Psychotherapy is appropriate for individuals who wish to probe more deeply into the history and origins of their symptoms in order to deepen their healing process. 

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​Psychoanalytic psychotherapy differs from other forms of counseling in several ways. Like these other disciplines, psychoanalytic treatment is concerned with easing emotional suffering.  However, the goal of psychoanalytic work is not simply solving problems or coping with psychological crisis. Analytic work intends to help individuals develop a deeper understanding and acceptance of themselves. The goal of psychoanalytic treatment is to help people become mature, well-functioning human beings with a renewed sense of their own individual path in life. The process involves not only the healing of psychic wounds, but the uncovering of the unconscious blocks that prevent emotional growth and the realization of creative potential. The aim is not perfection but wholeness.

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​Although most people enter analytic work because of a serious dissatisfaction with some aspect of their life, the benefits are not confined to those who are experiencing emotional disturbance. Many people who enter treatment are basically healthy individuals who desire to lead richer lives by “going deeper” into themselves to find greater meaning in life. Analytic work is about becoming conscious of who you are by establishing a dialogue with your unconscious mind. This dialogue takes place through an interaction with your dreams, fantasies, bodily sensations, and feelings. When the soil of one’s unconscious life is loosened, beneficial changes often begin to occur. Therefore, analytic work is a kind of “inner work,” sometimes as much like a spiritual process as it is psychological treatment.    

This process emphases the importance of unconscious influences on one’s current emotional state which interfere with living a full and satisfying life. Analysis is a joint effort by two people to try and understand the impact of these unconscious influences on behavior, relationships, and feelings. Because these forces are unconscious, the advice of friends or family, the reading of self-help books, or even the most determined exertion of willpower, usually fails to provide relief. The role of the practitioner is to help the patient understand themselves, especially the unrecognized or unacknowledged aspects of their personality.

Ultimately, this work is about taking responsibility for one’s own life, however difficult that might be.