Freud's couch

Discovering and gaining insight into unconscious forces and meanings that lay beyond numerous and disabling symptoms, character traits, behavior patterns, relations with partners and oneself, following their origins and development through individual life history and experience, as well as permanent deliberation of their influence on every day life, fantasies and dreams - not only bring great relief, but also newly realized mastering of one's own emotional life provides possibility of change, discovering new and personal solutions of problems.

Although all this sounds simple, in fact it is a very complicated process that demands endurance on both sides, devotion and cooperation of the client and the therapist.

Psychoanalysis as therapy means frequent sessions, lasting 45 to 50 minutes, at fixed days and times. The client reclines on a couch, thus enabling better access to internal processes. Psychoanalytically orientated psychotherapy is a modified psychoanalysis - sessions are less frequent and the client does not recline on a couch.

The therapist assesses suitability of the treatment at its beginning, and the client gets detailed information on the method - since this is a method that does not offer "instant" solutions.

Continuity of the treatment and the cozy and non-intrusive environment provide safe atmosphere in which unconscious sources of current difficulties gradually start revealing themselves through repeating behavior patterns, through symbolic meaning of dreams and symptoms, through topics that the client finds difficult to talk about etc.