This approach brings with it a deep understanding that we all have hidden levels of awareness that contain memories, beliefs, emotions, urges, defenses arising from the past, that we unknowingly live out. It recognizes the power of the unconscious (or “inner mind”) in its ability to both hinder our efforts to change, and enable us to break free of self-defeating patterns.
The two key fears that are prevalent throughout all cultures and all historical periods can be boiled down to 1) The fear that things will never change and 2) The fear that they will. The dynamic tension between these two can be immobilizing. A psychodynamic approach can help to discover why you find yourself making decisions that take you in the exact opposite direction that you intended—or how it is that you find yourself clueless about why you feel the way you do—about anything or anyone. The way out of these dilemmas, as Freud put it, is by “making the unconscious, conscious. ” With greater awareness comes freedom of choice. With freedom of choice, comes the expansion of personhood, and the courage to live a life worth living.
Psychodynamic principles are integrated in all of the work that Dr. Bennett does but a more focused psychodynamic approach is used depending on the needs of the client.