Article
| Disorder | Psychodynamic Theory | Psychodynamic Treatment Approach |
|---|---|---|
| Panic Disorder | Panic reflects fearful dependency on others. Anger and autonomy feel threatening, so symptoms express vulnerability ("I'm sick, not dangerous"). | Explore context and emotions behind panic episodes. Identify fears of separation and anger. Address interpersonal difficulties with assertion and unmet needs. |
| Agoraphobia | Symptoms defend against unconscious conflict about anger, autonomy, and separation. Patients externalize inner danger to the environment. | Clarify how fears relate to aggression and separation anxiety. Work with avoidance in context of underlying emotional conflicts. No formal exposure is used. |
| Social Anxiety Disorder | Underlying feelings of inadequacy and fear of rejection are paired with grandiose fantasies and guilt about aggression. | Identify fantasies and underlying emotions, especially self-criticism, aggression, and shame. Explore transference and expectations of rejection. |
| Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) | Excessive worry defends against feared loss of control over unconscious aggressive, sexual, or dependent impulses. | Identify internal conflicts and wishes being managed through hypervigilance. Understand displacement of fear onto external themes or the body. |
| Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) | Trauma leads to dissociation, rage, and guilt (e.g., identification with the aggressor, survivor guilt). Reenactments express unconscious efforts to manage trauma. | Understand the meaning of dissociation and symptoms. Address guilt, traumatic identification, and emotional conflict through working with transference. |
| Cluster C Personality Disorders (Avoidant, Dependent, Obsessive-Compulsive) | Conflict between aggression and dependency produces inhibition, passivity, and avoidance. | Interpret passivity and aggression in the transference. Help patients develop autonomy and assertiveness while working through guilt and dependency. |
| Major Depression | Narcissistic vulnerability leads to conflicted aggression, guilt, and self-criticism. Idealization of others and high expectations cause recurrent disappointment. | Address inner aggression and guilt. Identify high self-standards and help patients manage disappointment, anger, and lowered self-worth. |
| Borderline Personality Disorder | Inability to tolerate negative affects (e.g., rage) leads to splitting and fear of harming the “good” other. Identity remains unstable. | Work with rage and shifting perceptions in the transference. Clarify defenses and promote mentalization (understanding motives in self and others). |
| Narcissistic Personality Disorder | Underlying low self-esteem drives idealized self-views. When unmet, leads to rage, disappointment, and devaluation of others. | Explore rage and disappointment in the transference. Identify unrealistic self-ideals and manage the tension between self-worth and relational expectations. |
