Psychodynamic counselling

Psychodynamic theory comes from Sigmund Freud, who believed we have a conscious mind and an unconscious mind. Our unconscious mind can contain processes that we are not aware of such as desires, urges and defences. Freud also believed some of our behaviours are formed by our feelings and needs which can also be unconscious.

Psychodynamic counselling works to understand how our past experiences, especially those from our childhood have an impact on where we are currently in our life. Some patterns and behaviours can stem from when we were young and we may consciously and unconsciously still be acting them out. Psychodynamic counselling helps us notice these behaviours and explore if they are supporting us.

Patterns we inherit from when we were young can have an impact on our relationships. Our early relationships, for example with our parents or carers, navigate our relationships with others. In psychodynamic counselling, we look at our early relationships to determine whether we are acting out patterns from our early life as well as recognising what needs our current relationships are fulfilling.

What our sessions may look like

When discussing areas of your life, we may work together to understand how you felt and how a situation may have impacted you.

Here we will also recognise responses and behaviours you took on to navigate yourself. We may look at your responses and behaviours to explore where these reactions have come from, whether they were from a place of defending yourself, making sure you are safe, from a place where you have seen a person respond or have been taught to respond in a similar way.

Other areas we may explore include the relationships in your life, how fulfilling and impactful they are for you, what needs they satisfy, and the roles you play within them.