You may be reading this because someone has suggested that you could benefit from psychoanalysis. Perhaps you already have experience with insight-oriented psychotherapy; however, you or your therapist believes that to reach your full potential a broader and more inclusive approach is needed. Some people come to psychoanalysis because they have tried other forms of therapy and found them to be of only temporary help. Friends or relatives who have benefited from this type of treatment may have recommended it. Therefore, you are now looking for a psychoanalyst.
Dr. Richard Bennett is a graduate of the William Alanson White Institute and has been practicing both psychotherapy and psychoanalysis for over 40 years. His method is to initially evaluate a prospective patient and discuss with him or her whether psychoanalysis is the best method to reach their life goals. Dr. Bennett will also discuss the timing and frequency of sessions. The primary method used in psychoanalysis is called “free association.” The patient is encouraged to speak whatever thoughts come to mind and to describe any feelings. Dreams are also reported and explored. The analyst provides guidance.
People often come to psychoanalysis because life is not providing what it should. Perhaps they have failed to find love or are having difficulty meeting their potential. A better understanding is needed as to what has stood in the way of life’s fulfillment. Rather than focusing on the modification of specific behaviors or emotions, psychoanalysis tries to help an individual understand and integrate their entire personality through exploring and processing their associations, dreams, thoughts and feelings. Personal and emotional problems may stem from much earlier experiences in a person’s life. These memories and emotional details may have been suppressed from conscious awareness, or seem removed from the person’s current life experience. However, they are all important, and this means looking at both past and current relationships to see how they add up to a single understanding. Once an individual has begun to understand who they are and how they came to be, they are then ready to find ways to change.
Psychoanalysis is most often recommended to help people address long-standing issues in order to improve the quality of their lives. As such, insurance does not usually cover psychoanalysis, both as a method, and also because sessions may be more than once a week. Insurance carriers tend to prefer either short-term or behavioral treatments that they believe address the most immediate issues. Therefore, psychoanalysis involves a greater time commitment and usually more of an investment than other methods.
You are invited to call Dr Richard Bennett at 212.787.0874 to arrange a consultation. Dr. Bennett is a member of the William Alanson White Institute and the American Psychoanalytic Association.