How Do I Know if Existential Psychodynamic Therapy is for Me?

When people begin to think about starting therapy, they’re often faced with a long list of approaches: CBT, person-centred therapy, psychodynamic therapy, existential analysis, and many more. Each has its own way of understanding human distress and growth.

At ECPT, we specialise in existential psychodynamic therapy, a form of therapy that draws together two rich traditions: psychodynamic therapy, which emphasises the importance of our past experiences and unconscious processes, and existential therapy, which focuses on our lived experience, freedom, and responsibility in the present. If you’re wondering whether this type of therapy is right for you, it may help to understand what makes it distinctive.

Looking Beneath the Surface

One of the central insights of psychodynamic therapy is that we are often influenced by feelings, patterns, and conflicts that operate outside our immediate awareness. These unconscious dynamics tend to repeat in our relationships, including the therapeutic relationship. By exploring them together with your therapist, you may gain greater freedom and self-understanding.

If you’ve ever noticed yourself repeating patterns in relationships — perhaps struggling with boundaries, feeling the same disappointments arise, or reacting strongly without fully understanding why — psychodynamic therapy provides a space to explore and untangle these dynamics.

Facing Life’s Bigger Questions

Existential therapy, by contrast, begins not so much with childhood history but with the givens of existence: mortality, freedom, isolation, and meaning. These are realities every human being must grapple with, but they often come to the surface during times of crisis, transition, or loss.

Clients who come with questions such as:

• What do I want my life to stand for?

• How do I live with uncertainty or change?

• Why do I feel disconnected, even when things look fine on the outside?

…may find the existential dimension of this therapy particularly valuable.

Why Combine the Two?

While psychodynamic therapy and existential therapy can be practiced separately, their integration creates a unique therapeutic space.

• From the psychodynamic side, we look at the impact of formative relationships, unconscious processes, and the therapeutic relationship itself.

• From the existential side, we acknowledge the freedom — and responsibility — each person has to shape their life, even when carrying the weight of past experiences.

This integration means we do not see people as determined only by their past, nor as entirely free-floating in the present. Instead, we attend to how history and freedom, unconscious conflict and existential choice, interweave in shaping your life.

How Does It Differ from Other Forms of Therapy?

Unlike short-term, solution-focused therapies, existential psychodynamic therapy is usually a longer-term commitment. The aim isn’t just to “fix” a symptom quickly but to:

• Develop deeper self-understanding

• Explore unconscious conflicts and patterns

• Confront existential themes such as anxiety, freedom, and mortality

• Create space for authenticity and growth

This approach may feel different from cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT), for example, which is more structured and focused on techniques for managing symptoms. Instead, existential psychodynamic therapy values the therapeutic relationship as a place where long-standing patterns can be recognised, worked through, and transformed.

Who Might Benefit?

People often seek out existential psychodynamic therapy when they feel that surface-level coping strategies aren’t enough. It may be especially helpful if you:

• You are interested in understanding yourself more deeply, not just in solving a specific symptom

• Feel stuck in recurring relationship patterns

• Struggle with low mood, anxiety, or emptiness

• Are adjusting to life transitions (loss, parenthood, ageing, identity shifts)

• Want to explore questions of meaning and purpose

• Have tried other therapies but want to go deeper

• You feel drawn to therapy that works at both emotional and reflective levels.

• You want a therapy that holds both your past and your present — and your future possibilities.

What to Expect

Psychodynamic and existential therapists usually recommend a regular, ongoing commitment. Therapy sessions are typically weekly, at the same time each week, and are open-ended rather than limited to a set number of sessions. This allows the work to unfold at your pace, sometimes more quickly, sometimes more slowly. Therapy works best when there is consistency and a strong therapeutic relationship. It is in the ongoing rhythm of weekly sessions that unconscious material emerges, and existential themes can be explored in depth.

You are invited to bring whatever is on your mind. The therapist won’t give you quick solutions but will work with you to notice patterns, reflect on your experience, and connect what happens in the therapy room to your wider life.

The therapy may explore:

• Childhood and family relationships

• Feelings of guilt, resentment, or longing

• The tension between freedom and responsibility

• How to live authentically in the face of uncertainty

This process can sometimes be challenging — but many clients find it rewarding, even life-changing.

Is It the Right Fit for Me?

Ultimately, the best way to know whether this form of therapy is right for you is to try it. Many clients report that it takes a few sessions to get a feel for whether the therapeutic relationship feels like a good fit. If you are curious about both how your past shapes you and how you can live more authentically in the present, existential psychodynamic therapy may offer a uniquely rich path.

Next Steps

If you’d like to learn more about existential psychodynamic therapy in Edinburgh, you can explore our website to read about our therapists and approach as well as our Existential Workbook. We also welcome enquiries if you’d like to arrange an initial assessment which you can do through our reduced-cost therapy service.

Further reading:

• Freud, S. (2024). Remembering, repeating and working-through (Further recommendations on the technique of psycho-analysis II). In On Freud’s “Remembering, Repeating and Working-Through” (pp. 14-21). Routledge.

• Yalom, I. D. (1980). Existential Psychotherapy. Basic Books.