What I Offer

Adult Psychodynamic Psychotherapy

Psychodynamic psychotherapy is a form of therapy that aims to help people to develop deeper self-understanding and lead a more fulfilling life.

We have all had different experiences early in life, and these experiences shape who we become. Psychodynamic psychotherapists consider these early experiences to be extremely important, as not only do they shape our understanding of ourselves and others, but what we have learned from our experiences can lead to repetition of problematic patterns in relationships with others, without necessarily even realising this is occurring. Furthermore, throughout our lives, we develop ways of coping with our underlying and often hidden feelings, and these ways of coping can in themselves cause us further problems or distress. 

Often, people come to therapy for help with a particular problem, such as an episode of depression, or coping with a relationship breakdown. Sometimes, people can have multiple episodes of therapy, all for seemingly different problems such as these. They might obtain some strategies for managing symptoms, and the symptoms may ease, but for many people, different problems and issues can keep arising, or there is a sense of still having underlying issues.

In psychodynamic therapy, problems such as depression, anxiety, relationship difficulties, and other mental health issues are not typically seen in isolation, as issues to be treated separately. Instead, this therapy helps people to understand how these seemingly separate problems and symptoms, all of which can create a great deal of distress, may in fact arise from underlying, unresolved issues.

For instance, a person who has had negative experiences of caregivers throughout childhood might grow up to have a sense of others as being critical and emotionally unavailable, and find it difficult to form close, connected relationships. This might also contribute to developing problems such as depression or anxiety. Therapy that focuses on managing the symptoms of depression or anxiety may end up not exploring and working through the underlying themes and issues that have contributed to the development and maintenance of depression and anxiety.

How is this approach different from other forms of psychotherapy?

Psychodynamic therapy can feel quite different to other psychological treatments due to the focus being on exploration and uncovering and insight into underlying patterns and themes repeating into the current presenting issues. Unlike many other treatments, strategies and skill-building techniques do not occur in this treatment. This is because the problems that are bringing you to therapy are often linked to underlying issues, which are gradually uncovered and worked through in therapy, and are not seen as something to be managed or treated in isolation, as this is believed to only lead to short-term relief rather than lasting change. The therapist will help you to make sense of what is coming out in sessions, and may at times be encouraging you to notice experiences, and make connections, that previously had not been within your awareness.

Another way in which psychodynamic therapy can differ from other treatments is that there is a strong focus on the therapy relationship as a part of self-understanding and change. Your therapist is likely to discuss your relationship with them and how you feel in this relationship, so that you can gain increased understanding of how your relationship experiences affect you in the present moment.

 How Does Psychodynamic Psychotherapy Work?

  1. The therapeutic relationship is the key:

One unique aspect of psychodynamic therapy is the relationship between you and your therapist. This connection can mirror other relationships in your life, offering insights into how you interact with the world around you. We'll pay attention to the dynamics between us, revealing important patterns and opportunities for growth.

2.    Symptoms are part of us, not all of us:

Often contemporary psychotherapy and mental health treatment models emphasise symptoms such as anxiety, depression, stress as the focus of treatment. This can often lead to change being short-lived or changed being define only by immediate relief of these symptoms. Psychodynamic Psychotherapy instead sees the whole person. That we are more than our symptoms. That we both have unconscious unmet needs and wants and experiences that fuel these symptoms, but we also have inherent capabilities, skills and internal resources we have developed over our lives that can be harnessed to overcome our difficulties and drive change for the future.

3.    Insight is change:

A common misconception with psychodynamic psychotherapy is that talking about your life, feelings, thoughts and behaviours is not enough, that change is defined by action only. However, it is only through bringing our more unconscious needs, wants, thoughts and feelings to the surface, can we start to understand the reasons behind our actions. This deeper insight can be liberating, allowing you to break free from patterns that might have been holding you back and therefore lead to long lasting change.

4.    The past is learning:

A key part of psychodynamic psychotherapy is the process of understanding how our life journey and its impacts can help us in the here and now determine new ways of coping and the decisions we can make for a better life for ourselves and loved ones. Life’s lessons are found in the emotional experiences that we still find resonate now and often drive our feelings, thoughts and actions both positively and negatively. The more we understand the role of the past the more we can determine how to live and thrive with it.

5.    The future is adaptation:

Through better understanding of our past and the underlying unconscious experiences, we can finally start to come to terms with the emotional pain, traumatic changes and losses throughout our lives, begin to redefine out past experiences as part of us, not all of us and feel freer to focus on what we want and where we want to go with our futures. We begin to feel we have more control and choice than before and become more responsive, resilient and adaptive to challenges in the future.

How can Psychodynamic Psychotherapy help?

Psychodynamic therapy can be beneficial for people experiencing a range of problems and challenges. This form of treatment can be particularly helpful for:

  • Relational and interpersonal challenges, particularly when there are repeating patterns occurring in relationship experiences

  • Attachment patterns that cause distress or issues, such as struggling to form and maintain fulfilling and positive relationships

  • Mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety, particularly where these problems do not appear to respond well to other treatments

  • Working through experiences of trauma

  • Personality disorders or personality traits that can impact on relationships and emotions

  • Difficulties with emotional regulation and emotional connection

  • Physical symptoms that do not have an underlying medical cause

  • Working through experiences of separation, loss, and grief

  • Developing better self-understanding and self-awareness, even if there is not a mental health concern bringing you to therapy

  • Building resilience and strengthening self-identity and self-esteem to better manage life pressures and difficulties.

 How do I know if Psychodynamic Psychotherapy is right for me?

If you would like to develop a deeper understanding of yourself, increase your self-awareness, work through past experiences that continue to have an impact on your life now, and/or work towards having a more fulfilling experience of life, this is likely to be a good approach for you. If you have issues or challenges that do not appear to have responded well to past treatments, such as long-standing issues with depression, anxiety, problem behaviours, or the impact of traumatic experiences, psychodynamic therapy may be able to offer you a different, more in-depth way of assisting you than other psychological therapies. It may also be a good treatment if you have experienced different mental health issues at different points in your life, and you are wondering if there is an underlying connection between these issues.

If you are looking for short-term therapy with a focus on practical strategies, or you want help with a current crisis, this approach may not be a good fit for you, as it tends to be medium to longer-term without a focus on practical skill building and strategies. However, this still might be a useful approach to consider at a later stage. Many people find that after completing a different form of therapy, they have gained useful skills, and feel more equipped to be able to engage in a more insight orientated therapeutic process to work on underlying issues. If this is the case, psychodynamic therapy may be a good next step for you.

 What can I expect?

When you see a therapist who provides psychodynamic therapy, the first session will typically involve assessment, where you may be asked questions about what brings you to therapy, along with other questions about your background and history. Together with the therapist a focus and goals for therapy will be established to guide treatment and the content of future sessions. From there, subsequent sessions will involve you initiating the focus of the session, which reflects both the most meaningful experiences that are important to you, but also emphasises the important of creating “will” for change.

Psychodynamic Psychotherapy sessions run for 50 minutes and start and end on time. Therapy is most effective when sessions are held on a weekly or fortnightly basis to create a momentum, motivation and focus for change. These sessions can occur via Telehealth, face-to-face, or a combination of both modalities.

Stability and consistency of sessions provide a containing and holding environment, so that you can feel comfortable to express yourself freely while having a sense of containment.

Therapy starts usually with an initial 6 sessions to establish a therapeutic alliance or working relationship with you, develop the focus of treatment and foundations for the therapeutic work. Psychodynamic Psychotherapy often involves 12-40 sessions (depending on the presenting issues) to demonstrate the identifiable change that can lead to long-term benefits.

Getting started

Reaching out can feel like a big step, and it's fine to get in touch to ask questions first. You can use the contact form on this website to make an enquiry. I will organise a phone intake call with you to assess your situation, discuss working with me, answer all your questions and decide together whether this is the right approach for you.

Once we agree to work together, I start with an initial 90 min assessment session to obtain key information to develop a therapy focus with you. I start with an initial 6 sessions to get to know each other, build a focus and define the work together. Telehealth or face-to-face is available.

 

Family Psychodynamic Psychotherapy

Every family goes through difficult times. Sometimes, though, the same tensions keep returning. Arguments flare over small things. A child or teenager seems to be struggling, and nothing the family tries seems to help. Some family members have stopped talking, while others feel caught in the middle.

Families often come to therapy after a change or loss has unsettled things — a separation, a new blended family, an illness, a death, a move, or a child reaching a new stage of life. Others come because a pattern has built up slowly over years, and it has become hard to see a way through.

What is psychodynamic family therapy?

Psychodynamic family therapy offers a space to slow down and make sense of what is happening between family members, rather than locating the problem in one person. Psychodynamic family therapy is a form of psychotherapy that works with the family as a whole. It draws on psychoanalytic ideas about how feelings, relationships and experiences — including those from earlier generations — shape the way family members relate to one another, often outside of everyday awareness.

Rather than focusing only on changing behaviour, it explores the emotional life of the family: the unspoken expectations, the roles people take on, and the feelings that may be hard to put into words. The aim is to understand the meaning behind a family's difficulties, so that family members have more freedom to respond to each other in new ways.

When one family member is struggling, their difficulties are understood in the context of the whole family. This isn't about blame. It's about recognising that everyone in a family affects, and is affected by, everyone else.

How it works

Some key ideas inform the work:

  • The family as a system. A family is more than a group of individuals. It has its own patterns, rules and ways of managing feelings, many of which are never spoken aloud. When something changes for one member, it ripples through everyone.

  • The past lives in the present. Parents bring their own childhood experiences into how they raise their children. Patterns of closeness, conflict, silence or loss can pass down through generations without anyone quite realising.

  • Roles and feelings get shared out. In families, people can come to carry certain roles or feelings on behalf of others — the "responsible one", the "difficult one", the peacemaker. Sometimes a child's struggles express something the whole family is finding hard to face.

  • Behaviour has meaning. Difficult behaviour, withdrawal or conflict are understood as communications. Therapy tries to hear what they might be saying, rather than simply trying to stop them.

  • Understanding creates room for change. As family members begin to see these patterns more clearly, there can be more space for curiosity, empathy and different ways of relating.

What sessions are like

Who attends. Sessions usually include the family members most involved in the concern — often parents and children together. At times, it may be helpful to meet with parents on their own, or with particular family members, alongside whole-family sessions. We'll talk together about who it makes sense to include.

How sessions work. Sessions run for 50 minutes, and are often held weekly or fortnightly. Family members are encouraged to set the agenda talk about whatever feels important, and the therapist begins to help the family notice the relational dynamics, behaviour, thoughts, feelings and patterns that emerge including what happens in the room itself. As these dynamics are brought to awareness, the therapist helps the family build empathy and understanding for each members experiences and perspectives, build trust and emotional safety and work towards finding and restoring common ground and shared ownership of change.

Working with children. I work with adult family members including adult children. I also work with adolescents that are of an age that can express their needs and experiences and feel safe to do so. Respect, acceptance of different views, psychological safety and empathy is essential for family therapy to work effectively especially when children/minors are involved in sessions.

An even-handed approach. The therapist doesn't take sides or single anyone out. The focus stays on understanding the family as a whole.

Confidentiality. What is discussed in therapy is kept confidential, with some legal and ethical limits — for example, where there is a serious risk to someone's safety, including the safety of a child. I will explain these limits clearly at the start, along with how I handle information shared by individual family members.

Length of therapy. Some families come for a focused period of a few weeks or months; others find a longer piece of work more helpful. I will review with you how things are going together along the way.

Why families come

Families often seek therapy when they are:

  • caught in ongoing conflict between parents and children, or between siblings

  • worried about a child or teenager's behaviour, mood, school refusal or withdrawal

  • adjusting to separation, divorce, re-partnering or a blended family

  • coping with grief, illness, disability or another major change

  • finding it hard to communicate, or feeling distant from one another

  • noticing painful patterns repeating across generations

  • desire to strengthen bonds

Getting started

Reaching out can feel like a big step, especially if only one of you is sure about coming. That's very common, and it's fine to get in touch to ask questions first. You can use the contact form on this website to make an enquiry. I will organise a phone intake call with you to assess your situation, discuss working with me, answer all your questions and decide together whether this is the right approach for you and your family.

Once we agree to work together, I start with an initial 90 min assessment session to obtain key information to develop a therapy focus with you and your family. I start with an initial 6 sessions to get to know each other, build a focus and define the work together. Telehealth or face-to-face is available.

Couple Psychodynamic Psychotherapy

Many couples come to therapy feeling stuck. The same fights return in different clothes. One partner pursues while the other withdraws. Closeness has turned into distance or suffocation, disengagement, loneliness or isolation replaces love and shared experiences, or conflict has become the main way of connecting. Sometimes there has been an affair, a loss, the arrival of a baby, or another change that has undermined security and stability in the relationship.

Often both partners have tried hard to fix things — talking it through, speaking to friends or family, reading books, social media, videos and, promising to do better — and still find themselves back in a repeating cycle of relating. Psychodynamic couple therapy offers a different way of understanding relationship challenges.

What is psychodynamic couple therapy?

Psychodynamic couple therapy is a form of relationship therapy that looks beneath the surface of day-to-day conflict. Rather than focusing only on communication skills or behaviour change, it explores the deeper feelings, expectations and patterns each partner brings to the relationship — many of which sit outside everyday awareness.

It draws on psychoanalytic and attachment theory ideas about how our earliest relationships shape the way we love, depend on others, and protect ourselves from hurt. In this approach, the relationship itself is treated as the focus of the work. The aim is not to decide who is right or wrong, but to understand what is happening between you — and why it has become so hard to change.

How it works

A few ideas guide the work:

  • The past lives in the present. We learn about love, closeness and conflict in our first families. Without realising it, we often recreate those early patterns with our partner — sometimes seeking what we missed, sometimes repeating what we feared.

  • Couples fit together in hidden ways. Partners are often drawn to each other partly because of complementary hopes and fears. The same fit that brought you together can later lock you into painful cycles, such as one person carrying all the anxiety while the other carries all the calm.

  • Feelings get shared out. In close relationships, difficult feelings can be unconsciously handed back and forth. One partner may come to express anger, need or doubt on behalf of both. Recognising this can ease blame and help each person reclaim parts of themselves.

  • The relationship as a "third". Therapy helps you step back and think about the relationship as something you both create and both belong. Therapy is about moving from "me versus you". to “us vs the problems”. Developing this shared perspective is often what allows real change.

The aim is that, as these patterns become clearer, each partner has more choice in how they respond to the other. Every couple is different, and therapy doesn't guarantee a particular outcome — including whether you stay together.

What sessions are like

Sessions are usually weekly or fortnightly and run for 50 minutes, with both partners attending together. Couples are encouraged to set the session agenda and talk about whatever feels most pressing. The therapist helps you both notice the relational patterns, behaviour, thoughts and feelings towards each other and the developmental themes that arise that underpins here and now relationship issues. This forms the basis of change, creating self-responsibility for individual change and shared ownership for couple relationship change.

The therapist stays even-handed and does not take sides. Part of the work involves paying attention to what happens in the room itself, including how each of you relates to the therapist, since this can shed light on dynamics at home.

Some couples come for a focused period of work over a few weeks or months; others find a longer, open-ended process more helpful. We will talk together about what suits you.

Why couples come

Couples often seek therapy when they are:

  • caught in repeating or entrenched cycles or patterns

  • relationships affected by negative past relationship experiences or attachment wounds

  • conflicts involving partners parents and wider families.

  • feeling distant, disconnected or "more like housemates"

  • struggling with trust, jealousy or the aftermath of an affair

  • navigating life transitions such as becoming parents, children leaving home, illness or retirement

  • experiencing difficulties with intimacy or sex

  • separation issues such as struggling to decide to continue the relationship

  • parenting differences causing family functioning issues.

  • transitioning to different type of relationships such as open relationships,

I work with couples of all ages, backgrounds, genders and sexualities, whether married, de facto, dating or separating.

Getting started

Reaching out can feel like a big step, especially if only one of you is sure about coming. That's very common, and it's fine to get in touch to ask questions first. You can use the contact form on this website to make an enquiry. I will organise a phone intake call with you to assess your situation, discuss working with me, answer all your questions and decide together whether this is the right approach for you and your partner.

Once we agree to work together, I start with an initial 90 min assessment session to obtain key information to develop a therapy focus with you and your partner. I start with an initial 6 sessions to get to know each other, build a focus and define the work together. Telehealth or face-to-face is available.

Some Considerations

  • If there are active safety concerns either for yourself or for important others including minors in your care, such as domestic violence, suicidal ideation, threats of harm, criminal activity, drug and alcohol abuse, sexual abuse etc these issues should be best handled by specialist services and there not suitable for my practice.

  • if there are active or current psychiatric issues, untreated or un-managed complex psychiatric issues such as psychosis, complex PTSD, acute PTSD, Bi-Polar Disorders , BPD or medical issues that require hospitalisation or other acute care services, this practice would not be suitable and would best be handled by specialist services.

  • If you are currently involved in active legal matters such as criminal, or family law or other court matters that require assessments, reports, documents, professional witnesses, or records of attendance for legal or court purposes, this practice is not suitable for you and best handled by specialist services.

  • It is important that all participants in family or couple therapy have freely consented to attending sessions.

    It is important that all minors are capable of understanding and consenting to treatment.

    It is important that all participants understand safety, privacy and duty of care considerations when attending sessions with minors and important others.

    Coercion, pressure or obligations to attend sessions will likely lead to resistance and therefore poor therapeutic outcomes.

There are some limitations to the services I provide that you should consider when deciding if I am the right clinician for you.

These issues may be discussed as part of the initial telephone intake to determine suitability for this practice.