(she/her)
Registered Psychotherapist
RP, CTP Dipl
Deep within all of us is an inner knowing and wisdom that emerges when we cut through all the white noise of anxiety and self-doubt. Psychotherapy and the conversation that happens between client and therapist can help us quiet that noise and get underneath it so we can better understand ourselves and hear our own inner truth. It is from this place that we can make lasting changes in our lives.
Often when the people closest to us, like our friends and family, see us unhappy, upset, or stuck, they try to help by giving us advice. It might be out of their own anxiety or fear that they respond to us, in our distress, by telling us what they think we should do and how we should think. And although this usually comes from a place of caring, it can often lead us to feel more isolated and alone. Psychodynamic psychotherapy can help us understand by making room for our thoughts and feelings and allowing us to speak of them without the fear of burdening our friends and family. It also offers the opportunity to explore what is going on for us on an unconscious level through our dreams and fantasies.
Psychotherapy can be described as an ongoing conversation that takes place over a period of time. It is through this conversation and the relationship between the client and the therapist that we learn more about ourselves. Usually sessions are one hour long and once a week. This seems to work well but sometimes we may come to a different arrangement depending on what feels best. Clients are often concerned that they need to be prepared for session and sometimes it is a good idea to think about what you would like to discuss, but I really encourage clients to just allow themselves to follow their thoughts. The unconscious will always lead us where we need to go. The focus of our work is on what is current and present in your life that has brought you into therapy because we cannot change the past. But we do look to the past to learn how it has influenced the present. I also encourage clients to bring in dreams and fantasies as they are a way into the unconscious.
Compassion and kindness, while not always discussed, are still very much a part of the work of psychodynamic psychotherapy. Sometimes the work is not to see what we see, but to learn compassion and understanding for what we see. I love the below poem by Erich Fried as it illustrates this interplay.
“What It Is”
It is nonsense says reason
It is what it is says love
It is calamity says calculation
It is nothing but pain says fear
It is hopeless says insight
It is ludicrous says pride
It is foolish says caution
It is impossible says experience
–Erich Fried
I offer a free 30 minute initial consultation. You can email me at dianaorgera@gmail.com to arrange a time. I look forward to meeting you.
413-120 Carlton St, Toronto, ON, M5A 4K2