What is Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis and Why Do They Work?
Psychotherapy and psychoanalysis are processes of self exploration which seek to enhance your daily life by providing relief from conditions such as depression and anxiety, helping you adjust to changes in your life, such as a new baby, and by helping you relate to the world in a more satisfying way.
The basic idea behind psychotherapy and psychoanalysis is that current choices we make in our lives are determined by patterns established early on. When these choices are serving us well they help us to accomplish our personal and professional goals. But when they are maladaptive, we continue to find ourselves engaged in unsatisfying relationships, feeling angry, lonely, depressed or anxious.
Psychotherapy and psychoanalysis work because they engage you in an interactive dialogue which promotes a sense of curiosity about your current experiences, feelings and beliefs, how they work for you and how they may be working against you. The process helps you to understand and alter these feelings and beliefs allowing you to be more confident, content, relaxed you.
Why is it different then talking to my friends?
Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis are different from talking to friends and family in many important ways. While friends and family may have your best interest at heart, they cannot listen to you without their own feelings and thoughts interfering. A psychotherapist or a psychoanalyst have undergone many years of training which allows them to put aside their own concerns and beliefs. They can listen to your thoughts and feelings in a non-judgmental way, they can hear what you are saying without worrying about how they may be effected or responsible for your feelings and thoughts.
Psychotherapists and psychoanalysts listen and respond to the information you give them by using special techniques and by employing a knowledge base that allow them to understand what you tell them in a different way. These techniques and this knowledge provide a deeper longer lasting type of self-understanding and change.