Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy

Our feelings are what make us feel alive and vital, energize us to meet and deal with life’s challenges, and point us in the best direction to get what we really want. Our feelings are what bridge the gap between ourselves and others, enliven our relationships, and help us feel close. And it’s our discomfort with our feelings that keeps us detached from the wisdom and power inside us, and at a distance from others.

Most of us are afraid of our feelings. We’re afraid to feel the full extent of our emotions and afraid of being emotionally alive and present with others. We’re afraid of being vulnerable, of drawing attention to ourselves, of looking like a fool. We’re afraid of being overwhelmed, of losing control, of getting out of hand. We’re afraid of being seen for who we really are. So what do we do? We avoid our feelings and do everything we can to steer clear of them, to keep them hidden. We distract ourselves, push our feelings aside, stuff them back in, and hope they’ll go away. But they don’t.

This is where Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy (ISTDP) comes in. In ISTDP we pay attention to the healthy parts of you that want freedom while at the same time attending to the part of you that wants to avoid getting in touch with your feelings. We are repeatedly reminding you of your healthy longings for health and freedom and inviting you to experience your true feelings. When avoidance gets in the way of progress we will use interventions so as to model for you how to stand up to the forces of avoidance that have outlasted their usefulness. Ultimately, you come to realize your true potential to feel fully alive, vital, and deeply connected to your experience of yourself, others, and the world. You will overcome your fear, awaken to the emotional richness inside you, and feel more intimately connected to the people in your life.

In addition to providing more open-ended and exploratory therapy I also offer Intensive Short Term Dynamic Psychotherapy (ISTDP).

What is it?

ISTDP is a highly effective and evidence-based therapeutic approach that can help you overcome a wide range of issues including depression, anxiety, personality disorders, addictions and psychosomatic symptoms. There is a large body of research supporting the use of this approach, some of which you can read here.

ISTDP can be quite challenging (hence the name ‘intensive’!) but can also resolve many problems more quickly than other approaches. In some ways, ISTDP could be compared to having a personal trainer at the gym. If I work with you using this approach I will challenge and push you to work at your maximum possible capacity so that you can get results as quickly as possible. If you’re clear about what you want to change in your life and are motivated to do so, ISTDP may be a good approach to start with.

How it works

ISTDP begins with an initial ‘trial therapy’ session of 2 hours. During this time I will work with you to understand the nature of your problems and the changes you want to make. Together we then develop a sense of how quickly it will be possible to progress and develop a plan for achieving this. We will also identify some of the things that have been blocking you from making progress in the past, and we will begin to understand how these blocks have affected other areas of your life.

ISTDP therapy will be strongly focused on your feelings and how you experience these in your body. ISTDP recognises that it is our feelings that give our life meaning, that create our sense of identity and who we are in the world, and that signal us to know whether or not our needs are being met.

At the same time, we all employ defences against feelings that we find to be unbearable or that others have taught us were unacceptable in the past. This can lead us to develop patterns of behaviour that damage our relationships and other areas of our life and may even mean that we have lost touch with and can no longer identify our own feelings. These life-long patterns can often be quickly and effectively addressed using the ISTDP approach.

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