Every psychotherapy is an encounter—with another person, but also, and perhaps above all, with ourselves. A difficult, sometimes painful, yet necessary encounter if we want to understand the sources of our inner tensions. In a psychodynamic approach, this encounter always leads us back to the beginnings—to the early relationships in which our sense of security and ability to be in the world were shaped. The quality of care experienced in the first part of life shapes the later emotional structure. This is where the foundations of our relationships are born – trust, the capacity for closeness, the ability to regulate emotions.
The central element of this journey is therapeutic relationship – a special bond that develops between patient and therapist. This is not just a neutral conversation, but a space where patterns and emotions from other important relationships in the patient's life are recreated – often unconsciously. The therapist becomes a mirror in which one can see one's past experiences: fear, a desire for closeness, feelings of rejection, or shame. Thanks to what emerges in this relationship, understanding and transformation are possible – because what once hurt can now be experienced differently.
"The quality of care experienced in the first part of life shapes the later emotional structure.."
The shorter path – short-term therapy
Short-term therapy is like an intensive course in navigating the stormy seas of life. The patient comes in crisis—wracked by anxiety, depression, or a sense of loss of control—and seeks a way to avoid drowning. Meetings are limited in time, usually consisting of a dozen or several dozen sessions.
Here the therapist acts as a guide who identifies recurring patterns and helps to identify their source. The psychologist must formulate hypotheses that, by reconstructing interactions with important people, will enable him to assess the current state of fragile equilibrium. The focus is specific: the chosen problem, relationship, difficulty that most bothers us here and now.
The therapeutic relationship in short-term work is subordinated to this goal—it becomes a tool that allows us to see, in a relatively short period of time, how past experiences impact our current lives. This work is focused, but not superficial—more like quickly uncovering a section of a tree's roots to understand why the leaves are withering.
The longer path – long-term therapy
Long-term therapy is a different journey—slow, multi-layered, and demanding patience. It's work that reaches deeper than the crisis itself. It's no longer about simply managing symptoms, but about changing the very structure of experience, how we experience ourselves and others.
The therapeutic relationship takes on even greater significance here. Through their collaborative work, the patient and therapist create a bond that becomes a living emotional laboratory. It is in this relationship that past pain, defense mechanisms, and desires emerge in the present. This allows for the gradual unraveling of the knots that have bound the patient's life since childhood. This allows for the formulation of hypotheses that will explain possible distortions in emotional development and the traumatic nature of early childhood experiences.
Long-term therapy is a work for those who carry something heavier within them—reflections of trauma, a deeply rooted sense of emptiness, recurring painful relational patterns. Its goal is not only relief but also transformation—change that affects the very foundation of psychological life.
Two paths, same goal
Both forms of psychotherapy—short and long—lead to an encounter with one's own history. One provides rapid relief and tools for coping with a crisis, while the other allows for a profound transformation of one's inner world.
There's no single solution—some people need a brief pause and understanding, others a long-term process that leads them through layers of forgotten emotions. In both cases, however, psychotherapy remains the same: an attempt to retell one's story so that they can live more fully and with greater freedom from the past.