People seek the services of a psychotherapist for a variety of reasons: difficulties in intimate and family relationships; dissatisfaction with work; reliance on a substance or negative behaviors to manage feelings; or recovery from a traumatic event, just to name the most usual. Paradoxically, all people are different, yet they have many of the same basic concerns in life. About Psychoanalysis…
Sigmund Freud and his followers developed “the talking cure.” They found that as their patients verbalized thoughts and feelings, their symptoms remit. These patients expressed these thoughts and feelings in an extemporaneous, free associative way. Freud and his minions were also interested in the unconscious and how dreams and free associative material were manifestations of the unconscious. Early practitioners also found that transference and the examination of transference also had curative effect on patients. This relationship also takes into account the earlier relationships a patient has and how such early relationships affect a relationship with a therapist. Countertransference refers to the feelings that the therapist has for a patient. In the earliest days of psychoanalysis, countertransference was viewed as an irrelevant, unhelpful byproduct of treatment. Contemporary approaches to psychoanalysis (Modern, Interpersonal, Intersubjective, and Relational) have a vastly different view of the usefulness of countertransference. About EMDR...
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, or EMDR, is a powerful method of psychotherapy. In 1987, psychologist Francine Shapiro made the observation that eye movements can reduce the intensity of disturbing thoughts and feelings when this method is utilized under certain conditions. These eye movements are administered under a specific clinical practice protocol. EMDR is particularly useful in treating post-traumatic stress, complex grief, panic & anxiety, disturbing memories, phobias, and performance enhancement. EMDR can be used as a sole clinical technique or in combination with traditional therapy approaches.
