psychodynamic

American  

[sahy-koh-dahy-nam-ik] / ˌsaɪ koʊ daɪˈnæm ɪk /

adjective

1. Psychology. of or relating to any clinical approach to personality, as Freud’s, that sees personality and behavior as the result of the ongoing, shifting interplay of conscious and unconscious emotional and motivational forces.

   By identifying the unconscious drives and forgotten experiences that influence decisions, psychodynamic therapy can be helpful in choosing new positive behaviors and leaving self-destructive ones behind.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• psychodynamically
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of psychodynamic

psycho- ( def. ) + dynamic ( def. )

Example Sentences

Hughes also practices somatic experiencing, a psychodynamic modality helping people tap into their bodily sensations as a way of processing emotions.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 1, 2026

Jonathan Shedler, a psychodynamic psychologist and vocal critic of the research on therapy, believes that the field, in its narrow focus on reducing symptoms, fails to capture other ways patients benefit from psychodynamic therapy.

From New York Times • May 16, 2023

The American Psychological Association characterizes them into five broad groups: psychoanalysis and psychodynamic, behavioral, cognitive, humanistic and integrative or holistic therapy.

From Seattle Times • Feb. 19, 2023

At the peak of its power, psychodynamic psychiatry, Scull writes, claimed “that psychological factors loomed large in the genesis of illnesses that had traditionally been seen as rooted in the body.”

From Washington Post • Jun. 3, 2022

The main contribution of psychoanalysis and later psychodynamic schools is the understanding that self-identity is a dynamic, evolving, ever-changing construct - and not a static, inertial, and passive entity.

From Moral Deliberations in Modern Cinema by Vaknin, Samuel