How Does Psychoanalysis Work ?

Typically patients come multiple times a week. Some patients use a couch while others prefer to sit and talk face to face. The process involves patients trying to talk as freely as possible with whatever is on their minds. By suspending conscious inhibitions one is able to get to deeper thoughts and feelings and understand aspects of oneself that were hitherto denied, forgotten or buried for a variety of reasons. Through this process both analyst and patient can begin to understand problematic behaviors, complex feelings, relationship patterns and past traumas in ways that may not have been touched upon or understood before. A big component of psychoanalysis involves looking at the analyst/patient relationship itself, since over time it comes to embody many of the core issues that plague the patients’ life. In this aspect the treatment relationship becomes the fulcrum of change. At present, I offer psychoanalytic treatment under supervision, as part of my advanced training in psychoanalysis at the San Diego Psychoanalytic Center.