Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy (ISTDP) is an advanced and short-term form of psychodynamic treatment developed by Dr. Habib Davanloo. It integrates experiential, emotion-focused, and attachment-based approaches, along with a distinctive biophysiological model of anxiety regulation.

ISTDP is specifically designed to resolve unconscious emotional conflicts that contribute to psychological distress and even physical symptoms. Central to the method is the identification and deactivation of maladaptive, unconscious defense mechanisms. The therapy empathically helps patients access, tolerate, and fully experience complex emotions within optimal levels of anxiety, working in collaboration with the unconscious mind to facilitate deep and lasting therapeutic change.

The therapeutic process focuses on detecting unconscious resistance, regulating anxiety, and unlocking repressed feelings—often rooted in early attachment experiences. Through fostering a strong, collaborative therapeutic alliance, ISTDP aims to dismantle the patterns and defenses that block emotional health, regulation and personal growth.

Renowned for its efficiency and depth, ISTDP frequently leads to profound, long-lasting transformation. Patients often experience increased self-awareness, reduced psychological and somatic symptoms, emotional liberation, and healthier, more fulfilling relationship with themselves, others and the World.

Among others, 

• Emphasis on Direct Emotional Experiences: Patients are encouraged to directly experience and process emotions rather than avoid them.
• Defense Work: ISTDP Therapists help patients recognize and abandon maladaptive defense mechanisms that block emotional expression and cause suffering
• Anxiety Regulation: Therapy includes real-time monitoring and management of anxiety responses via three distinct anxiety discharge pathways which makes it very effective in working with wide range of anxiety disorders and fostering deeper explorations
• The Unconscious Therapeutic Alliance (UTA): The therapist supportively works with the patient to mobilize innate unconscious healing strivings to rise and overcome maladaptive defences thus improving overall condition and bringing positive character changes.
• Active and Intensive Approach: ISTDP therapist is active, supporting, empathic and engaging, with direct interventions aimed at accelerating insight and change of the client.
• Duration: ISTDP is a form of short-term dynamic therapy and can last from 1 – 40 or more sessions  depending on the patient’s psychological structure of resistance and magnitude of psychological problems
• ISTDP is a transdiagnostic therapy, effectively addressing a wide range of psychological and somatic disorders by targeting the underlying unconscious emotional conflicts common across diagnoses.

Research on Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy (ISTDP) has demonstrated its effectiveness in treating a wide range of psychological and psychosomatic disorders, including anxiety, depression, personality disorders, and chronic pain conditions. Dr. Habib Davanloo developed ISTDP through systematic analysis of audio-visually recorded therapy sessions, allowing for detailed observation and refinement of techniques, while other researchers and practitioners added to the model’s implementation to a wider clinical populations.

Multiple clinical trials and meta-analyses have shown that ISTDP can produce significant and lasting improvements in both mental health symptoms and overall functioning, often in fewer sessions compared to traditional psychodynamic therapies. Studies have also highlighted ISTDP’s ability to reduce healthcare costs by decreasing the need for long-term treatment and medical interventions for somatic symptoms.

Over the past several decades, hundreds of research studies have examined ISTDP’s clinical applications, with key findings published in peer-reviewed journals such as Psychodynamic Psychiatry, Journal of Psychotherapy Integration, and Current Psychiatry Reviews.

Journal of Contemporary ISTDP is an open-access, peer-reviewed journal dedicated to ISTDP, featuring empirical studies, case reports, and theoretical discussions. It serves as a platform for the ISTDP community to share knowledge and insights.

Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy (ISTDP) offers rapid and lasting symptom relief by directly addressing deep-seated emotional conflicts that contribute to psychological distress. 

Unlike traditional long-term therapies, ISTDP aims to create meaningful change in a shorter time frame, making it highly efficient for wide spectrum of clinical problems such as anxiety, depression, personality disorders, psychosomatic conditions and more. By helping clients overcome defense mechanisms and experience repressed emotions, ISTDP leads to improved emotional regulation, healthier relationships with self, others and the world building greater psychological resilience.

Beyond individual benefits, ISTDP has been shown to reduce overall healthcare costs by decreasing duration of therapy and reliance on long-term therapies and medications. Its effectiveness in treating treatment-resistant cases makes it a valuable option for individuals who have not responded well to other forms of therapy. Additionally, ISTDP’s structured approach allows therapists to assess progress in real-time, ensuring a focused and dynamic treatment process that fosters deep personal transformation.

Taking the first step into therapy is a meaningful act of self-care that can open the door to real emotional change. ISTDP-Hub is designed to help you confidently explore Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy and connect with professionals who practice it worldwide.

Use our Therapist Directory to find someone who resonates with your needs, whether you prefer in-person support or secure online sessions. You can contact them directly from their ISTDP-Hub profile and request a meeting. 

Each profile offers insights into the therapist’s background, training, areas of focus, and personal approach, so you can choose with clarity and comfort. 

If you’re new to ISTDP, take a moment to read more on introduction to the method and its powerful impact on anxiety, depression, and emotional well-being.