Psychotherapist
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About Therapy
Who should come to therapy? What is it like? How long does it take? What is the aim of it? What is the theoretical orientation of the practice?
Who should come to therapy?
Psychoanalytical psychotherapy is for everyone. Anyone can benefit it at any point in their lives.
During the first session, people describe the difficulties which bring them to the therapy room. The complaints may be quite diverse in their contents, but it is also possible to hear out a common flow in many instances; some ways of dealing with life, the ways which are habitually and frequently used, either do not work, or yield less satisfying results than before. At this point in their lives, many testify that they find it difficult to endure some internal or external conflicts, or are feeling restrained either by some thoughts, or by emotions they have, like pain or anxiety.
Others come to therapy get to know themselves better and to go over their pasts to get a fresh perspective into their lives even if they are not having difficulties as described above.
Many who consider starting to therapy say that thoughts and questions such as these pass through their minds: “Why are the relationships that I have with people I care for are not as satisfying as I would want them to be?”, “Why can’t I get rid of some disturbing thoughts?”, “What is it that doesn’t feel right?”, “Why do I find myself feeling as if I am not in control of some things in my life?”, “I don’t want to keep feeling overwhelmed / anxious / scared / helpless”, “Why do the things I normally like to do have started to give me less pleasure?”, “I think some experiences that I had in my childhood / adult life has had some effects on me”, “I sometimes feel like people around me are judging me”, “I don’t think that I am being genuinely listened to. I often feel like I am not heard by people”, “What lies at the true source of my complaints?”, “What does all these mean about me?”, “Who am I?”, “What do I actually want?” …
What is it like?
Psychoanalytically oriented psychotherapy is a unique process for each. It is like fingerprints: not one patient’s experience is equitable to the other. That is why the best way to get to know the process is to be in it.
Yet, there are a few points about which are experienced more or less the same by every patient. First of all, the therapist listens with a special technique. Therefore, it is an experience of being listened to which differs significantly from everyday conversations. The therapy provides a judgement-free environment where confidentiality is a priority.
How long does it take?
In normal course of events, a psychoanalytically oriented psychotherapy might endure for years, although there are many who attend for a shorter period of time and who benefit from it. Providing quick and shallow fixes to problems or focusing solely on behaviours without a search for deeper roots are not aimed at. On the contrary, the objective is to arrive at a lasting change concerning the ways of forming relations with life. This could only be possible thanks to a long process and a regular attendance to it. The ultimate length of the process is different for each.
Also, certain techniques used in Lacanian psychotherapy changes the length of each session too. The discourse of the patient is the determinant of the length. This is because the logical time of speech is not equivalent to the time that the clock provides.
What is the aim of it?
Change.
The unique relationship between the therapist and the patient provides a space where the “real” at the heart of challenging experiences finds its words, its significance. This work of symbolization helps the challenges to lose their gravity.
In a paradoxical way, each person stores an amount of information which is unknown to the self: the unconscious. Thanks to the process of working with the unconscious, new ways of forming relations with life, with loved ones, with the past and the present may open up.
In parallel to the motives pointed above, some patients talk about more specific reasons to start to therapy: panic attacks, anxiety, depression, traumatic experiences, anger problems, eating disorders, lack of self-confidence, problems related to sexuality, phobias, compulsive thoughts, difficulty with emotional control, loss of a loved one, break-ups, bodily problems with a psychological trigger, unwanted behaviours, social isolation, loneliness, jealousy, questions related to self and identity, relational difficulties, lack of motivation and chronic exposure to stress are among the most commonly mentioned issues.
In summary, there lies a different set of experiences behind each decision to start to therapy. Regardless of the differing time, place and the sources of such experiences, therapy signifies a step taken for oneself. Psychoanalytically oriented psychotherapy is a journey for everyone which could be taken at any point of life.
What is the theoretical orientation of the practice?
A Lacanian eye through psychoanalysis is at the heart of the practice.
Psychoanalysis is the name of the theory and the practice founded upon Sigmund Freud’s discovery of the unconscious. It is also called as the “talking cure”, using Freud’s expression. The unconscious is the totality of the information separated from the conscious by the process of repression.
Jacques Lacan is a French psychoanalyst. By many, he is known as the most influential psychoanalyst after Freud and the one who contributed the most to the theory. Lacan points out that the unconscious is structured like a language, and therefore the language itself has to be focused on while working on the unconscious.