Dr Michael Kimber provides an advanced form of psychotherapy called Intensive Short Term Dynamic Psychotherapy (ISTDP). Research has shown that ISTDP treatment can achieve lasting, significant improvement in a large range of disorders, often faster than other treatments.
What is ISTDP?
Psychotherapy research over many decades looking at the underlying causes of many different problems has uncovered the vital role of hidden, avoided emotions. These buried emotions with their associated thoughts and memories remain unresolved, even after many years. Research has also shown that our emotions and our bodies are intimately linked, and that problems stemming from emotions can lead to significant symptoms in the body.
The work of ISTDP aims to understand the person’s problems by focusing on the experience of emotions in their body. This therapy work can identify the types of mechanisms that are preventing deeper emotional experiences from coming to the surface. By working together to overcome any barriers to full and true awareness, the person and their therapist are then able to work through and resolve the underlying causes of the person’s problems.
Why Choose ISTDP?
ISTDP emphasises efficiency so that patients improve as quickly as possible. This psychotherapy targets the underlying cause of a person's problems. Such problems include anxiety and depression symptoms, relationship problems, problems with addiction and impulse control, and memory and concentration problems. By targeting and dealing with the underlying cause, ISTDP can improve and heal such problems while also preventing them from returning. ISTDP is an interactive therapy where the patient and the therapist work together. The therapy model is very flexible to patients’ individual needs, and is therefore able to help a more comprehensive range of patients compared to many other forms of therapy. Research has also shown that ISTDP can be particularly effective for problems that have not responded to other treatments or therapies. Problems like this can often be labelled “treatment resistant”.