What is Psychoanalysis?

It’s not uncommon to hear comments like “I don’t know why I keep doing this.” Another common phrase is: “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

On some level, these thoughts show an understanding that unconscious motivation influences us. Unconscious motivation refers to forces inside us that shape our internal world and influence our feelings, thoughts, and behaviors.

It takes effort and skill to understand why we do what we do, what it means about us, before we can think about how to make changes. That’s what psychoanalysis can give you.

Psychoanalysis treats causes of suffering

The goal is to understand yourself and bring your experience to your awareness. This self-awareness, by its nature, helps establish durable change and relieve suffering.

Psychoanalysis is a lot about seeking truth

It’s about understanding how you see yourself. The way you perceive yourself has a profound effect on your choices, perspectives, behaviors on a daily basis. Understanding your mind gives you a chance to discover what you need to accept and what you can change.

You will develop an understanding of your mind and learn how you think. You will see patterns as they unfold in the course of the analysis. Once you see your patterns, your sense of agency improves and choices become clearer.

Knowledge is power

Why is knowledge power? We have ideas, feelings, and thoughts that exist below the level of awareness, occurring all the time. If we can understand these experiences, we have the power to do something about them.

Why so many days per week? I don’t think I have that much to talk about.

The frequency of a psychoanalysis creates the continuity required for self-exploration. A psychoanalysis provides the proper space needed to understand one’s mind.

Isn’t psychoanalysis outdated?

It’s been in existence for more than 100 years, but it is not outdated. It’s a way of working that has continued to evolve over time, like other effective treatments.

Research has shown that it works. (Link to Shedler articles, Mark Solms)

I don’t know anyone who is in psychoanalysis. Doesn’t that say something? If it were that great, everyone would be doing it.

• It is a big commitment. However, investing in yourself is the best investment you can make.

• Some people value quick fixes. However quick fixes do not treat root causes.

• Most people don’t understand the benefits. Most depictions of psychoanalysis in popular culture are caricatures.

• It is perceived as expensive. However, 30-100% of the fee is typically covered by out of network benefits. Check your benefits here.

You’ve made a recommendation for psychoanalysis. Am I really that sick?

It’s hard for people not to compare the recommendation for psychoanalysis to a medical doctor visit: you go to the doctor when you’re sick. You go to the doctor more frequently if you’re REALLY sick.

Psychoanalysis isn’t like that, necessarily.

If your goal is to understand your mind, you need frequent contact with your mind and me in order to understand it. Being with your mind in session is a very different way of being with your mind in your daily life. And I’d be there with you every step of the way, growing pains and all.

It’s not strange for people to think of going to the gym four to five days a week. Think of it like the gym. The more you go, the more internally coordinated you become. Except the expectation is that the analysis will end, unlike the gym analogy. Also unlike the gym analogy, the changes you feel from analysis are durable despite not being in analysis anymore. Remarkably, the changes improve over time. Click here to read more.

But I know about myself, I need skills

Learning how to think about your mind, your thoughts, anxieties, wishes, feelings, experience is indeed a skill. I believe it is one of the most powerful skills you can develop in your lifetime.

Self-awareness is inherent to a lot of “skills” people value, especially when raising children - for example “resilience,” “emotion regulation,” “distress tolerance.”

What is a session like?

It’s impossible to answer because every one’s experience of an analysis is different.

The task is to say what’s on your mind (or what gets in the way of doing that), and we think about the significance of it together. The emotional experience of that process and the relationship with me is unique to each individual.

You’d be surprised at how your thoughts and feelings that are seemingly about different subjects relate to some ideas about yourself in the world. We will discover this together so that you can understand you and grow.

Isn’t analysis where I talk a lot and you say nothing?
That’s not how I practice analysis. We have a conversation. It is a different type of conversation, though, with a different goal and rhythm.

Develop the most important relationship you can have in your life, which is the relationship to yourself.