Addressing trauma with psychodynamic therapy

Anyone who’s ever experienced a traumatic event knows it can leave a lasting mark on your life. Trauma can affect your beliefs, behaviors, and the way you interact with other people. And in some cases, you may not even realize just how much of an impact the traumatic event has made on you. Fortunately, addressing trauma with psychodynamic therapy may help people learn how their past experiences affect the way they live their life today. 

Psychodynamic therapy is a type of talk therapy that focuses on how people’s unconscious thoughts, feelings, and memories influence their current behavior. It’s effective for mental health conditions like anxiety and depression, and there’s some evidence it may also help people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other types of trauma. 

How psychodynamic therapy helps with trauma

If you’re experiencing distressing thoughts or behaviors, psychodynamic therapy can help you explore the underlying factors contributing to your concerns. Psychodynamic therapy states that a person’s past experiences influence their present. Through self-reflection and a strong client-therapist relationship, psychodynamic therapy can help people explore hidden memories and motivations, process their past trauma, and make informed choices about their future.

Psychodynamic therapy focuses on several key concepts that may facilitate a person’s healing journey. These include: 

• Recurring themes: Psychodynamic therapy can help people identify recurring themes in their life as well as how they may be influencing their current thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. For example, you may unknowingly resort to certain defense mechanisms or engage in risky and reckless behaviors to cope with trauma and pain. 
• Repressed emotions: Emotional numbing is an unhealthy coping mechanism that’s sometimes observed in people who experienced extreme trauma. Unfortunately, repressed emotions can be a major barrier to recovery and growth. With psychodynamic therapy, your therapist will encourage you to share and process your emotions so that you can confront those feelings and regain control. 
• Relationship patterns: Unmanaged trauma can have a negative impact on people’s relationships, but psychodynamic therapy may be able to help with that. Psychodynamic therapy uses the client-therapist relationship to understand how people interact with others. For example, if you’re suspicious of your therapist, you may realize that you have difficulty trusting other people’s motives and intentions.

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When to consider psychodynamic therapy for trauma

Psychodynamic therapy can be a valuable tool for treating trauma symptoms like anxiety, intrusive thoughts, and unexplained feelings like guilt, shame, and rage. It may be particularly useful for people with complex trauma, meaning trauma that results from repeated or prolonged exposure to events like domestic violence, childhood abuse, and war. 

Several other therapeutic techniques are considered effective for trauma. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a type of talk therapy that helps people identify and reframe unhelpful thought patterns and behaviors. While CBT is considered a first-choice treatment for PTSD, some research has found that psychodynamic therapy is also effective for treating PTSD in combat veterans. 

Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) is another type of therapy used to treat trauma. EMDR uses specific eye movements to help people identify traumatic memories and reprocess them in a way that reduces their negative impact. Psychodynamic therapy tends to focus more on uncovering unconscious processes and early relational dynamics that shape present experiences, which can be especially valuable in cases of complex trauma.

In short, the exact type of therapy will depend on your specific symptoms and treatment goals. If your goal is to manage trauma symptoms while increasing self-awareness, psychodynamic therapy may be a good fit for you. 

Advice for success in psychodynamic trauma therapy

If you’re struggling in the aftermath of trauma, the best thing you can do is seek mental health treatment. Whether it’s through psychodynamic therapy or another therapeutic approach, working with a therapist can help you process the traumatic experience, cope with its effects, and build a healthier future. 

A few considerations when exploring psychodynamic therapy:

• Commit to the process. Psychodynamic therapy is a collaborative therapeutic approach. To be successful, you should feel comfortable committing to the client-therapist relationship. Short-term psychodynamic therapy typically involves 25 sessions at most, while long-term psychodynamic therapy can last for at least 50 sessions or one year. Keep in mind, psychodynamic therapy often involves exploring deeper unconscious processes, which can be emotionally challenging but essential to uncovering how past trauma influences present behavior.
• Find the right provider. Because the client-therapist dynamic is so important, be sure to choose a therapist who makes you feel seen, understood, and supported. Look for someone who has experience treating trauma and is a good cultural fit for your needs. This will help ensure that the therapeutic relationship feels safe and effective as you work through sensitive material.
• Be open to self-reflection. Introspection is an essential element of psychodynamic therapy. And while it may not be easy to revisit traumatic memories, this type of self-reflection is key to understanding how those events have shaped your life. If this feels challenging, consider journaling so that you can process your thoughts and emotions with your therapist when you’re ready. 
• Show yourself compassion. As you work with your therapist to uncover unconscious thoughts and memories, remember to be kind to yourself. While it’s normal to feel overwhelmed or even critical of yourself at times, practicing self-compassion can help promote self-acceptance, resilience, and healing.

Find care with Rula

Psychodynamic therapy can help increase self-awareness and assist in managing mental health conditions, including trauma. By exploring how past experiences influence present thoughts, emotions, and behaviors, you can gain insight that fosters personal growth and supports the development of healthier coping strategies.

At Rula, we’re committed to delivering a comprehensive behavioral health experience that helps people feel seen and understood so they can get back to feeling their best. 

Rula makes it easier to find a licensed therapist or psychiatric provider who accepts your insurance so you don’t have to choose between affordable care and excellent care. With a diverse network of more than 15,000 providers, 24/7 crisis support, and appointments available as soon as tomorrow, we’re here to help you make progress — wherever you are on your mental health journey.

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