The need for psychodynamic therapy has never been greater. Training future clinicians who will be ready to provide this care is a priority for the Endowment for the Advancement of Psychotherapy.

The Endowment is seeking to raise $2,500,000 to provide support for the following critical efforts:

• Support for the Program in Psychodynamics, a program designed specifically to give mental health professionals in-depth training in psychodynamic psychotherapy
• Support for trainees to attend national meetings and conferences to expand their understanding of psychodynamic therapy
• Scholarships for trainees to enroll in Advanced Training Programs in Psychodynamic Psychotherapy through the Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute.
• Funds for trainee participation in research training programs that prepare them for rigorous scientific investigation of this form of treatment.
• Funds for grant writing and pilot data collection for the Psychotherapy Research Program (PRP).

For information about how you can help the Endowment continue leadership in mental health, contact us or make a secure online donation to the Endowment.

Sometimes referred to as the “talking therapy”, psychodynamic treatment offers individuals a way to overcome and manage specific challenges in their lives.

Similar to the classic “patient on the couch” psychoanalysis, psychodynamics is based on the premise that mental well-being is influenced by unconscious conflicts, significant childhood experiences and painful feelings that are hidden behind a variety of defense mechanisms, which affect the individual’s development and ability to adapt to new situations and relationships. However, in dynamic therapy, therapists and patients work in partnership face-to-face — exploring together the broad spectrum of the patient’s life; not just his or her innermost thoughts and dreams.

In regularly scheduled sessions, the therapist pays close attention to critical events in the patient’s life, including relationship patterns, sense of self worth and purpose in life. The therapist listens carefully to the patient, clarifying, interpreting and pointing out associations and patterns that might not be obvious.

Through this process of guided self-discovery, patients gain an understanding of the reasons for their thoughts, feelings and actions, and learn to deal with them in more appropriate and life-enhancing ways.

Psychodynamic therapy may improve not only mental well-being, but also physical health. Several studies of patients with serious illnesses such as terminal breast cancer have shown that people who participate in supportive psychodynamic treatments live longer and maintain higher emotional well-being.

Other research indicates that, when emotional health improves, patients have fewer visits to medical doctors’ offices. This is significant since some studies estimate that the majority of all visits to medical treatment providers may be stress-related.