What is Psychoanalysis?
Psychoanalysis is about understanding yourself more deeply. Rather than focusing only on symptoms, it explores the roots: where patterns come from, what they protect you from, and how they show up in your relationships and life choices.
This approach takes seriously the idea that much of what drives us operates outside our conscious awareness. The patterns you keep repeating, the relationships you find yourself in, the ways you sabotage yourself - these often have deeper origins worth understanding.
Psychoanalysis is relational and collaborative. It's not about someone telling you what's wrong with you. It's about creating a space where you can explore your own experience, notice what shows up in the therapy relationship itself, and gradually understand yourself more fully.
What Psychoanalysis can help with
- Anxiety rooted in early relational patterns
- Depression that hasn't shifted with symptom-focused work
- Relationship patterns that keep repeating
- Identity questions and questions about who you want to be
- Grief and loss that feels too large to process alone
- Creative blocks and struggles with self-expression
- Perfectionism and self-criticism
What to expect in a Psychoanalysis session
Sessions are unstructured and exploratory. Your therapist isn't following a protocol or asking you to complete worksheets. Instead, you're invited to talk about what's on your mind, what you've been noticing, what feels important.
Your therapist might notice patterns in what you share, or reflect back something they observe about how you relate. Sometimes the most meaningful work happens when something arises between you and your therapist - a moment of disconnection, a misunderstanding, an assumption - and you explore it together.
This kind of work takes time. Many people find that 6 months to a year or longer allows the deepest shifts to unfold. But some also find that even a few months of this kind of focused exploration can open new doors.
Common questions
Is Psychoanalysis just talk therapy?
It's more than that. While talking is how we do the work, the real depth comes from what gets revealed through the relationship itself and the patterns that emerge.
How long does Psychoanalysis take?
It varies. Some people feel shifts within a few months. Others find that deeper work unfolds over a year or more. It depends on what you're working with and how deep you want to go.
Do I have to talk about my childhood?
Not necessarily. Your childhood may be relevant, but so is your present - your current relationships, your work, your life as it is now. We follow what feels important to you.
Ready to explore
your own depths?
A free consultation gives you a chance to talk about what brings you to therapy and see if this approach feels right for you.
Book A Consultation