What is Psychotherapy?
  Psychotherapy is the process of talking with a trained therapist about feelings, thoughts, and events in the present and the past.  Through the relationship with the therapist old and new interpersonal issues can be explored and worked on, and new behaviors and ways of being in the world achieved.  Health is reached through talking about feelings, rather than acting on them.
The therapist is silent for periods of time to allow you to associate from one idea or memory to another, and explore the feelings that come up.  The therapist will help this process by pointing out patterns, making connections, asking questions, and making interpretations.
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What is Psychoanalysis?

Psychoanalysis is perhaps the hardest work you will ever do. It is both a therapy and an education about yourself.  The basis for it is in the observation that you are not always aware of what motivates your feelings and actions.  Through your relationship with your psychoanalyst you will learn about how your mind works, why you behave in the way you do, and you will make significant changes which will enhance the way you live your life.  It is an intensive process, requiring four or five sessions per week, during which you will lie on a couch and try to say whatever comes to mind.  With time feelings, thoughts, memories and ways of interacting with your psychoanalyst will emerge and enable you to gain insights which you will go over many times, in sessions and in your daily life. Eventually you will make powerful and lasting changes and live a life more free of consciously and unconsciously self-imposed restrictions and fears, and more full of satisfaction in work and love.
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Confidentiality

Confidentiality is a cornerstone of psychotherapy and psychoanalysis, and without it the work cannot be done.  The therapist will not reveal what you say, or even the fact that you are in therapy.  There are exceptions to this:  if you are a danger to yourself, or to another person, the therapist is legally and ethically bound to notify a responsible person.  All information about child abuse and neglect must also be reported.
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Managed Care and Confidentiality

If you use your managed care benefits for psychotherapy you have signed away your rights to confidentiality.  The insurance company can, and will, ask for details of your therapy, history, symptoms, and progress.  The insurance company will also determine whether or not you need therapy, and the length of your therapy.
Dr. Super does not participate with any managed care programs.
For more information about managed care look at the National Coalition for Mental Health Professionals and Consumers' web site.   
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Frequently Asked Questions

1. How long does therapy take?

It is difficult to predict how long it will take.  The severity and duration of your problems are factors, as is your ability and willingness to work on them. Sometimes an issue can be dealt with in a few sessions, but more often it can take a year or more. 

It is very important to have a regular, consistent appointment schedule; you should be able to rely on the therapy hour and therapist to be there.  The routine and the time between sessions allows for internal work to occur.

Keep in mind that it has taken years for your problems to develop; it will take time to deal with them.  The bottom line: there is no quick fix.

2. How long does psychoanalysis take?

Psychoanalysis is an intensive, long process, and can take several years.  It requires a commitment not just to the length of time it takes, but also to the four or five sessions per week needed to make the work possible.  Like anything else requiring a strong involvement it takes time.  But remember, with or without psychoanalysis, you will be living through those years anyway, and you can choose to make use of them in the best possible way.

3. How will I know if a therapist or psychoanalyst can help me?

The important factor in assessing this is how you feel with the therapist or psychoanalyst.  You might know this in the first session, but more often it will take more meetings for you to have a good sense of your 'fit' with each other.  Give yourself a chance to see how you work together.

4. Why do therapists and psychoanalysts focus on feelings?

A lot of people grow up being told they do not feel what they say they are feeling.  Others are told not to feel what they are feeling and being criticized or ridiculed for what they feel. The result is that they become numb (often referred to as 'being out of touch with your feelings,') depressed, and often critical of others' feelings.

People suffering in this way may even understand intellectually what their problems and dynamics are, but are helpless to do anything about them.  This is because their feelings and their intellect are miles apart.  Only through feeling what is inside, what has been buried, choked off and humiliated, and connecting this with understanding, can a person heal.

5. Will my therapist or psychoanalyst talk about me with anyone?

This is not only a legal issue, but an issue of professional ethics.

Your therapist or psychoanalyst will sometimes go to a consultant or supervisor for help and guidance with the work.  In situations like this the therapist or psychoanalyst will not reveal your name or any identifying information about you.   Your therapist or psychoanalyst will not discuss you with anyone in a social context, or with family members.

For exceptions to this please see Confidentiality.

6. I'm depressed, should I take medication?

There are some times when depression is helped by medication.  Your therapist or psychoanalyst will help you assess this and refer you to a psychiatrist for a medication evaluation.  Keep in mind that studies have shown that depression is helped more often through the combination of medication with therapy.

7. Can therapy or psychoanalysis help me change how my husband (mother, father, etc.) behave?

Therapy and psychoanalysis can help you change, and help you develop new ways of dealing with the people in your life.  Sometimes a person's new ways of being in the world have an effect on how the people in his or her world behave, but this is not always so.  Nor is it the goal of therapy or psychoanalysis.
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