Jim Harris, Psy.D. PLLC
Treatment Approach: Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy
Psychotherapy helps people solve issues through talking with another human being who is trained in this fine art. For most people if they could have solved it on their own they would have. What happened? The root of the issue may lie in the unconscious, that part of the mind that often remains hidden from conscious awareness.
Using techniques such as dream interpretation and free association it's possible to explore unconscious material and shed light on helpful aspects of the mind that were previously hidden. There's also the old saying, "Two heads are better than one." Meaning that discussing important issues in confidence often in itself has healing power.
Sometimes the world knocks a person down pretty severely. Through no fault of their own bad things can and do happen to good people. Such events can be intensely traumatic in an instant, or proceed from a steady but slow drip, drip, drip (like water torture) that robs the soul every day for years. Either can lead to difficult feelings of hopelessness.
Suffering takes manifold forms: depression, anxiety, low self-confidence, relationship problems, envy, lack of meaning in life, eating disorders, body image disturbances, substance abuse, or inhibition/procrastination to name but a few. We could understand that such symptoms are expressions of deeper conflicts. Making sense out of the symptom in a way that leads to understanding the underlying conflict(s) of which the symptom is only a manifestation can be enormously beneficial.
In T.S. Elliott's, The Cocktail Party, a woman shares her tragedies and shocks the psychiatrist she's talking to by saying in effect "at least I'm responsible for it." Meaning of course that she can then do something about it. Sorting out what one is and is not responsible for can be a significant challenge. More importantly, discovering through the psychotherapeutic process what one can do about it—is a process which can yield many rewards.
Psychoanalytic psychotherapy aids individuals to better understand themselves and their relationships. The goal is personal growth, ultimately leading to healthier life and relationship choices. Rather than simply helping manage behavior, the aim is to understand the origins of painful problems and resolve the conflicts which underlie them.
Psychotherapy helps people solve issues through talking with another human being who is trained in this fine art. For most people if they could have solved it on their own they would have. What happened? The root of the issue may lie in the unconscious, that part of the mind that often remains hidden from conscious awareness.
Using techniques such as dream interpretation and free association it's possible to explore unconscious material and shed light on helpful aspects of the mind that were previously hidden. There's also the old saying, "Two heads are better than one." Meaning that discussing important issues in confidence often in itself has healing power.
Sometimes the world knocks a person down pretty severely. Through no fault of their own bad things can and do happen to good people. Such events can be intensely traumatic in an instant, or proceed from a steady but slow drip, drip, drip (like water torture) that robs the soul every day for years. Either can lead to difficult feelings of hopelessness.
Suffering takes manifold forms: depression, anxiety, low self-confidence, relationship problems, envy, lack of meaning in life, eating disorders, body image disturbances, substance abuse, or inhibition/procrastination to name but a few. We could understand that such symptoms are expressions of deeper conflicts. Making sense out of the symptom in a way that leads to understanding the underlying conflict(s) of which the symptom is only a manifestation can be enormously beneficial.
In T.S. Elliott's, The Cocktail Party, a woman shares her tragedies and shocks the psychiatrist she's talking to by saying in effect "at least I'm responsible for it." Meaning of course that she can then do something about it. Sorting out what one is and is not responsible for can be a significant challenge. More importantly, discovering through the psychotherapeutic process what one can do about it—is a process which can yield many rewards.
Psychoanalytic psychotherapy aids individuals to better understand themselves and their relationships. The goal is personal growth, ultimately leading to healthier life and relationship choices. Rather than simply helping manage behavior, the aim is to understand the origins of painful problems and resolve the conflicts which underlie them.