psychodynamic therapy

[peanutbrittle]

anyone have any experience of psychodynamic therapy?

I was at my Gps this morning upping my dose of citalopram

am having a rocky time in my marriage and with my kids and the couples counsellor I saw last week suggested I possibly need counselling on my own to help me decide as an individual where I want things to go

I talked to the GP about this and he suggested PDT although he said can be very intense and you can feel much worse before you feel better

things at home have been very tense and my eldest DD is suffering as a result I think, she is exhibiting signs of stress herself and the whole situation is making me feel guilty and fairly crap all round really, which on top of my general depression and relationship problems is starting to take its' toll

anyway, just wondered if anyone has been through psycho dynamic therapy and whether you found it useful?

am a regular poster btw - name changer (as am feeling a bit nuts and very brittle, like I might just break into a million pieces, right now!)

I've not been through it, but I work in a mental health setting. I agree with your GPs comment about the intensity - you would normally have at least weekly sessions. I wouldn't say necessarily that it would make things worse before it gets better, but the whole idea is that anything you've been avoiding/repressing/burying in some way will get unpacked and dealt with. So if there are some issues you're not ready to tackle, you need to think about whether the timing is right.

Although timing can be difficult if you are hoping to get therapy on the NHS, as the waits can be quite long, depending on the area.

It is in my opinion a very holistic kind of therapy though, and well worth doing if you can set aside both the time and the headspace.

thanks paddington
thing is, while there is stuff in my past I'd have thought I have already analysed it to death myself - what I am interested in now is moving forward, whether with or without my husband, to a more positive life for me and the kids

will it help me to make decisions about now, and the future, or will it just have me mulling over the past even more?

I don't think there is anything in my past I am not ready to face, it's just, as I say, I'm keen to move on

but maybe there is stuff that hasn't really been dealt with but that informs my weird cycles and behaviour now, and dealing with that might be the key to moving forward

oh I don't know, is it all just self indulgent twaddlle or will it perform a concrete good?

am interested you see it as a holistic therapy, that floats my boats - how do you think it is so?

Depending on how referrals work in your area your GP may not be able to decide what type of thherapy you are offered, so even though they have mentioned psychodynamic, that might not be what you are eventually offered.

You might find it worthwhile to ask for a referral for assesment by a psychotherapist who could then advise you on what therapy type they feel would suit you best.

interpersonal therapy and cognitive behaviour therapy are generally more here-and-now than psychodynamic psychotherapy.

"but maybe there is stuff that hasn't really been dealt with but that informs my weird cycles and behaviour now, and dealing with that might be the key to moving forward"

PDT, as I understand it, works exactly on this theory that your past, and patterns of emotional behaviour learned through family, inform and to some extent control how we react now. It may be that the men in a family absent themselves from conflict, for example. That sort of behaviour will be familiar, therefore predictable to you, but you also limiting, as it seems normal. By looking at your past and your reactions to events, you can identify patterns and how they affect you.

My understanding too (from an introductory course, a lot longer ago than I care to remember is that it can make you feel worse for a while - it's like taking the legs off a table and looking at them one at a time. You will feel wobbly for a while, but will be replacing them with stronger legs!

I found the ideas on the course very convincing. I can see how CBT is also appealing as it doesn't dig around in your past, but helps you move forward in a more immediate way. Having considered counselling myself, (but never actually got there) I felt that PDT would be better for me, because I would want to get back to root causes, before I moved forward. I'm that kind of person.

I heard recently on Radio 4 that PDT and CBT are both effective in treating depression, although GPs are tending to recommend CBT because it tends to work out cheaper. They did say that PDT would be much more effective for some people - but didn't specify who!

HTH.

PB - I think it is more holistic as the more cognitively based therapies tend to focus on things in a more discrete fashion eg if you are rowing with you partner therapy may focus on spotting patterns in rows, and analysing and changing your reactions to your partners behaviour. everything is directed towards the here and now.

Psychodynamic therapies can involve looking back through your past, spotting patterns from family relationships, and looking at whether issues from the past are affecting you in the present. So problems are addressed both from a here and now, and a historical angle. That's sort of what I mean by it being more holistic.

TBH I think people are drawn more to certain models of therapy, and that it's worth researching a few to see which sort fits in most with the way you see the world. I tend more towards the psychodynamic/CAT model of thinking, but have worked alongside diehard CBTers who see great success in their work.

thanks 27 and NQGU ( great name - sums me up too!)

the GP seemed to think he could refer me direct for PDT. I had actually mentioned CBT to him and he said, after we spoke more, that he thought PDT woud be better for me. He reckons I am reflective (good god do I over think things?!) enough and have already articulated behavioural issues that I am actively working on changing without the guidance of CBT (though I am not completely convinced that's a valid reason to discount it - I lose my temper with the kids for example - I know I do this and I try to predict the situations in which it is going to happen and anable a different reaction - but I often surprise myself by thinking I am doing well and then the following instant, with no predictors, just blowing my top - HATE it)

I've suffered long term anorexia and bulimia that was never really dealt with (except by me, I am ok with eating at least now), nor were the underlying causes, there may have been issues with my (late and dearly missed) mother that contributed to the eating disorders as I think she was an undiagnosed depressive. My daughter (aged 6) is beginning to show signs of depression and self harming/loathing (not all the time, often she is a happy girl) which as you can imagine is freaking me out. I need to change something in order to protect her. She is intense and very sensitive, as I guess I probably was at that age, and I worry my behavioral patterns and stress etc are affecting her badly.

AARRRGH!

x posts PB - that actually sounds very helpful, thank you - what, may I ask, is CAT?

I'll be doing this on the NHS so I may have limitations on what I can actively request

It sounds as if you would be a perfect candidate for psychodymanic therapy - it will really help recognise why you bahave the way you do and help you change your behaviour.

You do have to work hard at it, but for me my life changed - I could understand exactly why I was behaving in a certain way and my relationships have really benefited from the therapy. It was almost like someone had turned a light on and I could make the connections from my past and see how it worked in the present iyswim.

Go for it if you feel the time is right which it sounds as if it is especially if it helps to reassure you that you won't be projecting any behaviour patterns and stresses onto your dd.

CAT is cognitive analytic therapy. It is informed by psychodynamic theories, but the therapy is delivered in a more structured, time limited way, and uses CBT techniques to address problems in the here and now, once analytic techniques have been used to unpak them, IYSWIM. Best of both, for some people. And actually quite prevalent in treating eating disorders.

BTW - you may find that if you are seen on the NHS they limit the number of sessions to 8 unless they can make a case for increasing the number of sessions.

You may be better finding at private counsellor who will be able to offer open-ended counselling. There are also a number of charities who offer low cost counselling if you can't afford to pay full private fees.

I had five years of NHS psychodynamic therapy. It was interesting and supportive but it didn't change me or help me in the long term.

If you are a reflective person the danger is that you will enjoy the intellectual element and disengage everything biu your intellect from the proceedings. That's what I did to some extend.

Also your GP is right about the unsettling, worse-before-better element.

I self-harmed quite seriously during my period of therapy. I honestly think I would be without those scars now if I had not had therapy. (though I might possibly be dead, on the downside)

Oh and if you do go, get someone else to drive you there, or take a bus. I remember them mentioning that a significant proportion of people leave the session thinking deeply about what has been raised and tend not to concentrate well on driving home safely!!

CAT sounds interesting . . . .

I have an old friend who recovered very successfully from eating disorders, and who went through a lot of counselling (I think PDT, but I know she went onto train as a counsellor too). I could look out her email and ask her what she thinks of the different therapies available, if you would like me to.

(Actually I think it was described to me as 'analytical psychotherapy'. Is that the same as 'psychodynamic therapy'?)

thanks guys

CAT does sound very interesting actually, I will ask about that

otherwise PDT is sounding more interesting after hearing your experiences

threadworrm I'm sorry to hear you found it unhelpful in the end (but glad it helped you avoid death )

missisboot your experience sounds very positive and what you said about helping "to reassure you that you won't be projecting any behaviour patterns and stresses onto your dd" is exactly what I need. That is my biggest corcern and source of overwhelming stress at the moment

teh Gp said it was likely to be once a week for about 6 - 9 months, does that sound a reasonable tim eto get stuck in?

NQGU - would be great if you could ask your friend...funnily enough the more of this sort of thing I experience the more drawn I become to becoming a counsellor myself - I wonder if that is common? I would love to try to help young kids with eating disorders, it's such a crap experience to have when you should be out having fun

Yes - it'll make you understand why you behave the way you do and help you to stop. I uncovered things that now and so obvious but I had to go through the process to gain an understanding myself iyswim.

Sounds as if your GP is going to refer you to your psychotherapy dept rather than a gp based counsellor which is great - 6-9 months will be long enough to find out if its right for you - they should review your progress along the way.

Lots of people become counsellors after going through personal issues - a prerequisite of accreditation is that you have been through a certain number of years psychotherapy yourself which is very important as you would them not transfer any issues onto any clients.

Why did I learn nothing, nothing, from it? I have seen other people change, and from this thread I see that change is possible. But I just seem to be immovable

Go for it peanut, nothing ventured nothing gained.

I had it on the NHS too. It was very intense, btu boy, was it worth it for me.
Yes, things can get tough for a while, but things sounds like they are tough for you anyway.

I am glad to hear someone is being offered this rather than the, in my view, utterly useless and temporary fix that is CBT.

Btw, I had sever anorexia and depression. I wouldn't still be here if I hadn't had the therapy.

SOrry, severe!

thanks nickey, threadw and missisB - I think I will go for it. I'm feeling more up already at the thought that there may someday be light at the end of the tunnel, whereas two weeks ago I was in despair, thinking there would never be any change and that I had put this on my DD1's shoulders too, which seemed like an unfair and heavy burden for a six yo

I reckon I am ready for some intensity, things are intense enough as it is and I need a new way of dealing with/looking at things/moving into the future

god, sounds like I am all doom and gloom - not so - most people I know would never ever guess I feel like this: while not exactly life and soul of things I am fairly sociable and outgoing and look as though I can cope. Ironic isn't it? Is that normal too? I guess it must be