Learning Objectives

  1. Identify the primary goal of psychodynamic psychotherapy.
  2. Describe the techniques used by psychodynamic therapists to access the unconscious.
  3. Explain the implications for psychotherapy of fixation at Freud’s oral, anal, and phallic psychosexual stages.
  4. Contrast contemporary forms of psychodynamic psychotherapy with Freud’s original approach.
  5. Discuss brief psychodynamic psychotherapy approaches.
  6. Summarize the findings of psychodynamic psychotherapy outcome research.