CBT vs. Insight-Oriented Therapy for Relationship Problems

When people begin looking for therapy, they often come across different terms that can be difficult to sort through. Two of the most common are CBT, or cognitive behavioral therapy, and insight-oriented therapy, which includes approaches such as psychodynamic therapy, depth therapy, and attachment-informed therapy. Both can be helpful. Both can support meaningful change. But …

Why Choose an Independent Oregon Psychologist Instead of a Large Online Therapy Platform?

Many people begin their search for therapy on large online platforms such as Alma, Headspace, Rula, BetterHelp, Talkspace, Grow Therapy, or other online therapy directories. These platforms can be helpful starting points because they make therapy feel more searchable and accessible. Alma describes its service as helping people find in-network care and the right therapist …

Telehealth Mental Health Services in Oregon: Accessible Care for Depression, Anxiety, and Positive Change

Accessing mental health care in Oregon has become easier, more flexible, and more convenient through telehealth. Whether you live in Portland, Eugene, Bend, Salem, Medford, the Oregon Coast, or a rural community in Eastern Oregon, telehealth can make high-quality mental health treatment available without the need to commute, sit in waiting rooms, or rearrange your …

Why Psychodynamic Psychotherapy Matters in a Fast-Paced World

In a world built for speed, psychodynamic psychotherapy may be more important than ever.We live in an age of instant answers, rapid swipes, constant notifications, and endless self-optimization. Feeling anxious? Search for a tool. Feeling lonely? Open an app and start scrolling. Feeling stuck? Look for the next hack.Psychodynamic psychotherapy offers something increasingly rare: a …

How Researchers Measure “Real” Change in Psychodynamic Therapy

Symptom checklists are helpful but Psychodynamic treatment aims for deeper change: how a person organizes self, how defense mechanisms are used to ward off unconscious content, object relations, and ontological meaning. So how do researchers measure that kind of growth?There are a lot Psychodynamically orientated assessments and tests out there, but here are three common “beyond …

Why Undergraduate Students Still Need Psychodynamic Psychotherapy:

With students being inundated with only short-term outcomes, protocols, and manualized treatments, many undergraduate and graudate programs students are taught therapy as if it began with cognitive-behavioral worksheets and deep breathing.Psychodynamic psychotherapy is not just another approach, it is the theory from which nearly every modern therapy emerged. From the early work of Sigmund Freud, …

Beyond Symptom Relief: The Depth Work of Psychodynamic Therapy

Beyond Symptom Relief: The Depth Work of Psychodynamic TherapyPsychodynamic therapy continues to evolve with a focus on research and being an evidence-based treatment. A 2023 meta-analysis by Leichsenring and colleagues examined 27 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing psychodynamic therapy (PDT) to other treatments (e.g., CBT) for depression. The study found PDT to be equally effective …

If You Still Think Psychodynamic Therapy Is not “Evidence-Based,” You Haven’t Looked at the Evidence:

Twenty years ago, saying “psychodynamic psychotherapy is evidence-based” was a good way to get dismissed as “old school” or "outdated." Today, if someone still says that, they are not describing the data and evidence, they are describing their own bias and perhaps knowledge gap.Over the last 20–30 years, the empirical picture has flipped. Meta-analyses of …