Relasjonsrettet dynamisk psykoterapi

Abstract

Central assumptions in psychodynamic psychotherapy are that motivation can be unconscious and that people tend to repeat patterns of ways of being. Interpersonal relationships are important both as a starting point for what creates psychological pain and as an opportunity for recovery. Early established patterns that align with how we experience ourselves persist because they are maintained in current relationships. Bad experiences in the past thus live on not only as memories but also as patterns of the past being actualized anew in the present. Patterns can emerge through the way in which the patient addresses the therapist and in the way in which they about situations and relationships. The therapist participates in the conversation with exploratory questions, comments and suggestions for possible connections. Improvement can take place through a combination of insight into patterns established in childhood and the past and how these are repeated in the present and into new relational experiences both in therapy and in life. Becoming aware of some central relational patterns and attempts to do something different can contribute to change in the direction of more genuine and meaningful relationships, even after the end of therapy. In the article, this model is used to understand the fictional patient Nadine. Possible ways of working with Nadine, as well as possible changes during and after therapy, are described. Keywords: psychodynamic psychotherapy, relational patterns, therapeutic interventions, change processes.