Goals of Psychodynamic Therapy

After briefly discussing the process of “translating” a patient’s desire for change into usable psychodynamic targets for change, eight specific therapy goals are described. These include several that have been discussed since the earliest days of psychoanalysis (e.g., the generation of insight, an increased ability to love and work, personality change) as well as the more transtheoretical goals of autonomy from the therapist and symptom reduction. Goals derived from existential versions of dynamic therapy are also considered (e.g., acceptance of that which cannot be changed; an increased sense of meaning and purpose). Specific suggestions for assessing clinical progress (e.g., questionnaires and interviews) and relevant citations are listed in a table and at the end of each section.