Psychodynamic psychotherapy has a primary focus of revealing your unconscious content in order to make an attempt at alleviating mental tension. The interpersonal relationship between therapist and client is an extremely important part of this approach to therapy. This type of therapy is a diverse collection of techniques borrowed from other sources.
The central aspect of most psychodynamic approaches is that it is thought that in part maladaptive emotions/thoughts/behaviours are unconscious. These maladaptive emotions/behaviours/thoughts are presumed to have developed early in your life and have worked their way into the present. These maladaptive emotions/thoughts/behaviours cause discord in your day to day living.
The focus of psychodynamic therapies is bringing to light these hidden conflicts, all in an attempt to resolve the mental tension that is responsible for their symptoms. Discomfort due to the symptoms is dealt with first, allowing me to work on helping you identify and recognize the maladaptive behaviours/emotions/thoughts. Often times this involves dealing with painful and traumatic memories that have been buried by your subconscious.
Delving into such personal and intimate experiences is what makes our relationship so important. Without an understanding between you and I, effective work cannot begin, thus setting the you further back from your goals. It is important that we identify the possibility, and more likely inevitability, of transference and counter-transference.
Psychodynamic therapy can take on many forms, and it is important for both you and I to understand the amount of work and commitment involved in this approach to therapy.