Relational Psychoanalysis - Minneapolis, MN

Most people associate the term Psychoanalysis with a picture of an old, professorial man smoking a pipe, saying, "Tell me about your mother." This image of Psychoanalysis rightly turns people off; it feels outdated and pretentious. Although many psychoanalysts practiced in this style through the years, times have changed.

Despite its blemished history, Psychoanalysis holds an unmatched depth of insight into human psychology. In making a crucial departure from Freudian dogma, the Relational model of Psychoanalysis has succeeded at tapping into what is perhaps the most centrally important theme in human psychology: the deeply engrained patterns of one's interpersonal relationships.

The Relational Psychoanalyst works in this rich and fascinating world and understands that beneath our "symptoms" (depression, anxiety, substance abuse, etc.) lie the roots of these troubles: chronically unfulfilling relational-emotional patterns. Try as we might, we humans always seem to find ourselves caught in relationships that don't fully satisfy our emotional needs. Unlike most other approaches, Relational Psychoanalysis offers a clear explanation of why this happens. Even more importantly, it offers a way out of these patterns--a way towards a better life founded on healthy, fulfilling relationships.

Integral Psychotherapy offers Relational Psychoanalytic therapy for those inclined to explore, understand, and transform their relationship patterns.

For more info about the Relational approach to psychotherapy, visit our sister-organization's page here.  Through this organization we offer training--talks, classes, and consultation groups--in Relational psychology.

As long as you feel the human contact, the atmosphere of mutual confidence, there is no danger; even if you have to face the terror of insanity, or the menace of death, there is still that sphere of human trust, that certainty of understanding and of being understood, the belief that both will persist, no matter how dark the way. -C.G. Jung

FYI: "Relational Psychoanalysis" incorporates theories from Interpersonal Psychoanalysis (Sullivan), Object Relations (Fairbairn, Winnicott & Klein), Self Psychology (Kohut), Intersubjective Analysis (Stolorow & Atwood), & Attachment Theory (Bowlby). Stephen A. Mitchell is perhaps the most well known pioneer in developing the relational model of psychotherapy.