the new T is a better, more professional fit for you.

I've tried both psychodynamic, CBT and relational psychoanalysis. In my experience, I've found all three to have positive qualities, but of the three, I was least impressed with straight on CBT. I found the glibness, the endless worksheets and that dang white eraser board a bit tiring after a while. I felt as though I was constantly being told how I should think . . . which might have been a good thing when my thinking was distorted and sluggish, but after a while, I knew how to use the skills and found myself frustrated with the constant return to the same old lecture. It became too repetitive and I needed to move on! I thought CBT was great for developing coping skills but after a while it was too superficial for me. I wanted to dig deeper into my own inner workings and that interest was been met best with psychoanalysis. That said, I realize that when I was in the depths of my depression (when I first attempted therapy), psychoanalysis wouldn't have been helpful, I wasn't ready for that deeper level of work because I was stuck in depression and having difficulty thinking. Now that I'm in a stable place mentally, I'm ready to work at that deeper level.

I don't believe that psychodynamic or psychoanalysis are going to disappear or been found to be archaic or outdated. Therapy is very individual and what works well for one person, isn't going to be the right approach for someone else. Personally, that's why it's so great that there are so many different options for people looking for therapy--it gives the consumer choices and in my book, choices are always a good thing!

The relating to each other in the 50minutr time slot had no reality? It's simply fake? Which bit? The words spoken? They're not real? The 2 People are lying to reach other?
I think people misunderstand that when 2 People meet, be a quick hello in a shop? A meeting of eyes across a crowded train, that's real. Relationship doesn't just exist within a marriage etc. Work colleagues only see each other for a certain time span. It's what goes on in that time between 2 people that makes it real.
Lack of understand is brushed of so easy as 'is fake'.

Hmmm....worksheets. I guess she did actually send me home with one, just to track my thoughts/feelings 2-3 times per day. Guess I should look forward to more, eh?

One thing I noticed during my session, she had this survey for me, asked me questions, with my answers ranging from 0-4. Some of the questions I chuckled inside about. Like do I hear voices, or do entities that do not exist tell me to do things, etc. Is that a normal survey for CBT? I really still don't have a complete understanding of all the different types of therapy out there, I actually found her, saw she was convenient, took my insurance, and saw she was CBT so I looked it up and read that it's supposed to be good therapy for PTSD.

musing, is there anyone you can get a more personal recommendation from? Landing with the first ones you find (current therapist and now this one) is less likely to get you the right therapist than doing some research and/or asking around. It's so important to find the right person in terms of fit for you, beyond their ability to schedule and take insurance.

Interesting thread. My T is psycho-dynamic and a fully trained DBT and CBT T. She weaves all of these in with each other to my benefit. I needed the attachment, warmth, etc but also am learning the CBT/DBT skills at the same time. I agree with ATAT that she didn't handle your attachment/transference properly. It's a different experience when they do. I am so sorry you had to go through that pain with your T, and hope that by seeing a new T that can hopefully handle things properly your pain will lessen. Wish you the best.

Thanks...but honestly I don't know anyone personally (in my area) who is in therapy. I'm on my own...unless I ask T1 for a referral, which I will NOT be doing. I have to go on blind faith. I did research both Ts as much as I could before I contacted them...so I didn't just go with the first ones I found. Not at all.

It's not easy to find a good T even with personal recommendation - there are lots of well meaning but out of their depth people out there. It's also hard because some of the things we wish for in therapy aren't actually that good for us when they do happen (eg too much touch, out of session contact, longer session times, lots of self disclosure by the T) because they move the boundaries which make the process safe. As hard as it's been, and I know it's been awful for you, you've learned a bit about what bad therapy looks like for you and will be much more aware.

The survey thing sounds typical for assessing and evaluating how therapy is working, she'll likely do that with you periodically. And yes CBT generally is more directive and structured and does tend to involve worksheets. That may be really good for you at this point - I'm not sure your CBT T will help much with your feelings about current T because they tend not to be trained in working with attachment or transference, and some can be quite negative about Ts who do.

You might use this one for a while and then want to try something else, it's ok to switch and swap.

Thanks.... I have my second session with her Monday morning (then see T1 Monday afternoon).... so I'm just going to give this a shot for awhile and see how she feels to me. I'm amazed how easily I talked to her.....if T1 was a fly on the wall she would have been shocked. I wonder if that's a sign that maybe things will work out. And honestly, she's the one who kept bringing up issues with T1, so it seems like she does want to focus some on that, which is ok. She said it obviously majorly triggered my PTSD. This whole year has been one big trigger after another. Thanks to all who've helped me through it here on PC.

This is what my uni therapist has been doing to me, and now that I'm really thinking about it, it's sort of unsettling. When did I ask for that? I did not ask for a psychotherapist-mentor so I could feel an agonising and upsetting amount of love for someone who sees me as their job.

Sorry. I misunderstood. I though you'd said a while back that the therapist you've been seeing was the first one you looked up and called. I completely understand that you would not ask her for a referral. I got a referral to the one I see now from one that I interviewed on the phone who was unable to take on more clients, and that one had come from a colleague's recommendation. It is hard if you know zero people to ask.