Individual Psychodynamic Psychotherapy

The majority of all encounters with patients in American psychiatry involve some form of psychotherapy, and many of these interventions are based on the principles of psychodynamic psychotherapy. Further, the principles of psychodynamic based treatments has been adapted to psychiatric practice around the world, often in conjunction with regional customs and culture. Examples include Tao Psychotherapy in Korea and Morita Therapy in Japan. The psychodynamic psychotherapist assumes that: people feel and behave as they do for specific reasons; people are frequently unaware of why they feel or behave in a certain fashion; past events and experiences, often outside of awareness, determine how people feel about themselves and their world: the need to master psychological pain and discomfort is compelling and accounts for why many people behave consistently and predictably in often self-defeating or disappointing ways; and the power of the therapeutic relationship is predicated on the physician’s ability to provide a safe forum for examining psychological problems, feelings, and behaviors by maintaining open, nonjudgmental, and empathic rapport with the patient.