Psychodynamic Therapy VS Directive Therapy

What’s the difference?

Both types of therapy have the aim of helping you to reduce or overcome the symptoms and distress associated with your particular problem.

The core difference between the Directive therapies such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and Psycho-dynamic therapies such as Psychoanalysis is that psycho-dynamic therapy tries to resolve the reasons WHY you feel the way that you do, to help to uncover deep and often unconscious motivations for certain feelings and thoughts.

Directive therapies, on the other hand, do not attempt to discover these deeper meanings, but aim to provide relief from suffering as quickly as possible by re-training your mind to replace any dysfunctional or distorted thought patterns or belief systems

Features of Each Therapy

Directive Therapy

Relatively brief and time limited – typically 12 -24 weeks
Highly instructional with Homework a key element
Highly structured and guided by the Therapist
The focus is on “here-and-now” not the past
The Client-Therapist relationship is not a key factor

Psycho-dynamic Therapy

Can be brief, but typically 24 weeks or more
Less rigid session framework and no homework required
The Client’s pace sets the agenda for progress
Seeks to link the Past with the Present Symptomology
The Client-Therapist relationship is significant (Transference)

The Pros and Cons

	Directive Therapy	Psycho-dynamic Therapy
Pros	Directive therapies foster the idea of independent effort on behalf of the client and therefore relies much less on the therapist.	Engenders the idea of the Client-Therapist relationship and is therefore a collaborative experience.
Pros	As the therapy takes place over a relatively short period of time, it can be less financially draining	Takes place over a longer period of time and tackles a wider range of issues.
Pros	It’s quicker to produce results as it is very focused and doesn’t generalise.	Because the object of the therapy is to uncover the causes of the dysfunctional thinking or behaviours, it is thought to be more effective in the longer term and in a more general way.
Cons	Some people find that it seems superficial and takes no account of their personal history.	Some people find the uncovering and re-experiencing of emotions quite difficult and uncomfortable.
Cons	Can seem to down play emotions and over-emphasise logical thought oriented elements of a person life.	Many find it difficult to believe that unconscious processes can be influencing a person’s behaviour and prefer a more logical approach.
Cons	May have very little impact on some of the more deeply engrained behaviours and problems.	Therapy requires the examination and consideration of both earlier experiences and the Therapy relationship which some do not like.

Free Initial Consultations

We offer all prospective clients an initial consultation to discuss your mental health problems prior to commencing any counselling.

The consultation is free and lasts around 50 minutes.

During this consultation we will discuss the various types of psychological therapy that are available to you and make a considered recommendation based on your individual personal circumstances.

Initial consultations are also available as part of our online counselling service.

At Tranceform Psychology we emphasise the importance of the therapy relationship in helping people to bring about effective change, so its important to be able to ‘meet’ to discuss our change programmes BEFORE proceeding.

Our policy is to help people make a fully balanced & considered decision about undertaking mental health work with us, including both the financial and personal implications.

Tranceformental Online CBT Course on PC screen

Overcome Your Mental Health difficulties with Our Online CBT Programme - From Only £299!

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is clinically proven to be effective for a range of mental health problems and can be carried out in the comfort of your own home.

Structured over TEN, in-depth modules, our advanced CBT course will teach you everything you need to know to change the way you think about and experience your problems without having to spend a fortune.

The course is available with 2, 5 or 10 sessions of clinical support in-clinic or using Zoom.

Click Tranceformental CBT to find out more.

Also available as a self-directed course without any clinical support for just £149.