If you’ve heard of psychoanalysis but don’t know what it’s about beyond media caricatures, then you may want to talk to me. I won’t be able to explain it entirely in preliminary consultations. I cannot easily soundbite the process, or even estimate how long psychoanalysis takes. As one famous analyst once said, the question of how long an analytic treatment takes is unanswerable.

If you’re seeking psychoanalysis, or something similar, such as an in-depth therapeutic approach, it may be because you’ve tried other approaches before and found them limited and ultimately unsatisfactory. They’ve promoted structure and goals, a plan of action that speaks to consciously-held needs. They’ve promised warmth and empathy, the teaching of “tools” of recovery or communication, “boundaries” in your relationships, and “acceptance” of everything you can’t control. I’ve employed this jargon myself in the past. After all, I’ve been a counselor since the mid-nineties, a licensed psychotherapist for twenty-two years. However, you may want something more than prescriptions that collapse amid internal conflicts that are thinly understood. You want an undefined more, perhaps—something you don’t already know—that delves beyond cognitive or intellectual understanding. Psychoanalysis can help you explore your ambivalence, your deeper conflicts. It can help you navigate the tangled webs in your mind, come to know yourself, which more fully informs your choices.