Individual psychotherapy
What you may be struggling with
Finding yourself caught in the same painful patterns, even when you’re trying to do things differently
Emptiness or loneliness
Being overwhelmed by your emotions or disconnected from them altogether
Not feeling understood or close to others
Experiences of trauma, loss, or emotional neglect that still impact your life
The belief that something is “wrong” with you
Questions of identity, belonging, culture, or family
Feeling caught between caring for others and making room for yourself
Racial and/or LGBTQIA+ identity and sociocultural trauma
Chronic avoidance and difficulty facing things that matter to you
Meaninglessness and purposelessness or having questions about the direction of your life
Feeling let down by earlier therapy; understanding your struggles but still not being able to change them
Sensing that something needs to change, even if you aren’t sure what
Think about an iceberg. The part above the water is easy to see: anxiety, low mood, loneliness, relationship problems, patterns you can’t break. But most of the iceberg lies beneath the surface, and it’s what gives the visible part its shape. Our symptoms are often just the tip of something larger, connected to feelings and experiences that are harder to see.
Much of what drives us happens outside of our awareness. Many of our struggles began as solutions to earlier problems, and became costly when our environments changed, but keep showing up in our lives. We can also be of two minds, loving and resenting someone or wanting something and fearing it. When we push one side of a feeling away, it tends to leak out, often as symptoms that don’t make sense. And, because change threatens the familiar, symptoms can persist even when we want them gone.
Psychodynamic therapy believes that symptoms have meaning. Rather than simply treating a symptom as the whole problem, we can get curious about what’s underneath. What is this helping you avoid? What is it trying to say? By paying attention to what comes to mind as you talk, connections can emerge between your symptoms, emotions, relationships, and history. I respect the ways you’ve learned to protect yourself, since they once served you. As you come to understand what a symptom has been doing for you, you gain more room to respond differently as the symptom loosens its hold.
There’s more beneath the surface
Experiencing something new
Therapy is not just about gaining insight. It is also a place to experience something new.
Early relationships create templates for us for how relationships feel, work, and what we can expect in them. We carry these models into new situations, even when they no longer fit. These templates show up in therapy, too, which instead of being an obstacle, is the heart of therapy. Because the old pattern comes alive in the therapeutic relationship, we can notice it as it happens and understand it together. We can put words to experiences and practice new ways of connecting.
Change comes from emotional learning. In a relationship where you feel understood and supported, you can take risks and practice new ways of expressing yourself and responding to your feelings.
What becomes possible
Over time, these new experiences, on top of understanding your inner life more deeply can open the door to lasting change. This growth can look like:
More meaningful and fulfilling relationships
Knowledge of when to sacrifice for your community and when to stand up for yourself
A stronger sense of agency
A more grounded and realistic sense of self-esteem
Greater capacity to tolerate and understand your emotions
Greater flexibility in how you respond to yourself and others
A deeper sense of self-understanding and authenticity
Acceptance, forgiveness, and gratitude
A greater ability to live in the present with awareness, choice, and emotional freedom