West Los Angeles

Psychodynamic Therapy Los Angeles

Psychodynamic therapy in Los Angeles at Life Threads Therapy® is weekly, conversational work in our West LA office or by secure video anywhere in California.

It is for the pattern you can name, trace, and explain to other people, and still cannot change.

Book a free consultation

What Psychodynamic Therapy Explores

Psychodynamic therapy is a depth-oriented approach that explores how earlier experiences and unconscious patterns shape what you feel and do today. Much of what drives our reactions and relationship choices happens outside awareness. The work brings it into view clearly enough to change it, without assigning blame.

It also looks at the defenses the mind built to cope, like pushing feelings down or rationalizing them, and treats them as strategies that once made sense and may no longer be needed.

Psychodynamic therapy at Life Threads Therapy in Los Angeles

Who It Tends to Fit

Psychodynamic work fits best when the problem is less about what is happening on the surface than what is driving it. It may suit you if:

  • You understand your patterns intellectually but cannot seem to change them
  • The same relationship conflicts keep showing up with different people
  • You feel chronic low mood, anxiety, or disconnection without a clear external reason
  • Difficult early experiences still cast a shadow on your adult life

What Sessions Look Like

Sessions are conversational rather than built around worksheets. You talk about what is present: relationships, recurring feelings, memories. Your therapist listens for the themes that keep returning, including the way old relationship patterns show up in the therapy relationship itself.

Sessions are generally weekly, and how long the work takes depends on your goals. If you are in acute crisis or want a structured, homework-based format, we will tell you honestly and suggest a better starting point, such as CBT.

Who You Will Work With

Bree Anthony, MA, LMFT, our clinic director, integrates psychodynamic therapy with EMDR, IFS, and attachment-based work for teens and adults. Lyndsay Mclaren, LPCC draws on psychodynamic therapy alongside EMDR, IFS, and DBT with adolescents, teens, adults, and families.

Sessions are a flat $200 at 2001 S Barrington Ave, Suite 215, in West LA between Santa Monica and Culver City. We are out of network and file superbill claims for you.

Getting Started

Every new client starts with a free 20-minute consultation: an unhurried conversation where we figure out fit and next steps together. Book online, or send a question through the contact page first if that feels easier.

Book a free consultation

Psychodynamic Therapy Questions

Straight answers before you book.

CBT works on specific thoughts and behaviors in the present and is usually shorter and skill-based. Psychodynamic therapy looks at the roots beneath symptoms and tends to be more open-ended. Our therapists are trained in both and will help you choose.
Yes. Research supports its effectiveness for depression, anxiety, personality difficulties, and interpersonal problems, and meta-analyses have found its effects comparable to other established approaches.
Yes. Sessions are available by secure video anywhere in California, as well as in person in West LA.
It depends on your goals and what you are carrying. Sessions are generally weekly, and we talk openly about pace as the work goes.

Find the Thread Back to Yourself

Book a free 20-minute consultation and see whether we're the right fit. No commitment required.

Book a free consultation

If you are experiencing a mental health emergency, please contact the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988, or go to your nearest emergency room. The information on this page is for educational purposes and does not constitute clinical advice or a therapeutic relationship.