The Therapy Therapists Choose:

Many psychologists and therapists intentionally choose psychodynamic therapy for their own personal development and self-growth even when they are trained in (and regularly practice) other modalities. It is not because brief, skills-based approaches lack value, it is because clinicians often want a different kind of experience: depth, meaning, pattern recognition and lasting internal change.

Psychodynamic therapy offers a space to explore the unconscious patterns that quietly shape our choices, relationships, and emotional reactions. As therapists, we can become highly competent at helping others regulate their own nervous system, challenge cognitions, or build coping strategies and yet still feel “caught” in familiar interpersonal loops, self-doubt, or hidden grief. Depth therapy aims to make those loops intelligible. When we understand the story underneath the symptom, we can respond with more freedom.

For many clinicians, the appeal is also relational and interpersonal. Psychodynamic therapy treats the therapeutic relationship as central, using it as a living laboratory to notice defenses, attachment strategies, and the subtle ways we manage closeness, power, dependency, and care. That kind of exploration can deepen empathy and sharpen clinical intuition.

There is a professional benefit, too: doing our own psychodynamic therapy supports ethical practice. It helps us recognize countertransference, reduce blind spots, and strengthen reflective functioning—so we’re less likely to act from unexamined parts of ourselves in the consulting room.

Ultimately, therapists seek psychodynamic therapy because it invites more than symptom relief. It offers self-knowledge, emotional integration, and a durable capacity to face complexity with curiosity rather than avoidance.