Depth Psychology And Therapy

Psychology is built around the study of the human mind, which many prominent psychologists have thought to be influenced by the unconscious. 

Below, we’ll explore depth psychology, its history, and how it might benefit you when you work with a licensed psychotherapist with training in depth psychology.

Defining depth psychology: What is depth psychology?

Depth psychology is a broad term that hints at the approach’s goal—to explore the depth of the human mind. Through the study of dreams, symptoms, images, slips of the tongue, meaningful coincidences, and our interpersonal interactions, a depth psychologist attempts to understand the language and dynamics of our unconscious and how it manifests in us.

Paul Eugen Bleuler, a University of Zürich professor of psychiatry, coined the German term tiefenpsychologie (which translates to depth psychology) in the early 1900s. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the earliest evidence of the use of the term depth psychologist is a 1931 article in the American Journal of Orthopsychiatry. Psychotherapy based on depth psychology tends to explore the unconscious and often looks at how dreams, complexes, and archetypes influence the human experience. Depth psychology typically looks to explore the deeper areas of human experiences, working to look at these moments from a holistic perspective as opposed to taking them apart.

Depth psychology: Not a “quick fix” form of psychology

Depth psychologists often see the human psyche as both conscious and unconscious, and psychoanalysis is typically their main psychotherapeutic approach.

Depth psychology: The psyche involves the unconscious and subconscious

Depth psychology explores the underlying motives that could be the key to psychological distress. There is a belief that uncovering unconscious forces can be intrinsically healing. This psychoanalysis often seeks the deeper layers beneath our conscious awareness, behavior, and thoughts.

Depth psychology is typically not a quick fix but is instead an in-depth form of psychotherapy meant to uncover a client’s deeper concerns. Depth psychology is usually one of the more non-pathologizing and strength-affirming forms of psychology. Using a range of approaches, this type of psychotherapy is not usually focused on one specific modality. Instead, depth psychology is often based on the idea that each of us possesses traits or elements of nature that may influence our natural processes, particularly on the unconscious level.

Therefore, this type of psychotherapy does not typically focus on a few surface issues. Instead, depth psychology often involves building a deeper analysis of who you are underneath your present level of consciousness and developing a deeper understanding of how that impacts your decisions in various circumstances or experiences.

Several models of therapy: Sigmund Freud's psychoanalysis, Jungian psychology, and more

Depth psychology is an umbrella term that can describe several models of psychotherapy, but it is typically divided into three main schools: psychoanalysis, individual psychology, and analytical psychology. When it comes to psychoanalysis, the process is usually based primarily on Sigmund Freud's ideas. Individual psychology is largely based on Alfred Adler's ideas, and analytical psychology is based on Carl Jung's ideology.

Freud's psychoanalytic theory: the unconscious, dreams, and analysis

Freud’s psychoanalytic theory helped advance the ideas being set forth by other experts in the field of depth psychology. According to Freud, our behaviors are influenced by feelings and thoughts that are partly conscious and partly unconscious. Freud believed that different parts of the mind (the id, ego, and superego) are all involved in unconscious thought in some way. In practice, Freud attempted to bring patients’ repressed thoughts, feelings, and experiences to the conscious mind.  

Psychotherapy based on psychoanalysis may be effective for various mental health challenges. For example, in a study published in the journal World Psychiatry (called the Tavistock Adult Depression Study), researchers found that psychoanalytic-based treatment can alleviate symptoms of treatment-resistant depression. One such treatment, psychodynamic psychotherapy, has been shown to effectively treat anxiety disorders, eating disorders, and post-traumatic stress disorder, according to one systematic review. 

Psychoanalysis has had a profound impact on almost every field within psychology, ranging from applied social psychology to behavioral psychologies. Psychoanalysis has also informed the development of numerous other psychotherapies. For example, when participating in one of the cognitive or behavioral psychotherapies, individuals are focusing on the interactions of their feelings, actions, and thoughts—a central concept within the psychoanalytic approach. 

Individual psychology: Alfred Adler's approach

Alfred Adler worked with Freud, but over time, he developed his own approach to psychology, one that typically focuses on the belief that people's relationships with society are integral to their individuality. The foundation of his psychological theory revolved around a person's pursuit of superiority, and his school of psychology explored this motivating force in the development of human behavior. 

Jungian psychology and archetypes

Carl Gustav Jung was among the first psychologists to explore the spiritual/religious nature of human psychology. While Carl Jung was influenced (and mentored) by Sigmund Freud, he disagreed with certain psychoanalytic concepts. Though both psychoanalysis and analytical psychology focus on the unconscious, Jung’s theory is not completely personal in nature, like Freud’s. As part of his work, Jung believed in a deeper collective unconscious and representative archetypes. The collective unconscious, according to Jung’s depth psychological perspective, helps explain our disposition toward myth-making and dreaming.

Underlying this combination is the idea that the human psyche is partially conscious and partially unconscious, storing experiences and concerns that may have been repressed, along with collective and archetypal forces. As part of this type of psychology, there is a consideration of the soul, which might be seen as the point of interaction between the transpersonal and personal aspects of the psyche. Professionals practicing Jungian psychotherapy employ several methods to help bring the conscious and unconscious into psychological alignment, including dream interpretation and active imagination, while focusing on establishing a solid psychotherapeutic relationship. 

Depth psychotherapy tends to focus largely on the individual. A psychotherapist who practices depth psychology may help you explore the depths of your unconscious, offering you support and guidance as you examine and ponder what you discover. The new information you gather from these depth psychology sessions may help you develop more positive traits, from elements that you integrate on a conscious level before eventually finding that they have integrated on the unconscious level. Below are a few of the psychological techniques that a psychotherapist may use to assist you in this process.

Socratic questioning

The psychotherapist typically asks you a series of warm and gentle, but also challenging, questions. With these questions and your answers to them, you may develop an increased awareness of the depths of your unconscious motivations, as well as past experiences that you may have put out of your mind or even repressed. This type of psychological questioning may be used later to help you identify alternative plans of action, particularly when those actions might be heavily influenced by your unconscious or factors related to it.

Imagery

Your psychotherapist may guide you through a full sensory exploration of your early memories, particularly experiences that may have led to feelings of inferiority or discouragement. Your psychotherapist can then offer you support as you remember those images and learn how they may have influenced how you cope with aspects of your life now.

Role-playing future scenarios in therapy with your psychologist

Psychotherapy can be a safe place to practice new ways to act in various situations, allowing you to practice new behaviors, interpersonal engagements, and ways of thinking without feeling that you are being judged for not getting it right. Your psychotherapist can offer support as you make changes in how you react and can assist you with progressively challenging scenarios.

Depth psychotherapy: How depth psychology can address concerns

Depth pyschotherapy is well-suited to participants who want to address deep-rooted psychological and emotional challenges, as well as trauma. Also, there may be behaviors that you continue to repeat even though they are damaging to you. Depth psychotherapy may help uncover the potential reasons why you behave a certain way in specific circumstances and help you better understand the causes of these psychological behaviors.

This highly personal type of psychotherapy may be more likely than other psychological approaches to have long-lasting results, but the process may also mean more of a commitment regarding time and effort. The point of depth psychotherapy is typically not to focus on just one specific concern but instead to address the entire scope of your conscious and unconscious emotions.

Potential outcomes therapy with a depth psychologist

One of the most important outcomes of this type of psychotherapy may be coming to a greater understanding of yourself, as well as increasing the depth of your self-awareness. Many individuals feel that they have a better understanding of why they act the way they do in specific situations, and they feel that they can address those behavior patterns from a place of psychological knowledge.

A greater understanding of yourself may lead you to discover your life purpose and help you feel a sense of insight that positively impacts your relationships. You might experience a sense of liberation from your previous concerns because you have been able to address them effectively.

Depth psychotherapy

Depth psychotherapy often requires individuals to use abstract thinking, as well as multiple meanings for various concepts. Doing so may help you to explore patterns in your behavior. Given the typical use of abstract thinking, depth psychotherapy might not be ideal for those who prefer a more concrete psychotherapeutic approach. Also, if you are looking for a more solution-oriented treatment, then depth psychology may not be for you.

Online depth therapy: Analysis of deep therapy

If you’re interested in exploring depth psychotherapy, you might find a psychotherapist in your community who practices this type of psychotherapy. However, it may be easiest to find an online psychotherapist who practices depth psychology. BetterHelp has a network of more than 25,000 licensed psychotherapists, and you can be matched with someone who has knowledge of depth psychotherapy. 

Numerous studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of online therapy, and it tends to be more convenient than in-office psychotherapy. With online psychotherapy at BetterHelp, you can connect with a depth psychotherapist at a time that suits your schedule via phone, live chat, or videoconferencing. You can also contact them in between sessions via in-app messaging, and they’ll get back to you as soon as they can. This feature may be especially helpful if you want to ask questions that arise in between sessions.