Relational & Attachment
Psychodynamic Therapy as an Integration within the ShiftGrit Core Method™
Overview
A form of depth-oriented talk therapy that works to bring unconscious mental processes into conscious awareness, on the premise that current emotional difficulties are shaped by unresolved internal conflicts, early relationships, and recurring patterns formed earlier in life. It is rooted in the psychoanalytic tradition but is typically briefer and less intensive than classical psychoanalysis, and it can be delivered in short-term or open-ended formats.
How it works
The therapist and client explore emotions, defences, recurring relational patterns, and the meaning behind symptoms, often examining how past experiences influence present behaviour. Distinctive features include a focus on affect and the expression of emotion, attention to avoidance and resistance, identification of recurring themes, and use of the therapeutic relationship itself (including transference) as a place where these patterns surface and can be understood and changed. The aim is lasting change in underlying functioning rather than only short-term symptom relief.
What it is used for
It is studied and applied across a range of presentations, including depression, anxiety disorders, panic, somatic and stress-related conditions, eating disorders, and personality disorders, and is also used for interpersonal and relational difficulties and complex or longstanding problems. Specialized adaptations exist, such as mentalization-based treatment and transference-focused psychotherapy for borderline personality disorder.
Origins and evidence base
It descends from the psychoanalysis developed by Sigmund Freud in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and was reshaped over the following decades by figures associated with ego psychology, object relations, and interpersonal schools; brief and time-limited variants were later formalized by clinicians such as David Malan, Habib Davanloo, and Peter Sifneos. The empirical base has grown through controlled trials and meta-analyses of short-term psychodynamic psychotherapy, with Jonathan Shedler's 2010 review in American Psychologist among the works frequently cited in support of its efficacy, though the evidence is generally regarded as less extensive than that for cognitive behavioural therapy.
Within the ShiftGrit Core Method™
Some patterns make more sense once you trace them back to where they began. The ShiftGrit Core Method™ is central to how we work: Pattern Theory™ maps the limiting belief sitting underneath a pattern, and the reconditioning step is designed to work on that belief directly. Psychodynamic therapy is an evidence-based approach a clinician may draw on alongside the Core Method™, and it offers a particular way of reading a pattern's history. We may use it to follow a belief back to where it was first learned, often in early relationships, and to notice the quiet protective habits a person built around it over the years. We also pay attention to how those same habits resurface in present-day relationships, which can show us which belief is being kept out of view. The clearer that map of origins and present-day echoes becomes, the more precisely the reconditioning work of the Core Method™ can be aimed. The two are intended to complement each other: one tracing where a belief came from, the other working to loosen its grip.
Illustrative example
A client might carry the limiting belief "I am abandoned," which can show up as strain in their relationships. Through psychodynamic work our clinicians may notice how they keep others at a comfortable distance, perhaps with self-deprecating humour, and how that same habit appears even in the room with us. Seeing where the pattern repeats can clarify which belief is being protected, and the reconditioning work is then aimed at that belief directly.
Based on: Shedler, J. (2010). The efficacy of psychodynamic psychotherapy. American Psychologist, 65(2), 98-109. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0018378 [source]
Clinicians who integrate Psychodynamic Therapy
If Psychodynamic Therapy is specifically what you are looking for, tell us during matching and we will pair you with a clinician who carries that training. See how we integrate evidence-based modalities within the ShiftGrit Core Method™.
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Find Your PatternTrusted by Leading Psychology & Mental Health Organizations Across Canada
ShiftGrit Psychology & Counselling is professionally regulated, certified, and recognized by leading psychology and mental-health organizations across Canada. These associations reflect our commitment to ethical practice, clinical standards, and evidence-informed therapy through Identity-Level Therapy and Reconditioning.
Trusted By Alberta’s Leading Psychology & Mental Health Organizations
ShiftGrit Psychology & Counselling is professionally regulated, certified, and recognized by leading psychology and mental-health organizations across Alberta and Canada. These associations reflect our commitment to ethical practice, clinical standards, and evidence-informed therapy through Identity-Level Therapy and Reconditioning.
Regulated and affiliated across Alberta’s leading psychology, counselling, and mental-health organizations.
Regulated and affiliated across Canada’s leading psychology, counselling, and mental-health organizations.
The descriptions and examples on this page are provided for general educational and illustrative purposes only. They explain how this approach may be integrated within the ShiftGrit Core Method™ and do not describe a specific client, represent a testimonial, or promise any particular result. Integrated modalities are offered at the discretion of individual clinicians, and whether any approach is appropriate for you is determined together with your clinician, within their professional judgement and scope of practice.
