Psychoanalysis is a more intensive form of individual therapy that usually involves 2 or 3 sessions per week. It can be a highly effective form of creating lasting emotional change and building resiliency to stress. Perhaps deservedly so, psychoanalysis has gotten a bad rap in popular culture. This form of therapy is usually portrayed with a silent authoritarian analyst, the patient laying on a couch, and lots of cryptic psychobabble. Today’s form of psychoanalysis is a highly interactive process between patient and therapist where the focus is both to learn about oneself and build emotionally satisfying relationships. It can be an enlivening, fulfilling, and enriching experience.
Recent empirical in psychoanalysis has shown that its result are long lasting and may even be more effective than short term approaches such as cognitive behavioral therapy or medication alone.
