There are around 300 published, peer-reviewed studies demonstrating that psychodynamic therapy works for people with a range of specific disorders and people with complex and co-occurring disorders. When compared to other forms of therapy, many of which focus on symptoms more than on meaning, psychodynamic therapy has been found to be equally effective. Among people struggling with several co-occurring disorders, those receiving longer-term psychodynamic therapy had better outcomes than 90% of those receiving other treatments.

Grounded in this empirical base, psychodynamic psychotherapy is a standard part of contemporary psychiatric practice (Oldham 2005). Standard practice guidelines issued by professional organizations such as the American Psychiatric Association (APA) include psychodynamic psychotherapy among other evidence-based treatment options (APA Practice Guidelines).

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a well-known form of therapy developed by the late Aaron T. Beck, who trained and developed many of his core ideas at Riggs, CBT is a robustly researched and effective form of psychotherapy. Comparisons of CBT with psychodynamic therapy have found both CBT and psychodynamic therapy to be equally effective (Cooper et al. 2003); (Driessen et al. 2013); (Leichsenring, Klein, and Salzer 2014); (Levy et al. 2006).

While most of the studies described in this section utilize subjects from outpatient settings, there are also outcome studies of psychoanalytic hospital-based treatment that have found lasting benefits in both general symptom improvement and interpersonal functioning (Bateman and Fonagy 1999); (Bateman and Fonagy 2001); (Vermote et al. 2009); (Vermote et al. 2010).

Studies by Chisea and Fonagy (2003); (2004) that were carried out in a setting similar to the Austen Riggs Center demonstrate that approximately six months of psychoanalytically informed residential treatment, followed by planned step-down programs, led to significant long-term clinical improvements. Austen Riggs has conducted outcome research on cohorts of patients since the 1980s, using the methodology available in each era. One of these, the Austen Riggs Center Follow-Along Study, a 15-year, longitudinal, naturalistic study, tracked the treatment of nearly 200 seriously suicidal patients with complex psychiatric conditions, many of whom actively struggled with suicide and had often made attempts (Perry et al. 2009). This study showed that 75% of these patients no longer suffered from suicide as an issue in their lives at a seven-year follow-up. In this study and in earlier ones, about 70% of Riggs patients have good outcomes, though many of them have failed to benefit adequately from previous treatment.

A major contributing factor to any successful treatment is the sustained relationship between the patient and therapist. There is a great deal of scientific evidence to support this claim.

Originally referring to the positive feelings a patient develops for a therapist, the term “therapeutic alliance” later came to mean the conscious and active collaboration between the patient and therapist. The relationship between the alliance and therapy outcome has been the focus of a great deal of empirical research that consistently demonstrates the importance of the therapeutic relationship to treatment outcome. (The therapist’s personal qualities such as dependability, benevolence, responsiveness, and experience help patients have confidence and trust in their therapist, and his/her ability to both understand and help them cope with the issues that brought them to therapy.

Psychodynamic therapy is designed to assist an individual to develop a comprehensive understanding of him/herself in context. Underlying this understanding is a basic belief that people have the potential to make important and fundamental changes in their lives when meaning can be linked to experiences.

For many individuals, psychodynamic therapy supports the development of internal resources and abilities that can lead to deeper, satisfying, and more autonomous lives. The goal of psychodynamic psychotherapy extends beyond symptom remission into enhancing a patient’s ability to more fully access their internal resources.

This translates to