Contemporary Psychodynamic Approaches to Treating Anxiety: Theory, Research, and Practice

Psychodynamic theory is founded on the idea that much, if not most, of human behavior is influenced by forces and experiences that lie outside of conscious awareness. It posits that despite what we may or may not recognize about our lived experience, an essential connection exists between unconscious processes and everyday psychological functioning. By extension, psychodynamic theory presumes that unconscious conflicts are pathognomonic of anxiety disorders and anxiety symptoms more generally. At the same time, the term "psychodynamic" refers not only to that which occurs within one's mind but also what happens between people and within families, groups, and systems. A comprehensive psychodynamic treatment of anxiety attempts to take into account these multiple domains of experience and functioning (including biological and genetic considerations) and applies a specific therapeutic approach to working with patients based in part on clinical techniques first developed by Sigmund Freud 100 years ago.