Psychoanalytic treatment

Psychoanalytically oriented psychotherapy is a word- and relationship-based treatment that, by investigating theUnconscious, helps to improve the management of internal and external conflicts and to access a more authentic version of oneself. All of this, over time, enables more effective management of stress and intense emotions, as well as improved interpersonal relationships. Through increased self-awareness, possibilities for action and freedom of choice are expanded, promoting a richer and more satisfying life.

The symptom is one of the communications coming from our Unconscious, along with the slips, missed acts, witticisms and dreams. However, it is the one that most often takes on painful and unpleasant modes. Nevertheless, the symptom should be welcomed and listened to with respect, as it is a communication that comes from the deepest part of our mind and has a certain function in the individual’s life. It represents what the patient is not yet able to say, which is why time is needed for its message to emerge.
Sometimes the symptom represents a personal and subjective compromise “solution” (it may vary according to time and culture) to a conflict between two (often unconscious) needs or desires, which causes intense emotions such as anger or distress, which are not always conscious and which the person fears he or she cannot manage. Sometimes it may happen that the solution found creates more costs than benefits, thus becoming dysfunctional and hindering adaptation to reality and psychophysical well-being. With psychotherapy, an opportunity is created to trace the conflict, making the person aware of it and thus putting him or her in a position to choose more freely how to resolve it, with no more need to resort to the symptom.
However, not all problems of psychological origin require psychoanalytic treatment: the choice of therapy is made in agreement with the therapist in relation to the various factors that each person recognizes as priorities.