Bahadır Yiğitoğlu · About · Therapeutic Approach · Areas of Focus · FAQ · Contact · TR

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Therapeutic Approach

Psychodynamic psychotherapy takes present difficulties seriously while considering them in relation to life history, emotional experience, and recurring relational patterns. Symptoms and everyday struggles are not set aside; they are explored in connection with the person’s life and relationships.

Working concepts

The work draws on concepts such as unconscious processes, defences (the patterns through which difficult feelings are managed) and transference (ways of relating shaped by earlier relationships that re-emerge within therapy). These concepts are not used as labels; they enter the conversation only when they help make a person’s own experience more understandable.

The therapeutic frame

Sessions are usually weekly and last 40 to 45 minutes. Regularity and continuity are central to the work. Frequency, form, and how the work continues are decided together as part of the therapeutic frame.

Assessment phase

The first one to four meetings usually form an assessment phase. They are used to understand what brings you to therapy, your present needs, and the relevant parts of your life history; to consider together whether psychodynamic psychotherapy is an appropriate frame; and to consider referral options when another form of support may be more appropriate. This process also gives you a chance to notice how you feel with the therapist and within the therapeutic setting. Regular psychotherapy begins after this phase, by mutual decision.

For whom this may be suitable

Psychodynamic psychotherapy can be a fitting frame for adults working with recurring relational difficulties, an emotional sense of being stuck that resists clear explanation, questions about how one’s life history shapes the present, or a wish to understand oneself more fully. It is not equally suited to every situation; this is something the assessment phase helps to consider.

Limits

Psychodynamic psychotherapy does not promise rapid solutions or guaranteed outcomes. How a process unfolds depends on the person’s circumstances, the continuity of the work, and the nature of the therapeutic relationship.