What is Psychotherapy? A Beginner’s Guide
Therapy was often imagined as lying down on a chaise longue, endlessly talking about your childhood to an analyst who feels distant and clinical. While modern day therapy is often pictured as a place to collect “tools” or life advice to manage problems or push away difficult thoughts.
In reality, psychotherapy is not really either of these things (except I absolutely have a chaise longue in my office). At its heart, it is a deeply human process, a relationship, a science yes but more of an art. It provides a safe and confidential space where you can explore what feels confusing, painful, or stuck, with someone trained to listen in a way that friends and family cannot.
Psychotherapy helps people understand themselves, not just in terms of what they think and feel, but why. Many people come to therapy noticing patterns they don’t want to repeat, like falling into the same kinds of relationships, criticising themselves harshly, struggling with anxiety or depression that just doesn’t seem to move. A good therapist won’t give you a list of solutions, but they will help you explore the underlying meanings behind these struggles.
What Happens in Psychotherapy?
What Psychotherapy Is
A place where your experiences are taken seriously, without judgement.
A space to explore repeating patterns in your thoughts, feelings, and relationships.
A way of understanding parts of yourself that may have been ignored, criticised, invalidated, or hidden.
A process that unfolds at your pace, guided by curiosity and compassion.
A relationship that can become a model for healthier, more authentic connections in your life.
A relationship that can become a corrective experience for what might not have been there before.
What Psychotherapy Is Not
It is not the same as chatting with a friend. While friends can be supportive, psychotherapy is a structured and thoughtful process.
It is not about advice or quick fixes. If the answers were simple, you would likely have found them already.
It is not about being judged, labelled, or told what to do. The focus is on you as a whole person, not a set of symptoms.
It is not always easy. Facing yourself can be challenging, but it is profoundly rewarding.
It is not just about techniques or tools. You can find these tools online, therapy helps you develop self-awareness, emotional regulation, and relational skills that can only be formed through a human relationship and not through being taught or read about.
Psychotherapy vs Counselling
Many therapists use the terms counselling and psychotherapy almost interchangeably, and our training programmes often do too. Both are spaces for support, healing, and understanding. Traditionally, counselling has been more short-term, addressing specific challenges like breakups, workplace stress, or grief. Psychotherapy, especially in psychodynamic or psychoanalytic traditions, is usually deeper, longer-term work.
In Ireland, this interchangeability is widely accepted. Both counselling and psychotherapy fall under a broader therapeutic umbrella, including Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, person-centred, Gestalt, psychodynamic approaches, and more.
CORU and the Changing Landscape of Psychotherapy in Ireland
In Ireland, CORU’s new Standards and Criteria for Psychotherapists are aiming to ensure public safety and professional competence to future clients. Historically, psychotherapy and counselling have often been used interchangeably, but CORU’s new framework will formally separate the two. Counsellors will require a bachelor’s degree, psychotherapists a master’s degree, and each will have distinct roles and competencies.
The new standards for psychotherapists emphasise clinical skills, risk assessment, structured evaluation, and collaboration with other health professionals, placing less emphasis on the relational, depth-oriented work that has long been central to approaches such as psychoanalytic, Jungian, humanistic, or integrative therapy. Previous long-standing requirements, including extensive personal therapy, personal analysis, and reflective personal development, are no longer mandatory. In my view, a psychotherapist who has not undertaken substantial personal therapy or analysis may lack the experiential grounding necessary to provide fully competent and safe therapy.
This shift in the field of psychotherapy has significant implications. Traditional programmes may need to adjust to meet these clinical-focused standards, potentially reducing the depth-oriented training that has historically distinguished psychotherapy from other modalities. Therapy may increasingly focus on assessment and measurable outcomes rather than the long-term self-exploration and relational growth that are central to meaningful therapeutic work. Existing therapists may face challenges aligning their qualifications with the new registration pathways, and clients seeking psychotherapy in Ireland might encounter more structured, clinically-focused approaches rather than the relational, exploratory work that is at the heart of genuine psychotherapy.
In short, while CORU aims to strengthen accountability and public safety, it also reshapes the landscape of psychotherapy, raising important questions about how relational, reflective, and depth-oriented approaches will be valued and supported in the future, and may subtly favour shorter-term, structured, clinically-focused therapies over long-term, relational work.
What is Psychoanalytic and Psychodynamic Psychotherapy?
If it wasn’t already a lot to differentiate between psychology, psychiatry, psychotherapy, and counselling, there is now a whole world of approaches within psychotherapy. Today, I’ll focus on psychoanalytic and psychodynamic therapy, my preferred approaches for long-lasting change.
Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy
Psychoanalytic psychotherapy originates from Freud’s classical psychoanalysis and has been expanded by theorists such as Melanie Klein, D.W. Winnicott, and contemporary relational analysts. At its heart, it attempts to uncover the unconscious forces that shape our thoughts, feelings, and behaviours which are often rooted in early relationships with caregivers.
In practice, psychoanalytic therapy involves:
Exploring the unconscious mind: Clients share their thoughts freely through free association and dreams, repetitive patterns, and even slips of the tongue can reveal hidden conflicts.
Understanding object relations: Early experiences with our caregivers aka our “objects” are internalised and influence how we relate to others today. These patterns of idealisation, dependence, or conflict are then often repeated in adult relationships.
Working through transference: The feelings you project onto your therapist become a mirror of past relational dynamics. The therapist’s awareness of their own reactions (countertransference) helps illuminate these patterns and allows them to be worked through in the room.
Psychoanalytic psychotherapy is usually long-term and intensive. Its goal is not just symptom relief, but transformation of personality, greater self-understanding, and the ability to form authentic, fulfilling relationships.
Example: A client who constantly fears rejection may explore how this pattern echoes early experiences with a critical parent, learning to tolerate vulnerability in current relationships.
Psychodynamic Psychotherapy
Psychodynamic psychotherapy evolved from psychoanalysis into a more flexible and accessible approach. While it shares a focus on unconscious processes and early relational experiences, psychodynamic therapy is often more adaptable to our current life challenges.
Key features include:
Exploring recurring patterns: Clients identify emotional and relational patterns that interfere with daily life.
Balancing past and present: Childhood experiences are explored, with an emphasis on how they shape present relationships, work life, and emotional wellbeing.
Relational focus: The therapeutic relationship itself provides a “corrective experience,” helping clients internalise healthier ways of relating.
Creative and symbolic exploration: Drawing on Jungian ideas, clients may explore dreams, symbols, or creative expression to access unconscious aspects of the self.
Research, including meta-analyses by Jonathan Shedler, shows that psychodynamic therapy produces lasting improvements not only in symptoms like anxiety and depression but in overall personality functioning and relational capacities.
How the Therapeutic Relationship Works
A cornerstone of psychoanalytic and psychodynamic therapy is the relationship between client and therapist. As Nancy McWilliams emphasises, this relationship is more than a container, it is a living arena where change occurs.
Transference and countertransference: Clients experience and reflect on relational patterns in real time.
Corrective emotional experiences: Therapy allows clients to internalise new ways of relating, promoting resilience and healthier connections outside therapy.
Collaborative exploration: Therapy is a safe, supportive partnership, not a distant analysis.
Example:
A client struggling with chronic self-criticism may discover that this inner voice echoes a critical parent from childhood. Therapy helps the client recognise this, separate the past from the present, and develop a more compassionate internal dialogue.
Someone with recurring anxiety in romantic relationships might see how fear and withdrawal replicate early attachment experiences. Psychodynamic exploration helps break these patterns and build trust.
Why Choose Psychoanalytic or Psychodynamic Therapy?
Both approaches offer depth, insight, and lasting change.
They both:
Address the roots of emotional struggles, not just symptoms.
Strengthen self-awareness, emotional regulation, and relational capacity.
Are supported by research demonstrating enduring benefits, especially for personality development and relational functioning.
Modern psychodynamic therapy is flexible and practical while preserving the richness of psychoanalytic insight. Whether you’re dealing with anxiety, depression, relationship difficulties, or self-critical patterns, these approaches provide a pathway to understanding yourself more deeply and creating meaningful, lasting change.
How Psychotherapy Helps With Anxiety, Depression, and Relationships
Struggles such as anxiety, low mood, relationship difficulties, or low self-esteem often reflect earlier experiences that left their mark.
A critical parent may shape a harsh inner voice.
Early loss may make later separations feel overwhelming.
Lack of emotional attunement in childhood may lead to difficulty trusting others as an adult.
Psychodynamic and psychoanalytic therapies don’t just manage symptoms, they aim to understand the roots of struggles, so change happens at a deeper level. This doesn’t mean living in the past; it means recognising how the past still influences the present and finding new ways of relating to yourself and others.
Therapy as Growth, Not Just Symptom Relief
One of the most meaningful aspects of psychotherapy is that it supports growth. As therapy progresses, people often feel not just less anxious or depressed, but more creative, more loving, and more alive.
The goal is not simply to “fix” what feels broken, but to enlarge your capacity for love, work, play, and a fuller, authentic life.
Thinking About Starting Psychotherapy?
If you’re curious whether psychotherapy is right for you, I offer a safe and supportive space to explore what you need. Even if you’re unsure what you want or need, simply exploring your thoughts and feelings in a confidential space can be the first step toward meaningful change. Feel free to get in touch to arrange an initial session.
