It is a type of talking therapy, the modern version of psychoanalysis. It is based on the idea that talking to a professional can help people find emotional relief and insight into their own life. Through working with your therapist, clients can better understand both conscious and unconscious motivations that sometimes influence how they think, feel, and respond to situations.

By better understanding yourself and what influences your experience, you will be better equipped to (1) recognise ongoing patterns when they happen and realise their root; (2) manage conflictive situations, mindfully decide what you need, and communicate this assertively; (3) work on your relationships with other people and move towards feeling secure in them.

Therapy can last anywhere from a few sessions to several months or even years.

It is your choice.

It all depends on what you want and need, on the issue you are bringing to work on, and on how deeply you want to go into yourself and your inner processes.

Normally, when a therapist and a client decide to work together, they agree to engage for an initial period, which is usually between 6 to 10 sessions. After that, it is time to assess how therapy is working, and for the client to decide whether they would like to continue in therapy or work towards an ending.

Psychodynamic therapy is generally open-ended. This means that there is no specific limit to the number of sessions you can have, and the idea is to regularly assess needs, wants, and benefits of being in therapy to be able to make an informed decision about when is appropriate to end. Your therapist will support you in making this choice.

But, just to give you an idea, a form of psychodynamic therapy called ‘Brief psychodynamic therapy’ is designed to be shorter as people initially determine a particular emotional area in which they would like to focus on. This may last between 20 to 30 sessions. Long-term psychodynamic therapy may take a year or longer and involve 50 or more therapy sessions.

We would spend time reflecting on how you’re feeling in comparison to when you started this process. The idea is that you know yourself better than anyone, and you will be able to assess this as time passes by. To support you in this process, we use two different outcome measures – questionnaires – called GAD-7 and PHQ-9. PHQ-9 and GAD-7 are designed to facilitate the recognition and severity of depressive symptoms and anxiety symptoms, respectively. These are the national standard measures routinely used by GP’s, therapists, and psychiatrists as screening tools. Screening questionnaires essentially indicate suspicion of disease, often used in combination with other risk factors that warrants confirmation.

By using these questionnaires, we can understand the severity of anxiety and depressive symptoms and monitor change over time by completing them on a regular basis.

Anyone can benefit form psychodynamic therapy. It is true, though, that people who are self-reflective, and whose motivation is to obtain insight into themselves and their behaviour, are best suited for this specific type of therapy. If you do not have a particular interest in talking about your life history, and you prefer to follow a particular program based on a specific problem, you may benefit more from therapies such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT).

There are many ways of working or 'modalities' in therapy; you need to find the one that works best for you. But bear in mind that your relationship with your therapist is usually more significant than the approach they use.

You may at times find this process very difficult and feel the need to end therapy before the agreed time or when your therapist has not recommended this yet. Or maybe you are not finding it helpful, or you have not connected with your therapist. That’s ok.

It is important to remember that you can terminate therapy without further cost at any time you wish, as it is your right to do so.

If thoughts about wanting to abruptly end therapy arise, please do try to communicate this to your therapist. They will understand.

Bear in mind it is advised to use 2 to 3 sessions before bringing therapy to an end. This allows time to explore themes and feelings that might shed some light on your therapeutic experience, your personal circumstances, and it will provide a more contained and safe ending experience for you.

Fees will be agreed with each individual client before the commencement of therapy. Therapy fee is £70 per session. There are limited Student/Low income concessions available, this can be addressed in our initial call.

Payment should be made before each session. It is possible to do this via Banker’s Automated Clearing System (BACS) – in other words, a bank transfer.