Contemporary Psychoanalysis is not your parents' psychoanalysis!
Much has changed since Freud's time! Contemporary psychoanalysis is informed by neuroscience (especially regarding how the mind functions and forms itself), attachment and child development research, and post modern thinking. Similar to how our understanding of the physical world has changed radically from the time of Newton, our understandings of our internal and interpersonal worlds is vastly different than what Freud first posited over 130 years ago.
Contemporary psychoanalysis is both a way of thinking about clinical work, and a specific frame for working. In terms of my thinking, I aim to understand your unique world and how it has been shaped by the experiences in your life. This means exploring both the past experiences in your life that have shaped how you think and feel, and the current "here and now" experience as it is unfolding in your relationships. Whereas the traditional psychoanalyst holds the belief that they "know" what is going on for the client, my stance is that I don't know; I, instead, aim to be open to understanding your world from your perspective. I believe that it is by working in this close way, that your choices start to take on new complexity and meaning and previously "stuck places" start to flow again.
In terms of the parameters for working together in an analytic way, psychoanalysis means meeting multiple times a week, with a focus on how relational patterns in your world are replicated in the therapy relationship. Meeting multiple times a week allows for our conversations to move beyond the details of daily life, and gives space to open up emotional experiences on a deeper level. Many people find this work to be both very stimulating and transformative.
In short, contemporary psychoanalysis is an interpersonal experience that emphasizes the healing properties of therapist and client working collaboratively to make sense of life in ways that are meaningful and transformative to you. If you are interested in learning more, or have questions about psychoanalysis, please feel free to email me.