PSYCHODYNAMIC PSYCHOTHERAPY1
Psychodynamic psychotherapy underlines the inner workings of a patient’s psyche
and advocates that the client’s self-awareness and the understanding of the impact of past on
the behaviours of the present (Basham et al., 2016). Psychodynamic psychotherapy can be
used as to tap into the unconscious mind and attempts to unfold the series of upsetting
feelings, urges and desires as well as thoughts that are too troublesome for the conscious
mind, built upon the background that these recurring troubling instances that are housed in
the unconscious still influence our behaviour.
In the case of the current client, the following points highlight her key issues as
recorded during the counselling sessions:
1. Client was bullied between 5 – 8 years of age by the daughter of her caretaker who
was of the same age.
2. At age 16 she experienced a break in into her house and hid behind he door, causing
her to have repeated fearful recollections of the incidents for quite some time.
3. Her previous relationship was strained because of an abusive and controlling partner,
intimacy was painful, relationship had many instances of abuse, post relationship
phase was marked by frequent stalking by her ex-partner.
4. Familial relationships does not appear to be good with father who suffers from type 1
diabetes and is controlling about everyone’s diet. Brother does not want to talk about
any kind of issues and so relationship is strained.
5. Client shares good relationship with grandmother who takes care of her nutrition.
6. Client suffers from acute anorexia nervosa and PTSD, social anxiety disorder and
experiences repeated flashbacks and panic attacks whenever a triggering element like
memory or reference to above points 2 and 3 are encountered.
The underlying theory of psychodynamic psychotherapy entails that in order to bring
in a change in the symptoms or the behaviour (Basham et al., 2016; Gabbard, 2014), the

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Psychodynamic Psychotherapy Theory 2022

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