Psychodynamic Therapy in San Francisco

What Is Psychodynamic Therapy?

Psychodynamic therapy is a talk-therapy approach that helps people understand and resolve the deeper emotional patterns influencing their thoughts, behaviors, emotions, and relationships. In this modality, you engage in open, free-flowing conversations about what you’re struggling with now, while also exploring how past experiences may be shaping your present. Through this process, psychodynamic therapy fosters self-awareness, insight, and a renewed sense of agency in your life.

Many people pursue psychodynamic treatment because they feel their lives have become stagnant. They know they’re unhappy, yet they don’t know how to make meaningful changes—or even what they truly want in their personal or professional lives. This uncertainty can create a lingering sense of confusion about who they are and who they hope to become.

In response, some people move frequently, switch jobs, or seek new romantic partners in an attempt to find an elusive sense of fulfillment. But the search for an undefined ideal often leads to exhaustion and frustration rather than clarity. Psychodynamic therapy helps individuals redefine success on their own terms and gain insight into their deepest desires, allowing them to make more grounded and intentional life choices.

The History Of Psychodynamic Psychotherapy

Psychodynamic therapy grew out of traditional psychoanalysis, which was developed in the late 1800s and introduced the idea that psychological conflicts are often rooted in the unconscious. These early insights helped people begin to understand the deeper origins of their emotional struggles and find relief from their symptoms.

Over time, the field has evolved significantly. While early psychoanalytic approaches relied heavily on techniques like uncovering repressed memories or exploring unconscious associations through hypnosis, modern psychodynamic counseling looks very different.

Today, this approach centers on open, thoughtful conversations about the challenges you’re facing now, while gently exploring the past experiences and relational patterns that shape how you think, feel, and relate to others. Through this deeper exploration, psychodynamic therapy helps people understand why certain patterns persist, cultivate greater agency in their lives, and move toward living with more authenticity and emotional freedom.

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Who Can Benefit From Psychodynamic Therapy?

Psychodynamic therapy can be profoundly helpful for people struggling with a wide range of issues, including depression, anxiety, past trauma, chronic self-criticism, intimacy problems in relationships, and long-standing relational or behavioral patterns and personality traits that feel difficult to change. It is also well-supported by research: a 2023 meta-analysis of routinely delivered psychodynamic psychotherapy found large and clinically meaningful improvements in depression, comparable to outcomes typically seen in CBT. Importantly, the same body of research shows that psychodynamic therapy promotes broad, enduring improvements across emotional regulation, anxiety, and interpersonal functioning—gains that often continue to strengthen even after therapy ends (2023 Psychodynamic Psychotherapy Meta-Analysis).

Beyond symptom relief, psychodynamic therapy offers something uniquely transformative: the opportunity to explore deeper emotional layers, uncover and work through repressed feelings, identify self-defeating patterns, and evaluate whether your current relationships and life choices align with your psychological needs. Over time, these insights can create lasting shifts in how you understand yourself, relate to others, and navigate the world.

This depth-oriented approach is especially valuable in a city like San Francisco, where the need for meaningful mental-health support is significant. According to the San Francisco Health Improvement Partnership (SFHIP) and the Department of Public Health, 22.5% of adults report needing help for mental-health or substance-use concerns—well above the statewide average (SFHIP Mental Health Data).

To benefit from psychodynamic counseling, individuals need a willingness to be curious about themselves and their past experiences—and to explore how those early relationships and events shaped their emotional world. By bridging the past and present, people gain the self-awareness necessary to interrupt harmful patterns, deepen their capacity for connection, and build healthier, more authentic relationships with themselves and others.

My Background In Psychodynamic Therapy

I completed my doctoral degree in Psychodynamic and PsychoanalyticTherapy at the European Institute of Research in Italy in 2009 and have been practicing with this approach ever since. Over the years, I’ve continued to deepen and refine my expertise through advanced training and ongoing education across both Europe and the United States, integrating contemporary psychodynamic perspectives with relational and trauma-informed approaches.

In addition to supporting individuals and couples in my private practice on both continents, I have applied psychodynamic principles in a wide range of clinical settings, including psychiatric hospitals, forensic clinics, rehabilitation programs for alcohol and substance-use disorders, specialty clinics for personality disorders, and counseling centers serving LGBTQ+ clients. I also teach courses on psychodynamic therapy at San Francisco State University, where I train emerging clinicians to think psychodynamically, work relationally, and approach clinical work with nuance and depth.