Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy
Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy
At Psychotherapy Dublin, we offer psychoanalytic psychotherapy, a form of treatment rooted in the work of Sigmund Freud. This approach recognizes that much of what shapes our thoughts, emotions, and behaviors operates outside of conscious awareness. By exploring the unconscious mind, psychoanalytic psychotherapy seeks to uncover the hidden conflicts, desires, and patterns that influence our daily lives.
Understanding the Unconscious
Freud’s great insight was that our minds are structured like an iceberg—only a small portion is visible, while the vast majority remains beneath the surface. Thoughts, feelings, and experiences that we may have forgotten or repressed can continue to affect us in profound ways. Symptoms such as anxiety, depression, and difficulties in relationships often have deeper roots, linked to past experiences, unresolved emotions, and internal conflicts. Through the process of speaking freely in psychoanalytic psychotherapy, we begin to bring these hidden aspects to light, allowing for insight and change.
Repetition and Transformation
One of the central ideas in Freudian psychoanalysis is that we tend to repeat patterns—whether in relationships, work, or our inner lives—often without realizing it. These repetitions are not accidental; they reveal something essential about our desires and conflicts. Psychoanalytic psychotherapy offers the opportunity to explore these patterns, understand their origins, and ultimately loosen their grip, making space for new ways of living and relating.
Common symptoms that our therapists have experience of working with include:
Importantly, we do not believe that each person’s mental suffering can be described by a mere label, such as ‘anxiety.’ Decades of clinical experience tells us that each person’s symptom is entirely individual to them. One person may experience anxiety as pains in their chest, another may suffer from a repetition of a specific thought, another may wake at a certain time each night. With such a variety in the experience and cause of mental distress we begin to see how important it is for each person to work to the root of their very singular issue.
Why Choose Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy?
Unlike short-term, solution-focused therapies, psychoanalytic psychotherapy does not aim to simply manage symptoms. Instead, it offers a space for deeper exploration, allowing for lasting change that goes beyond surface-level coping strategies. Each person’s experience is unique, and therapy is tailored to the individual rather than following a rigid structure.
If you find yourself struggling with emotions or behaviors that feel beyond your control, or if you are curious about the deeper motivations shaping your life, psychoanalytic psychotherapy offers a way to explore these questions in a meaningful way. If this approach resonates with you, we invite you to take the first step and reach out.
