Psychoanalysis

Psychoanalysis is based on the observation that people are unaware of many of the factors that determine their emotions and behavior. Unconscious conflicts can create disharmony, unhappiness and inhibition that may be expressed through difficulties in personality, relationships and work.

Psychoanalytic treatment demonstrates how these unconscious forces affect current behavior and builds self-awareness. The analyst helps the patients to uncover her life's narrative. By understanding her own story and exploring the ways in which she limits herself, the client can change the way she see herself and the world. She can make informed choices about the way she conducts her present and future life.

Analysis is an intimate working partnership. In the course of psychoanalysis, the client becomes aware of the underlying sources of her difficulties (not simply intellectually, but emotionally) by re-experiencing them with the analyst. This process (called transference) enables the client to change her behavior, relationships and sense of self in deep and lasting ways. Treatment tends to be three to five times per week, and the client lies on a couch to facilitate her ability to discuss whatever comes to mind.