Psychotherapy in Powell River & Online Across BC
Psychodynamic Therapy for Deep Emotional Healing
At VK Wellness, we offer psychodynamic psychotherapy, a depth-oriented approach that focuses on unconscious processes, emotional conflicts, and relational patterns. This form of therapy helps individuals gain insight into their inner world, resolve psychological distress, and develop healthier ways of relating to themselves and others.
Unlike brief, symptom-focused therapies, psychodynamic therapy encourages deep emotional exploration and meaning-making. While this process takes time, it can lead to lasting change, transforming not just symptoms, but a person’s emotional resilience, relationships, and sense of self.
What is Psychodynamic Therapy?
Psychodynamic therapy explores how childhood experiences and attachment patterns shape your personality and current emotional difficulties. These early patterns often echo in adult relationships-personal, professional, and even within therapy itself.
The therapeutic relationship is central to psychodynamic work. Clients may project past relational dynamics onto the therapist, which offers a powerful lens to understand unresolved emotional conflicts. Therapy sessions become a sample of real life. For example:
- A client may view the therapist as a parent figure, seeking approval or fearing criticism.
- Some may develop romantic feelings, reflecting a longing for safe connection.
- Others may react to the therapist as they would to a past authority figure, feeling intimidated or resistant.
Through these experiences, clients begin to recognize and understand defense mechanisms-unconscious strategies developed in childhood to manage emotional pain. Common examples include:
- Denial: avoiding distress by refusing to accept reality
- Projection: attributing one’s own feelings to others
- Splitting: seeing people or situations as all good or all bad
- Sublimation: redirecting impulses into creative or productive outlets
- Intellectualization: rationalizing emotions to avoid feeling them
- Humor: using wit to cope with heavy emotions
While these defenses once served to protect, they may now hinder emotional growth, contributing to relationship difficulties, career dissatisfaction, or substance use.
Why Choose Psychodynamic Therapy?
Psychodynamic therapy is not just about analyzing the past – it’s about developing self-awareness, emotional flexibility, and the ability to form healthier relationships in the present.
At VK Wellness, we offer individual psychodynamic psychotherapy for both children and adults. Sessions are available in person in qathet/Powell River or online for clients anywhere in BC.
Booking & Pricing
- Please note: This service is not currently covered by extended health benefits or other funding sources.
- Book a Session with Julie
- Book a Free 15-Minute Consultation
