Psychoanalysis and Depression

A psychoanalyst, who again can be a psychiatrist or psychologist, is trained under the influence of Freud and Jung and would want to know all about your childhood, basing his/her queries on the theory that everything we do and think is influenced by our childhood experiences. The psychoanalyst feels that the root of today's depression stems from some childhood trauma and by getting to the bottom of it, and by understanding the root of the problem, the client will be able to change his/her present depressed state of mind.

The problem with this kind of therapy is that it takes years in some cases to understand the root the depression in order to gain enough insight to the extent that it helps. Another issue that arises from this kind of therapy is that understanding what makes you feel a certain way does not show you how to apply this "newfound" knowledge.

For example, many people go through the process of psycho analysis, and understand the root of their depression but do not know how to change it.

For the most part, psychoanalysis is outdated. There are only about 20% of professionals (psychologists, not to be mistaken with psychiatrists) who practice it today in North America, most of whom are centered here in Montreal.

Most psychologists and counselors today feel that it is not so important to deal with past issues to such an extent. What is important is what is happening right now.

With insurance companies paying for psychologists, often the clients of today do not have more than 10 sessions available to them. Therefore, dwelling on the past would take up too much time.

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