Therapy that is interested in the why.
Psychodynamic therapy does not ask how to manage your symptoms. It asks what your symptoms are trying to tell you.
If you are looking for a psychodynamic therapist in Seattle, you are probably looking for a therapist interested in depth. Who takes the unconscious seriously. Who is willing to sit with complexity rather than rushing toward solutions.
What psychodynamic therapy is
Psychodynamic therapy is rooted in the understanding that much of what drives us lives below conscious awareness. The patterns that keep repeating, the feelings that arrive without explanation, the way your body responds before your mind catches up. These are not noise. They are signal.
How I practice
My work is shaped by the relational psychoanalytic tradition, particularly Winnicott on holding, Fairbairn on internal objects, and contemporary relational analysts like Jessica Benjamin. I also practice from a liberatory, intersectional feminist lens.
I am not a blank screen. I am a participant in the work. What happens between us is not separate from the healing. It is the healing.
Who this is for
People whose suffering does not fit neatly into a box. Who have tried shorter approaches and found that something underneath did not shift. Who are interested in meaning, not just symptom management.
Sessions are $150, Fridays, 8 AM to 4 PM. In-person in Seattle and telehealth throughout Washington.
Related
Relational Therapy · Depth Therapy vs CBT ·Body-Aware Therapy
Common questions about psychodynamic therapy
Why can't I change even though I understand my problem?
Because understanding something intellectually and changing it emotionally are not the same thing. You can name a pattern precisely, explain exactly where it came from, and still find yourself inside it the moment a relationship activates it. Insight is where the work starts, not where it finishes. Change comes from experiencing something different over time, in a real relationship, which is what psychodynamic therapy is built to provide.
What is psychodynamic therapy?
Psychodynamic therapy is depth-oriented talk therapy. It works from the idea that much of what drives us lives outside conscious awareness, in patterns and feelings shaped by our earliest relationships. Rather than managing symptoms from the surface, it listens for what sits underneath them, so the roots of a difficulty can be understood and, over time, changed. It tends to be longer-term and open-ended, aimed at lasting change rather than quick relief.
Why do I feel stuck even though my life looks fine?
A life that looks right from the outside can still feel hollow from the inside, and that gap is often what brings people to this work. Pervasive dissatisfaction, a sense of going through the motions, a stuckness you cannot quite explain. These are not ingratitude. They are usually a sign that something real underneath has gone unattended, and they are exactly the kind of thing depth therapy is meant to reach.
How is psychodynamic therapy different from CBT?
CBT works on the surface, on thoughts and behaviors, and it can be quick and useful. Psychodynamic therapy goes deeper, into the unconscious patterns and early experiences that generate those thoughts in the first place. Longer-term psychodynamic work is associated with benefits that continue to grow after therapy ends, because it changes the underlying structure rather than managing the symptom.
If something here is resonating, I would welcome a conversation.
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