Psychoanalytic psychotherapy (individual and group work) can help with particular difficulties such as stress, trauma, bereavement, abuse, eating disorders, difficulties at work and relationship difficulties. When a clear focus for the work can be identified then the work can be of a short duration.
Psychoanalytic psychotherapy can also help with more deep-seated difficulties such as a loss of meaning in life, depression, fears or anxieties. A longer-term treatment is usually necessary, in which the client goes at their own pace.
The relationship with the therapist is a crucial element of the treatment. Unconscious fears and defences emerge in the relationship with the therapist. As these patterns become conscious they become understandable and open to change.