Psychodynamic Couples Therapy
Psychoanalytic theory is used in psychodynamic couple therapy. It is influenced by the psychotherapist’s experience addressing interpersonal issues in individual, group, and family therapy. Psychodynamic couple therapists engage in close relationships and are intimately exposed to the anxieties and defenses of couples, which they interpret to promote change.
Couple therapy using object relations, which is the most comprehensive form of psychodynamic therapy, is guided primarily by transference and counter transference. In this case, the couple therapist is interpreting from an emotional connection rather than from a purely intellectual perspective. Couples can receive emotional holding and containment in object relations therapy because it allows psychodynamic therapists to connect with them at the level of their resonating unconscious processes.
Psychodynamic Couple Counseling is talk therapy, so talking about relationship issues out loud with each other enables a couple to comprehend their issues and collaborate to find solutions. The overall outcome of this therapy is an increase in relationship satisfaction and psychological well-being.
What Is Couples Therapy?
One kind of psychotherapy that can improve your relationship with your partner is couples therapy. Couples therapy can help you repair your relationship if you’re having relationship problems.
Couples therapy can address a variety of relationship issues, such as persistent arguments, feelings of disconnect, an affair, problems with sex, or problems brought on by outside stressors.
Types of Couples therapy
There are numerous methods for treating couples, some of which include:
- Emotionally focused therapy (EFT): EFT aims to strengthen your relationship with your partner by enhancing your attachment and bonding. Your therapist helps you identify and change the habits that make you feel isolated.
- The Gottman method: Gottman method involves resolving points of contention and teaching you and your partner how to solve problems. It aims to raise your level of intimacy with your partner and the standard of your friendship.
- Couples psychodynamic therapy: Psychodynamic therapy focuses on the underlying motivations that drive you and your partner to better understand one another.
- Behavioral therapy: Also referred to as behavioral couples therapy (BCT), this type of therapy involves modifying behavior by rewarding stable, satisfying behaviors and discouraging unhelpful ones.
- Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), also known as cognitive behavioral couple’s therapy (CBCT), is a type of counseling that focuses on recognizing and modifying thought patterns that have a negative impact on behavior.
In addition to assisting the client in exploring the unconscious (thoughts, feelings, behaviors, unresolved issues), a psychodynamic therapist seeks to pinpoint the causes of any current problems or symptoms. As the “contents” of the unconscious mind start to emerge, a psychodynamic therapist helps the client find meaning and significance.
Sessions in psychodynamic therapy are much more open-ended and less structured than those in cognitive-behavioral therapies because they are founded in free-association.
Psychodynamic therapy helps patients identify and address their innate defense mechanisms in addition to the focus on emotions (the impulses, reactions, and behaviors used to avoid distress).
In order to understand the potential psychological meaning(s) underlying the imagery and/or content of the client’s fantasies, psychodynamic therapy also looks into the client’s fantasy life.
How to Get Started
If you believe couples therapy would be beneficial for your relationship, talk to your partner about it to see if they are interested. Explain why it’s important to you and how you think it might improve your relationship if they object.
Finding a practitioner is the following step. The top website for mental health support is TalktoAngel. Marriage and family therapists are licensed mental health professionals who specialize in treating couples; other psychologists and psychiatrists may also provide couples therapy. If you’re seeing a therapist for another reason, they might be able to recommend someone to you, or if you have friends or family who can help, they might be able to refer you to a specialist. You and your partner will likely need to complete paperwork outlining your medical background and insurance information before you begin therapy. To better understand your relationship, the problems you’re having, and what you hope to get out of therapy, your therapist may ask you to complete questionnaires.
The objectives of therapy will be outlined by your therapist in collaboration with you and your partner. While joint sessions are the norm for couple’s therapy, your therapist may also schedule individual sessions with you or your partner. They might even give homework.
Asking a professional couple’s counselor for advice may be a good idea if you notice that you and your partner have relationship issues, such as difficulty communicating your emotions, emotional distance, or different types of conflicts. You can identify relationship problems, get to know each other better, resolve conflicts, and have a happier relationship with the help of online couple’s therapy.
If you’re looking for an “Online counseling,” TalktoAngel is a platform that connects you with the best online therapists and “Online counsellor.”
