Psychodynamic Therapy
Some patterns survive every strategy thrown at them — the same relationship arc, the same collapse after success, the same allergy to being cared for. When a pattern is that durable, it isn't a habit. It's a structure, built early, running quietly, organizing your present from underneath.
Psychodynamic therapy is the depth discipline: understanding how your history became your operating system, so the code can finally be revised rather than endlessly patched.
When depth work is the right tool
- Patterns that repeat across jobs, cities, and relationships
- Success that never lands; care that never gets in
- Relationships that recreate a familiar early role
- A vague, persistent sense of emptiness or performing
- Grief and identity questions that resist quick reframing
- When you've done the skills-based work and want the roots
What sessions are like
Less structured than CBT, more rigorous than venting. We follow what surfaces — present difficulties, history, dreams sometimes, and the relationship with the therapist itself, which reliably replays the very patterns we're studying, live and revisable.
Modern psychodynamic work is active and engaged — you'll get observations, connections, and honest hypotheses, not a silent nod. And contrary to reputation, its evidence base is solid, with effects that research suggests continue growing after therapy ends.
Practical details
55-minute sessions, $215 with sliding scale from $150–194. Depth work benefits from rhythm — weekly is the usual cadence — downtown or via telehealth across DC.
Common questions
Ready to begin?
The 15-minute consult is where most people begin.